Netflix Sets Up Production Office in Rome (EXCLUSIVE)

After opening its doors in Paris last week, Netflix is setting up an office in Rome, Variety can reveal.

The streaming giant has confirmed that it will move its Italian team, which is now based in Amsterdam, to new offices in the Italian capital, where they are currently seeking a space. The process will take place over the next few months.

Netflix’s Italian team of roughly 30 employees, that is currently working out of Amsterdam, comprises marketing, publicity and production executives.

“Since the launch of the service in Italy in 2015 we have been welcomed with enthusiasm by many Italian subscribers and have had the good fortune of working with a wide range of talents, some well-established while others emerging,” Netflix VP of international originals Kelly Luegenbiehl told Variety in a statement.

She added that opening a Rome office is the next logical step and “will allow us to strengthen our many creative partnerships and work on a growing offer of movies and series made in Italy.”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had hinted that opening an Italian office in Rome was imminent last October following news that Milan prosecutors had opened a probe into the streaming giant’s alleged tax evasion in Italy on the basis that its Italian servers constituted a digital infrastructure that makes their revenues taxable under Italian law.

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Netflix Italian originals currently include “Suburra: The Series” and “Baby.” Next week, they will be unveiling witchcraft series “Luna Nera,” the third original from the country, helmed by a trio of Italian women: Francesca Comencini (“Gomorra”), Susanna Nicchiarelli (“Nico, 1988”) and Paola Randi (“Little Tito and the Aliens”) and produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango.

Other Netflix Italy originals in various stages include: “Curon” a supernatural drama set a village submerged by water in the province of Bolzano; “Summertime” a contemporary romancer based on a novel by popular local teen literature author Federico Moccia; “Zero,” a show combining a superhero narrative with the lives of first-generation African immigrants in Italy; and “Fedelta,” a relationships drama series based on a local bestseller by author Marco Missiroli.

Netflix last year announced a €200 million ($222 million) investment in Italian original productions through 2021.

 

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