"In a move to reshape the global streaming landscape, Netflix is making an ambitious bet by producing its most expensive Latin American production to date — "100 Years of Solitude," based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Revered novel. This reflects Netflix's strategic shift towards a more localized content strategy, with productions across the region from Mexico to Brazil and Argentina, aiming to capture diverse audiences and resonate deeply with them. This approach represents a departure from purely English-language hits, showcasing a deliberate investment in authentic, cultural narratives that connect with audiences worldwide.

The stakes are high for Netflix, as it faces an increasingly competitive landscape filled with burgeoning OTT platforms and diverse entertainment choices, from video games to social media. With dropping profits across other major companies in the film and TV industry, Netflix's unique strategy of local productions is both a challenge and a significant opportunity. Despite its dominant subscriber base, Netflix looks to fortify its position by resonating genuinely within each market, not just globally but locally, underscoring its aim to be the largest network in every individual country.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. Revered [rɪˈvɪrd] - (adj.) Deeply respected or admired.

Welcome to the set of 100 Years of Solitude, a tv series based on the Revered novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

2. Turbulent [ˈtɜːrbjələnt] - (adj.) Characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion; not controlled or calm.

It tells the turbulent story of a Colombian family gripped by longing, love, and loneliness over the course of a century.

3. Doubling down [ˈdʌblɪŋ daʊn] - (phrase) Strengthening one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action, typically one that is potentially risky.

With the streaming wars hotter than ever, Netflix is doubling down on its global ambitions.

4. Eclectic [ɪˈklɛktɪk] - (adj.) Deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

The strategy is making sure that Netflix in every single country where we are producing becomes very specific and very important for you.

5. Pivotal [ˈpɪvətl] - (adj.) Of crucial importance in relation to the development or success of something.

Latin America is pivotal to Netflix's strategy, with historic roots in storytelling and a deep passion for television.

6. Algorithm [ˈælɡərɪðəm] - (n.) A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations.

What Netflix has proven this last 510 years is that people want to see Korean stories, Israeli stories, you know, stories from Colombia.

7. Diversification [daɪˌvɜrsəfɪˈkeɪʃən] - (n.) The process of a company enlarging or varying its range of products or field of operation.

The future of the film and television industry could depend on reaching a truly worldwide audience.

8. Cliche [klɪˈʃeɪ] - (n.) A phrase or idea that has been used so much it lacks original thought.

I think it's gonna be very important for the world to see a story that comes out of Colombia that is not to do with narcos and drug dealers and smugglers.

9. Resonance [ˈrezənəns] - (n.) The quality of a sound being deep, full, and reverberating or the ability to evoke emotions.

These three series and one film are very, very unique for our culture.

10. Prestige [preˈstiːʒ] - (n.) Widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality.

She was nominated for an Oscar in 2019 for Roma, the prestige Spanish-language production that won Netflix multiple awards.

Netflix's Bold Move Into Latin America A Gamble Or Steadfast Vision?

So we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles outside of Ibague, which is the nearest city. You can just see kind of farmland in every direction. It's incredible that this is the site of the biggest Netflix production ever in Latin America. Welcome to the set of "100 Years of Solitude," a TV series based on the Revered novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It tells the turbulent story of a Colombian family gripped by longing, love, and loneliness over the course of a century.

Here in the Andean region of Colombia, the book is being adapted for TV for the first time right here. We're basically in the heart of the entire set. This is the Buendia house, the famous Buendia house, where so much happens. Love, sex, murder, incest. I could go on over 100 years. "100 Years of Solitude" is just one of several major shows and movies that Netflix is currently producing across Latin America, from Mexico to Brazil to Argentina. Not even that many years ago, thinking of making a series of this magnitude in other languages than in English wasn't part of the ecosystem. And I think now the language is not the passport for ambition. I think the passport for ambition is ambition.

With the streaming wars hotter than ever, Netflix is doubling down on its global ambitions. It's a strategy that's already reshaping the entertainment world, with series like "Squid Game," and "Narcos" becoming smash hits far beyond their countries of origin. We make TV shows and movies in 50 different languages in 50 different countries. The one thing that is consistent is there's amazing storytelling at all of those places. It doesn't matter which language you're doing it in. How do you find the next best film or series?

