Netflix EMEA chief Larry Tanz has warned against a “one size fits all approach” to rights retention around Europe that risks benefitting huge indies backed by “private equity or sovereign wealth.”
Speaking at the Enders TMT Leaders Conference, Tanz committed to breaking Netflix’s European spend record “next year and the year after that,” but warned against “underlying problems” with regulation that will worsen things.
Deadline understands he was referring to new streamer obligation rules in Germany. The German act forces global streaming platforms to invest 8–12% of their German revenue into local productions and also bans standard “work-for-hire” contracts by requiring streamers to relinquish rights. The latter is legislated by some other nations.
Tanz pushed against this, arguing that “if the regulatory direction of travel is a one size fits all approach, with IP always ending with local producers, the consequences would be big.”
He suggested that some of the indies that would benefit are big beasts “often backed by”private equity or sovereign wealth” at the expense of smaller, true independents.
He also pushed back once again against local content quotas, which he said are stifling the situation in nations like France, “where restrictions are getting harder to sustain [spend].”
“Let’s not sleepwalk into a world where legacy definitions stop our ability to take risks and innovate,” he added. “We would have to funnel money with specific structures into shows audiences may not want to watch, instead of shows with the best chance of succeeding.”
Tanz contrasted the French and German situation with the UK, which has “thrived because there are many routes to market.” “That is what we should try and preserve,” he said.
Tanz was speaking at the Enders Conference after Karl Holmes, a counterpart at Disney+, and before House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal.
