Poland’s TV industry is experiencing a boom. The Polish capital Warsaw has been picked by Netflix as its new regional headquarters for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

The company’s new office in Warsaw, which is set to open in late 2022, will serve as a hub for the American giant’s operations in the region. 

In an article published last week by Hollywood Reporter, Stjepan Hundic explains that Netflix’s stock nosedived after the company shed some 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year, with the U.S. seen as an increasingly competitive and mature market for the company.

“That means that international territories and local-language production are becoming even more important to the global streamer’s growth plans” – the journalist writes. 

He further quotes Netflix’s director of local-language originals CEE Anna Nagler, who assures that Poland “has become a key market for Netflix in the CEE region”, emphasising that the company’s production investment has created at least 2,600 jobs in the country. 

“We are planning further investments both in Polish productions and in licensed titles […] With an office on the ground, our presence in Poland and CEE will become even more visible” – Netflix’s vp series for EMEA Larry Tanz wrote on a blog. 

Stjepan Hundic concludes by drawing the attention of the reader to the fact that “with a population of around 40 million people, and a GDP of $674 billion Poland is […] the strongest film and TV production industry [of CEE]”. 

„Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic are world leaders when it comes to servicing big-budget international productions, but none of the surrounding territories come close to matching Poland for home-grown content, both for the big and the small screen,” he explains. 

Image: Unsplash

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen