In September of 2014 I wrote a blog announcing that the US and China would be teaming up for Co-Productions. Today it was reported on Deadline that Netflix has acquired the Chinese drama Empresses In The Palace.
This move marks the beginning of a new relationship for streaming giant Netflix with LeTV — China’s leading online video platform.
Netflix To Show Chinese Drama ‘Empresses In The Palace’
Netflix will make some modifications. The original series has 76 45-minute episodes. These will be cut into six 90-minute episodes.
Empresses In The Palace follows the intrigues among the emperor’s concubines in the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty.
Netflix has made no specific comment on a partnership but the TCA Press TourDeadline understands that execs from Netflix and LeTV met this week to begin discussing ways in which the two companies can collaborate moving forward.
One particular area of interest will be with the international rollout of LeTV Cloud. LeTV has big ambitions for its cloud platform: In January this year it said it had closed a deal with Microsoft to work closely together to build a global platform based on Microsoft’s cloud platform, integrating LeTV’s video cloud computing service with Microsoft’s media service Windows Azure.
LeTV has already met with leading content providers, including Sony and HBO, about getting access to its content to place on what execs are describing will be “an open platform.” The initial focus for LeTV Cloud will be in the U.S., and execs are planning to offer both Chinese- and English-language content.
It is the potential partnership with Netflix that could offer plenty of synergies. Netflix’s chief content officer has been vocal in his desire to see Netflix expand into China. He has been keen to stress the company’s desire to do so without a local partner. Speaking to reporters in Shanghai in March, Sarandos commented, “These ventures become very complex and very difficult to manage, and ultimately difficult to be successful.”
However, going alone would leave Netflix “subject to a censorship and regulatory environment that we haven’t had to deal with,” added Sarandos.
Talks between the companies are in their infancy. Currently on the table is both collaboration on original English-language and Chinese-language content. The mutual interest is that both parties will facilitate the other’s global ambitions:
- Netflix’s desire to enter the potentially massive online Chinese market
- LeTV’s desire to branch out internationally
This will be an interesting venture to watch.
