Netflix plans content spend up to $8bn for 2018

“They range anywhere from the million-dollar Sundance hit, all the way up to something on a much larger scale,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, in comments to investors earlier this week.

Netflix turned industry heads early last year by investing more than $90m in Bright (pictured), a fantasy crime drama from Suicide Squad director David Ayer that stars Will Smith.

The high-profile project shot on location in California, an unusual move for a big-budget feature given that the state’s filming incentive programme prioritises television.

Netflix’s third-quarter revenue for 2017 reached $2.99bn – a 30% increase on the same period last year – with 5.3 million new subscribers worldwide.

The company’s deep financial resources means it has more freedom than some of the established Hollywood studios to shoot in places where filming incentive support is not necessarily as generous. Indeed, earlier this year Sarandos revealed plans to escalate production in California.

Netflix also recently made a CA$500m commitment to invest in content in Canada, the first business move of its type that the company has made outside the US.

Image: Netflix