Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Touts the “Power of Korean Storytelling,” Says K-Content Views Are Up Sixfold

Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos will never forget the day he met director Bong Joon Ho in 2017 to discuss Okja, the sci-fi action drama that became Netflix’s first international film.

“He’s the ultimate master, and he gave me a crash course in Korean cinema. I learned so much,” he said. “And afterwards I had the great privilege to introduce him to Martin Scorsese — one of his heroes. A few years later, director Bong won best director and best picture at the Oscars with Parasite, the same year that Martin Scorsese was nominated. It was amazing to see him go from a fan to a peer.”

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On his first visit to Korea since he was named the co-CEO of Netflix, Sarandos elaborated on Netflix’s partnership with Korean creators and the success of K-content abroad.

“A staggering 60 percent of our members have now watched one Korean title — with viewing of K-content up sixfold globally in the last four years,” he said. “Take just one genre — romance: 90 percent of K-romance viewing now comes from outside Korea. And last year, our Korean movie Carter and two TV shows — All of Us Are Dead and The Glory — hit the Netflix top 10 in over 90 countries. Of course, nothing quite beats Squid Game — the biggest TV show in history on any metric we’ve ever seen.”

In April, Netflix unveiled that it would invest $2.5 billion in Korea over the next four years, including on television series, films and unscripted shows. Aside from the production front, the investment will include funding for training programs for aspiring filmmakers and the next generation of creators in front of and behind the camera.

For example, Netflix is working with the Korea Radio Promotion Association to help talented local students gain experience in the production industry.

“Between 2022 and 2025, one in five Netflix titles in Korea will have come from a first-time writer or director,” Sarandos said. “Just yesterday I met 100 students with director Park Chan-wook — all future screenwriters and directors with so much potential. We have to invest in their talent collectively as an industry.”

Netflix also stressed the company’s committed partnership with local players. Daniel Son, the CEO of local VFX studio Westworld that is responsible for developing special visual effects for hit series like Sweet Home (2020), The Silent Sea (2021) and All of Us Are Dead (2022), participated as a panelist Thursday to discuss the company’s growth over the years as a partner for Netflix.

“Our studio began in 2018 with only three people and expanded to 190 staff over the years,” Son said. “Our sales revenue rose 74 times since 2018.”

Scanline, a VFX arm of Netflix, which the streaming giant acquired in 2021, has also come up with a series of training programs to nurture young talents in postproduction through workshops and seminars. The company, founded in 1989, participated in Netflix original series Stranger Things and Marvel’s Eternals.

In a session with local creators and partners, the streaming giant also touched on some of the more delicate issues such as the debate over the company’s profit-sharing structure and whether it is fair for Netflix to acquire all IP rights for dramas and films produced here.

“When we make deals, we guarantee our studios and creators to be compensated fairly,” Sarandos said. “It’s a competitive market, and we compensate very top of the market. In general, it’s important to us that we remain competitive and promote a healthy ecosystem. We will provide sufficient support. And in the case of a show’s success, we make sure that creators are compensated in a right manner in the next season.”

Sarandos’ two-day visit was also seen as an effort to influence the country’s high-level decisions over the company’s conflict with a South Korean mobile carrier SK Broadband over network usage fees. It was reported that the company’s co-chief met with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and other key officials Thursday to discuss the expanded partnership between the U.S. and South Korea.

In 2021, a Seoul court ruled in favor of SK Broadband, claiming that Netflix must make a restitution payment over Netflix’s heavy traffic usage. Netflix appealed the court decision and the trial is currently pending.

Netflix did not disclose details about the timing of its new password-sharing policy, which now bans accounts to be shared outside of their household. The company did say though that the policy is a global initiative that will continue in the next couple of months and Korea will eventually be the target of the measure as well.

“Who would have guessed that a TV show made in Korea for Koreans would cause a craze for green tracksuits in America or push sales of Vans sneakers up by nearly 8,000 percent when released on Netflix?,” Sarandos said. “That’s the power of Korean storytelling.”

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