Netflix will not run out of new original content anytime soon despite the industry-wide production shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We work really far out relative to the industry, because we launch our shows all episodes at once. We’re working far out all over the world, so our 2020 slate of series and films are largely shot and are in post-production remotely,” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said during Netflix’s earnings call on Tuesday. “We’re actually pretty deep into our 2021 slate. So we don’t anticipate moving things around.”
Sarandos specifically cited the fourth season of “The Crown” and the animated film “Over the Moon” as upcoming content that will not see their premiere dates delayed, an issue that has challenged many TV networks and film studios. “These are shot productions and in finishing stages right now to release later this year as planned,” he said. “We don’t anticipate moving the schedule around much, certainly not in 2020.”
As far as when Netflix shows can go back into production, Netflix said that it will largely come down to local governments and whether or not they lift or relax their “shelter-in-place” orders. “It will be vary by geographically and it will be vary by type of production certainly. First and foremost we want to make sure that it is an unbelievably safe workplace environment,” he said, adding that the availability of rapid testing will be another major factor. Netflix has been able to proceed with productions based in Iceland and South Korea, two countries that avoided a total shutdown during the pandemic.
“We’re taking some of those key learnings about how we run those productions today and applying that to our plans to start up our productions around the world,” Sarandos continued.