Netflix Accents Regional Authenticity as Key Ingredient of European Series Slate
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Speaking at a panel held at the MIA Market in Rome, Netflix execs laid out a European strategy based on cultural and regional specificity alongside wider international format exchange.
“We want to create stories that are really rooted in our country’s culture and tradition,” said Italian content VP Eleonora Andreatta. “[And in order] to be authentic, that means recognizing the differences between one part of the country to the other.”
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While Netflix’s recently wrapped adaptation of “The Leopard” is steeped in Sicilian history, the Matilda De Angelis-led returning series “The Law According to Lidia Poët” finds female emancipation in 19th century Turin. And if both titles look backward, both also share an impetus to shade Italian history in a more modern light.
Per Andreatta, Italian cinema’s glorious dolce vita boom had also left a bitter aftertaste by way of cultural stereotypes that lingered for years. Andreatta and her Rome-based team now want to offer viewers a different taste.
“[Our] ambition is to re-launch a more modern, more actual, more [textured] image of Italy,” she explained, noting that series like “Lidia Poët” and the upcoming, Alessandro Borghi-led Rocco Siffredi bio-drama “Supersex” both reframe and rethink traditional gender roles.
“We want to portray society as it’s changing,” Andreatta continued. “To tell stories through the point of view of the young generation, and to create an image of women that is modern, complex, and complicated.”
Before launching a preview of the upcoming “Money Heist” spinoff, “Berlin,” Spain and Portugal content VP Diego Ávalos echoed similar sentiments when considering his own territorial remit.
“Spain has multiple languages [and] multiple autonomous communities,” said Ávalos. “So we look at stories throughout the country showing the depth of storytelling and culture.” Be it the Basque touches of the Bilbao-set “Intimacy,” or the modern Madrid depicted in “Valeria,” each series had to foreground verisimilitude.
“Authenticity means really reflecting the lives of everyday Spaniards,” Ávalos explained. “[We want viewers] to see themselves in some way reflected in these stories, knowing where they take place, or [recognizing the specific] restaurant where a scene takes place. Those are the moments where Spanish viewers see themselves and connect with these stories.”
Indeed, flavoring tried-and-true classics with locally sourced ingredients seems the going formula for upcoming series.
Nordic content VP Jenny Sjernströmer Björk likened the streamer’s upcoming series “Billionaire Island” to a version of “Dallas” transported to a more rugged and scenic terrain. Spearheaded by “Lilyhammer” creators Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the 2024-slated series follows the rural fishermen made suddenly (and destructively) affluent thanks to Norway’s pole position in the global salmon trade.
While hinting at a possible Nordic remake of Netflix English-language series “Maid,” Björk also promised a new version of the in-house dating format “Love Is Blind,” adding a Swedish iteration to a reality format that has made in-roads in the U.S., U.K., Brazil and Japan.
“It turns out that Swedes really love dating,” she added.
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