With video games and social media posing fierce competition for viewers' attention, the future of the film and television industry could depend on reaching a truly worldwide audience. The question is, can Netflix maintain its lead and stay the king of streaming? We've been here for just a few hours, and I love it here. It's so colorful. It's so vibrant. It's so busy and full of life. And I don't know, I could get lost in these alleys. The architecture, the paint colors. You know, there's just so much going on. And the food is good, too. Super salty. Oh, thank you. It's good.

This place is basically the starting point for Netflix's global expansion. Latin America is the first region they branched out to outside the United States. And when you think about Netflix, you just think they're trying to crank out these global hits. But actually, they say what they're trying to do is really make sure that people here at home love the shows they're making.

The stakes are high for Netflix and the whole business of filmed entertainment. In the past ten years, net income at the biggest entertainment companies has dropped 60%, in part due to the demise of cable, bad strategy, and the rising cost of content. Profits are down nearly everywhere but Netflix, which has the most subscribers of any streamer. But to stay ahead of the game, Netflix needs to expand its horizons. The goal is to be not just the biggest network in the world, but the biggest network in every country as well.

It all comes down to the super simple, super complicated game of winning over potential viewers wherever they can be found. TNS Netflix. Netflix. See things on Netflix? Yes. I have Netflix - "Elite," "Heartstopper," and also things with my brothers, like anime. What about "Squid Game?" Did you see "Squid Game?" Si. Buenisma. Si. Did you like it? No. No. A little bit violent, but I do like it.

Did you watch "Narcos?" No. No. Porque. Porque no me gusta de Colombia. Have you heard Netflix is making a show about "100 Years of Solitude." What would convince you to buy Netflix or pay for it? Clearly, Netflix has a foothold here, but that's not enough. The company wants to win the hearts and minds of Latin America's TV watchers. With almost 700 million people in the region, the opportunity is huge.

To seize that opportunity, Netflix has hired executives who have a finger on the pulse of local tastes, people like Paco. Hi. Hello. How are you? It's so good. Welcome. Francisco Ramos, who goes by Paco, oversees Netflix's projects across Latin America. Originally from Mexico, he worked as a TV producer and executive in Spain for many years before returning to his home country.

We met at a special spot in Mexico City, the former home of "100 Years of Solitude" author Gabo himself. So this is where Gabo lived. Gabo lived here with his two kids, his grandkids. So he died here as well. It's so beautiful. So this is his desk. He wrote at this desk. Yeah, and it's the old computer. The storytelling gods must have smiled on us because we happened to be here on the same day as Gabbo's sons, Gonzalo and Rodrigo.

So how do you think he would feel about "100 Years of Solitude" being turned into a show? He's probably not like the idea, but. Well, he was torn, though. Sometimes he would say, if we could do it in 100 hours, and in Spanish in Colombia. But I guess the series format wasn't created yet. What he didn't want was to make a three-hour movie that was super compressed in English with Hollywood actors. That was not his plan.

The fact that it's made in Spanish, the fact that it's made in Colombia, those were also. Those are big things. But mostly our conscience is clear because he always said, when I'm not here, do whatever you want. So that has freed us.

Latin America was the first region that Netflix expanded to back in 2011. Bring us back to that time and what's changed, what's evolved since. There was really a clear understanding back then that Latin America has such passion for television, very high penetration in cable, so it was a very interesting market for them to approach. And also there is a very high consumption and love in Latin America for American content.

So it's like the number one region in the world for big American movies has been historically Latin America. We started with original content in Latin America. Clube de Cuervos was our first series, "3%" our second series. And I think it was a very, very successful beginning, which led to the rollout in the rest of the world. Thereafter, "Narcos," released in 2015, became a breakout hit, raising the profile of Netflix's Latin American content.

This new slate of Latin American projects is different, doubling down on local appeal and deep cultural roots. In Mexico, there's "Pedro Paranmo," an adaptation of one of the country's most famous novels. In Brazil, there's a series about her, the Formula One phenomenon from Sao Paulo. In Argentina, there's "El Eternata," based on an Argentinian graphic novel about an alien invasion. And in Colombia, the most ambitious project of them all, "100 Years of Solitude."

You're doing so much all at once. Yeah. What's the strategy? Netflix in each country has to feel very unique for that country. These three series and one film are very, very unique for our culture. In each of these four countries, the strategy.

