Netflix will spend about $15 billion for acquiring or creating original content this year. How does it decide what’s worth going after, and what isn’t?
Rajiv Chilaka waited four years for his phone to ring. The creator of the wildly popular animated series Chhota Bheem had first written to Netflix in 2012. It was a simple, cold pitch. Along the lines of “let’s work together”.
Chhota Bheem had found a loyal audience in India via broadcasting company Turner India, but Chilaka had bigger dreams. It took many emails, phone calls and finally bumping into a Netflix executive at an event before the company set up a meeting. Netflix was just entering the country in 2016 and wanted Chilaka to develop an animated series for preschoolers. …
Harveen is a co-founder at The Morning Context, and leads our Internet coverage, overseeing a team of reporters writing on startups and tech. She has previously worked as a media, consumer and tech reporter at The Ken and Mint. At The Morning Context, she writes on startups, venture capital, consumer and media businesses—from e-commerce to healthtech to streaming.
Editor, Internet
harveen@mailtmc.com
Mumbai