https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16486436/netflix-original-content-8-billion-dollars-anime-films
Image: Netflix
Netflix plans to increase the amount of money it spends on developing and producing original television and films next year, to an eye-popping $8 billion. The company has given a ballpark projection near that amount in the past, but Netflix bumped it up during its third-quarter earnings announcement today by an additional $1 billion to make clear to investors and Hollywood both that it plans spends to quite a lot of money to lock down ownership of its own entertainment.
With Disney and other high-profile names increasingly moving content into closed garden ecosystems, Netflixs future lies in making sure it controls its own destiny, and in ensuring it doesnt take too big a hit when third-party content owners pull licensing deals out from under its feet. The ultimate goal, reiterated today by Netflix executives, is one the company has laid out before: a library containing 50 percent original TV and film content by the end of next year.
On a video call with analysts this afternoon, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos clarified that a sizable chunk of that $8 billion will go toward toward producing 30 new anime series and 80 new original films, all slated for release in 2018. While the company has often kept concrete viewership numbers under wraps, Sarandos willingness to drop the anime and film metrics is a positive sign that its investments in those areas are going well.