The strategy is making sure that Netflix in every single country where we are producing becomes very specific and very important for you. Part of your relationship with your culture, your community, what people are thinking, what people are feeling, what people are having fun about, what people are worried about. So personalized. Very personalized through the content.

For you, Netflix is American. For a Mexican, it's Mexican, for a Colombian, it's Colombian, and also global. So I think that's the thing. How competitive is the Latin American market? Because obviously there's global. There's Televisa, Univision, then there's HBO, Max, Disney, Apple, Amazon, all trying to break in.

Very competitive, because it's a huge market of people that really watch a lot of television, has good Internet penetration, a lot of very good cable, which allows you to do like a lot of deals. And then there is the huge travelability of Latin American content, because there is love for Latin culture in the world, for music, food, film. Series, I think, is one of the most hip and cool cultures right now.

To really get a sense of the scale of Netflix's investment in Latin America, you have to see it. So we traveled 4 hours west of Bogota, through the Andes mountain range to the city of Ibague, and the set of "100 Years of Solitude." The series is Netflix's most expensive production to date in Latin America. There are 21 sq mi of sets, 300 tons of wrought iron sculptures, 16,000 plants, and countless beautiful Colombian artifacts, bringing the story's setting to life the fictional town of Macondo.

It's gorgeous. The detail is just incredible. Barbara Enriquez is the series production designer. She was nominated for an Oscar in 2019 for "Roma," the prestige Spanish-language production that won Netflix multiple awards.

So you built this entire town from scratch? Yes. Pueblos and different. So how hard is it to show the passage of 100 years of time? How hard was this to do? Mucho calories? You built this with almost all Colombian workers, right? See how many hands.

How many pairs of hands built this place? One of the series directors is Alex Garcia Lopez, an Argentinian filmmaker who's directed episodes of other Netflix originals like "Daredevil" and "The Witcher."

Do you think Colombians will love this show? Ooh, what a question. I hope so. I hope so, because I think it's gonna be very important for the world to see a story that comes out of Colombia that is not to do with narcos and drug dealers and smugglers and violence and all the sort of cliche stories that you see coming out, not just from Colombia, but from Latin America. And yes, to tell the story that's very violent and vivid about not only Koh women history, but also Latin American sort of history, but in a much more entertaining way.

What are your feelings about how streaming has changed the TV making, movie making industry? I think for the better. What Netflix has done prior to the other streamers, they've really opened up the world to world content. Right before, it was always mostly American and British exports to the world.

And I think what Netflix has proven this last 510 years is that people want to see Korean stories, Israeli stories, you know, stories from Colombia, from Iceland, from wherever. And I think especially now, there's so much content out there, right? Movies and TV series. I think now more than ever, the world where the story takes part in needs to be new, needs to be different, needs to be something that you've never seen before.

So what scene are you doing now? We're doing a scene where the Coronel Guandia is at a camp at his campsite, and he basically gets a vision. It's one of many scenes in the book that's suffused with the style known as magical realism. Supernatural touches in an otherwise realistic story. Here, a character has a ghostly vision, and a rain of beautiful flowers falls from the sky. So Alex and Barbara were just going through the orange flowers, and it looks like they were looking for the perfect orange flower for him to hold in his hand. The character in this scene, and it's a really. It's a really pivotal scene in the book.

Meanwhile, Netflix's other big Latin American projects were also underway in Brazil and Argentina. Sena and El Eternata were deep in production. Both of these series make use of a technology rarely used in Latin America before now, cutting edge sound stages that place actors in virtual environments without the need for a green screen. I think it's pretty new to have a setup like this in a Brazilian project. There are more than 150 led panels here to create all these environments.

I think that gave to the actors a real sensation to be in a track. Any one of these projects could plausibly become a hit. But there's a famous maxim in showbiz, nobody knows anything. Prestige films and shows are expensive, and even in the age of algorithms, success is never guaranteed.

Do you think this can be a global hit? I don't know. I mean, I think you do a project, and then once you finish it, it kind of goes out there and has its own life. I think Netflix in the last few years are taking a big gamble in a very good way.

