The Netflix Original documentary, explained: global investment patterns in documentary films and series

ABSTRACT

Subscription video-on-demand services have been increasingly moving away from licencing content to producing their own content. The ‘original’ label is applied to different types of productions for which streaming platforms own exclusive rights, usually worldwide and for specific periods. This has also been part of Netflix’s global strategy to attract new and existing subscribers. Research into the Netflix Original has become particularly relevant, due to its impact on audiovisual markets and the label’s opacity. This article focuses on Netflix investments in original documentaries, due to the genre’s growing popularity and the platform’s notable interest in documentary films and series. The analysis focuses on the company’s strategies and investment patterns in specific regions, languages and genres over time by mapping all documentary titles produced between 2012–2021 labelled as ‘Netflix Original’, resulting in a database of 479 titles. We found that investments in original documentaries have been growing over the years, and the large majority of these are commissions or exclusive titles. The transnational production and distribution of Netflix Original documentaries reflect wider changes in cultural trade brought on by the streaming model. However, the company’s investment strategy is also influenced by established market dynamics and financing practices in documentary production.

KEYWORDS:

• Documentary
• Netflix Original
• streaming platforms
• content diversity
• media industry studies
• transnational flows

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catalina Iordache

Catalina Iordache is a PhD researcher in media and communication studies at the research group imec-SMIT and an incoming Guest Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is currently finalising her dissertation on the transnational flow of audiovisual content in the online environment, with a focus on the production and distribution of scripted and non-scripted content.

Tim Raats

Tim Raats is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and head of the Media Economics and Policy research unit at imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research focuses on public service media policy, partnership strategies, and sustainability of TV production in small media markets. Tim coordinated several research projects for the Flemish Minister of Media, the Department of Culture, Youth, Sports and Media in Flanders, the Flemish Sector Council for Media and the VRT. Since 2018, he is an appointed board member of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF).

Sam Mombaerts

Sam Mombaerts holds a master’s degree in New Media and Society in Europe from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where he wrote his thesis on Netflix and its investment in documentary productions. He is currently working as a media planner at ZIGT Media, where he determines the audience and the optimal combination of media vehicles for brands and products, in different media domains from television and radio to print and out-of-home advertising.