Poland has always been an important market for Netflix since it launched in the country in January 2016.
Within months it had introduced localised content and signed an agreement with T-Mobile, its first local partner. Then in early 2018 it began production of its first Polish Netflix Original series. Known as 1983, it has since been followed by several other titles, some of which have proved highly successful. The comedy series Sexify, for instance, was in the list of the top 10 most watched titles in over 80 countries and took first place in 20, including Italy, India, Egypt and Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, the crime mini-series In the depths of the forest made the top 10 in around 40 countries and How I fell in love with a gangster was at one stage one of the top three most popular foreign language films.
Alongside these and other commissioned productions, Netflix is now in the third year of what has been described as a “multi-stage” cooperation with the Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA). It began in May 2020 with the creation of an assistance fund for the neediest TV and film industry employees affected by the suspension of productions during the early stages of the Covid pandemic and has since also included a training series for those planning to work in the audiovisual industry and, as of this year, long-term cooperation with the world-famous Lodz Film School.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Netflix has now announced the opening of an office in Warsaw that will act as a hub for the entire CEE region. It has also revealed that in 2020/2021 it invested PLN490 million (€104 million) in Poland, and in doing so created 2,600 jobs. Both figures will almost certainly rise this year and – just as importantly – Netflix will begin to invest more in other CEE markets thanks to its commitment to Poland.
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