So how does Netflix stay ahead of the curve? To find out, I sat down with chief content officer Bella Bajaria. She was the first woman of color to lead a major TV studio, Universal Television, before joining Netflix in 2016, where she's pushed to expand the company's international reach by ramping up production of Netflix originals all over the world.

When I moved to the US, I really didn't understand, really, American culture, and at that point, I had a British accent, and so I watched a lot of TV and film. One, to lose the accent, and two, to really try to understand American culture. And so the power of seeing yourself or not ever seeing yourself is a really personal thing for me to be able to watch "The Crown" and scroll right over and watch "The Glory," you know, from Korea or watch "Lupin" from France is all there.

And providing that kind of access for me, kind of personally and professionally, it feels very full circle. You're in charge of content. That's a huge job. Huge job. How do you decide what millions of people around the world want to watch? It really starts with a writer walks in the door, they pitch something, and it's the gut and judgment and intuition of creative executives who just, you know, there's something special in that tone. There's something really specific in that voice.

Audience will love it. It's bold, it's original, it's fresh. You just feel something, and that's really how you decide. Like, there's no other way. It's definitely art, not science, but there's no other way than just that human connection of listening to a story.

Well, that's interesting, because I think so many people think because of technology, because of algorithms, there is a lot of science to it. So how much is it an algorithm versus intuition? There's not an algorithm in the world that would say, you know, you should really make a show about road rage that turns into really a show about human connection and loneliness, like "Beef" actually really explored.

Or, you know, you should really make a period show about a woman playing chess. There is no way that anybody could say, like, that's the formula. Your strategy has been pretty unique for a US based streamer. Why is Netflix going so much more global than your competitors? I have had lots of jobs in Hollywood and linear networks and studios, and I think there was a really domestic focus. And then you sell later or after the fact. Right.

You sell. You can sell your title internationally. We're a global service and we're in 190 countries, so we were always going to do storytelling locally in that way. So that's always just been a big part of our business, and two thirds of our members are outside of the US. Right.

Well, that was my next question. Like, is it paying off? Yes. But I say it's also understanding that people in different countries, it's also the investment in local storytelling. Right. To spend time in those places, not have a western lens on what that is, and understand each, you know, local kind of creative ecosystem, and so be close to the storytelling.

Latin America is the first place Netflix started making originals a decade ago. What's different today? Latin America has had a rich history of storytelling. So many great movies and TV shows, and there's great creative ecosystem there. And what's been great is just to see it continue to grow and to continue to expand the variety and I quality of what we do.

And that means local creative executives and local production executives, and really having people on the ground who speak the language, who come from the culture, and to really work locally in that community, and that's, you know, taking time to build and grow and have that, you know, maturity in that market that way for us. And I think taking these big swings and having these ambitious, you know, productions and really being able to expand that kind of storytelling is really exciting.

When it comes to global ambition, Netflix is clearly ahead of the competition, but Hollywood is still the center of the entertainment world. American made content gets the most views by far on Netflix, despite the thousands of hours of international content on the platform. So pouring millions of dollars into global originals is a risk and, of course, an opportunity which gives executives like Paco a lot of power to shape the company's future by deciding which risks are worth taking.

Alex, one of the directors, told us he thinks Netflix is taking a big gamble in Latin America. How big a gamble do you think you're taking? Alex and I, who have now become very close friends, thinks I'm very crazy, but yes, we're taking a big gamble in the tumor, for sure. And I also think that we have to do it. I told my team we have to be at the forefront of storytelling, at the forefront of understanding our countries.

I don't want to be in a position because we're doing well and we're so successful and our programming is working that we are just caught doing the same forever. So I think it's going to be. I think it's going to pay off. What does Macondo mean to both of you? It's constant reference. It's something that we've heard from even when we didn't know what, we didn't know how to read, we didn't know anything.

It's the sound that's been in the house forever. It's just grown and grown and grown, and everybody has their own idea of Macondo in their head. That's the big challenge of this project, trying to show the world something that they already have an image of in their brains. Are you nervous about it? Are you excited? No. No. Never been nervous about it. We'll just watch it.

We're binge watchers. We'll see it as public, I guess, mostly we'll hope we. Oh, you got. Paco's gonna give you a special cut. Right? We'll send our complaints to Paco. Exactly. And he can deal with them.

Netflix, Technology, Culture, Latin America, Innovation, Entertainment