Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix’s content director for Africa, outlined the streamer’s strategy for the continent at the Durban FilmMart this week. During a standing-room-only session, he said the key to launching the next global sensation is to capture the hearts of local audiences first.
“We want to entertain the world. We want to tell them African stories,” said Ghettuba. “But our focus must be local first, and then global. We are not aiming for global hits. Shows like ‘Casa de Papel,’ ‘Burning Body,’ ‘Squid Game’ – those are local shows.”
The Netflix executive appeared in Durban in conversation with South African producers Jayan Moodley (“Keeping Up With the Kandasamys”) and Katleho Ramaphakela (“How to Ruin Christmas”), who used their personal experiences as case studies for how to make a hit can launch on the global streaming giant.
Ghettuba pointed to titles like “Kandasamys,” a comedy franchise set in South Africa’s Indian community, and the hit comedy series “How to Ruin Christmas,” as examples of “authentic stories that first resonate with local audiences” before being released. become global breakthroughs. .
“You can’t make a global hit, but you can start with an authentic local story,” she said. “It has to be something that people will love, that they will enjoy, and then a fandom will be created around it.
“The moment you say, ‘I have an international hit,’ I’m out,” she continued. “Because what we’ve learned is that the more local a show is, the more it resonates with your audience. And what happens is that people in South Africa love it, and the effect is that people in Africa and around the world love it.”
Since the 2020 release of its first African original series, the spy thriller “Queen Sono” starring Pearl Alsoi, Netflix has steadily developed relationships with a range of African creators, inking multi-title deals with filmmakers including super-producer Mo Abudu (“ Blood Sisters“) and director Kunle Afolayan (“Anikulapo”) from Nigeria, as well as South African filmmakers Mandla Dube (“Silverton Siege”) and Donovan Marsh (“iNumber Number”) and production outfits Ocher Moving Pictures (“Soon Comes Night “) and Gambit Films (“Blood & Water”).
Returning to her local-first message, Ghettuba said such partnerships were the product of finding creators whose shows had already built a passionate local following.
“If I have a show that is a hit worldwide and doesn’t work in South Africa, I won’t commission a second season. Because it didn’t do what it was supposed to do. That is to entertain the local audience,” she said. “So when we look at whether to renew a show for a second season, the first thing we have to do is: has it found an audience? Did it find people who loved it?
“That’s what happened with ‘How to Ruin,’ that’s what happened with ‘Kandasamys.’ It finds an audience. South Africans look, they laugh, they talk about it. It resonates with them,” she continued. “There’s a fandom built around that show, and that allowed us to talk to Kat and Jayan and say, ‘What else do you think you can come up with that will continue to entertain and bring joy to this fandom?’ have created?'”
Netflix’s latest African slate, which includes new titles from Nigerians Abudu and Kemi Adetiba (“King of Boys”), shows how the Los Gatos-based streamer is doubling down on its key markets on the continent. But Ghettuba emphasized that the company is taking a “step by step” approach as it continues its expansion in Africa.
“We are in South Africa; that is the main focus for us. We also look at Nigeria. And then for the rest of Africa it is very optimistic. We come across these titles occasionally. The idea for us is to keep growing,” she said. “We are so committed to Africa. We are committed. We are here to stay.”
The Durban FilmMart runs from July 19 to 22.