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In December, a report on the inquiry into the Australian film and television industry suggested SVOD providers should also be required to invest in local content and potentially spend around 10 per cent of revenues earned in Australia.
Mr Sneesby said Stan was already creating local productions as they work for its business strategy.
International distribution was important to “keep the cost down”, he said. Stan has signed distribution deals with Disney’s ABC International and Sony Pictures Television for the new local productions, but the shows are being created specifically for Australian audiences.
Local content is seen as a key differentiator between Stan and other global streaming platforms. In the future, Mr Sneesby said this could even mean a move into local sports and live-streamed content.
While there is a risk well-resourced rival Netflix could embark on its own suite of Australian programming, with some plans already in the works, he was not concerned by this prospect.
“You’ve got to remember [that Netflix’s] business strategy is to create content for a global platform and a global audience,” Mr Sneesby said.
He sees Netflix’s ambitions to create more globally-focused productions in-house as advantageous for Stan.
“As Netflix’s strategy moves more towards original ... in some respects they are becoming a threat to the Hollywood studios,” he said.
“Netflix has been open to say they’re going to produce most of their content themselves so that natural force that is at play has already positioned us in a very important strategic position,” he said.
Disney recently announced the end to its distribution agreement with Netflix and announced it would be going direct to consumer with its own streaming service, expected to be launched in 2019.
A Netflix spokesman said two original Australian Netflix series are in production in Queensland - Tidelands and a yet-to-be-named Chris Lilley project - and noted there were several co-productions in place with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This provides the ABC with first-runs, while Netflix distributes the show offshore.
Screen Producers Australia chief executive Matthew Deaner said more local content being commissioned by subscription platforms was “great”, but he still thought quotas were needed to ensure consistency and certainty.
“[New commissions] won’t solve the bigger problem as two new productions, together with library deals, won’t lift the level of local content that Australians’ can access on SVOD services, which last year was at 9.5 per cent on Stan and 2 per cent on Netflix,” Mr Deaner said.
Jennifer Duke writes about media and telecommunications.
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