Netflix’s Africa Content Head Dorothy Ghettuba Maps Out Streamer’s Local-First Strategy for Continent: ‘We Don’t Aim for Global Hits’

Netflix’s director of content for Africa Dorothy Ghettuba laid out the streamer’s strategy for the continent this week at the Durban FilmMart, telling a standing-room-only session that the key to launching the next global sensation is to first capture the hearts of local audiences.

“We want to entertain the world. We want to tell them African stories,” said Ghettuba. “But our focus first has got to be local, and then it goes global. We don’t aim for global hits. Shows like ‘Casa de Papel,’ ‘Burning Body,’ ‘Squid Game’ — those are local shows.”

The Netflix exec appeared in conversation in Durban with South African producers Jayan Moodley (“Keeping Up With the Kandasamys”) and Katleho Ramaphakela (“How to Ruin Christmas”), who used their personal experience as case studies for how to launch a hit on the global streaming giant.

Ghettuba pointed to titles like “Kandasamys,” a comedy franchise set in South Africa’s Indian community, and the hit comedy series “How to Ruin Christmas,” as examples of “authentic stories that will resonate with the local audience first” before becoming global breakouts.

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“You can’t manufacture a global hit, but you can start by having an authentic local story,” she said. “It has to be something that people will love, they will enjoy, and then a fandom will be created around it.

“The moment you say, ‘I have an international hit,’ I am out,” she continued. “Because what we have learned is that the more local a show, the more it resonates with your audience. And what happens is that it is loved by people in South Africa, and there’s an effect that it is loved by people in Africa and across the globe.”

Since the 2020 release of its first African original series, the Pearl Thusi-starring spy thriller “Queen Sono,” Netflix has steadily developed relationships with a range of African creators, inking multi-title deals with filmmakers including super-producer Mo Abudu (“Blood Sisters“) and director Kunle Afolayan (“Anikulapo”) from Nigeria, as well as South African filmmakers Mandla Dube (“Silverton Siege”) and Donovan Marsh (“iNumber Number”) and production outfits Ochre Moving Pictures (“Soon Comes Night”) and Gambit Films (“Blood & Water”).

Returning to her local-first message, Ghettuba said that such partnerships were the product of finding creators whose shows had already built a passionate local following.

“If I have a show that is a hit globally and doesn’t work in South Africa, I will not commission a second season. Because it has not done what it needs to do. That is to entertain local audiences,” she said. “So when we are looking at whether to renew a show for a second season, the first thing is, did it find an audience? Did it find people who loved it?

“That’s what happened with ‘How to Ruin,’ that’s what happened with ‘Kandasamys.’ It finds an audience. South Africans are watching, they’re laughing, they’re talking about it. It resonates with them,” she continued. “There’s a fandom that has been built around that show, and that’s what enabled us to speak to Kat and Jayan and say, ‘What else do you think you can come up with that will continue to entertain and bring joy to this fandom that you have created?’”

Netflix’s latest African slate, which includes new titles from Nigeria’s Abudu and Kemi Adetiba (“King of Boys”), highlights how the Los Gatos-based streamer is doubling down on its key markets on the continent. But Ghettuba stressed that the company is taking a “step by step” approach as it continues its African expansion.

“We’re in South Africa; that’s the main focus for us. We are looking at Nigeria as well. And then, for the rest of Africa, it’s very optimistic. We do find these titles from time to time. The idea for us is to keep on growing,” she said. “We are so committed to Africa. We are committed. We are here to stay.”

The Durban FilmMart runs July 19 – 22.