Netflix’s Minyoung Kim Talks Expanding Asia Budget, Future Of Live Sports And Delivering Zombie Films In Thailand & Indonesia — APAC Showcase

Minyoung Kim, Netflix‘s VP for APAC content (excluding India), has quietly become one of the biggest players in the global ecosystem at the world’s leading streamer. She has seen Korean titles grow to become the second-highest-performing content on the service — just behind U.S. shows and films globally, according to Ampere Analysis — with Japanese anime and drama programs also picking up significant steam in recent years.

Kim sat down with Deadline at the streamer’s APAC showcase in Tokyo to talk about Netflix’s growing budgets and wider plans for Asia, the future of live sports programming in the region, and breaking into the zombie genre for the first time in Thailand and Indonesia with Ziam and Elixir.

Of course, South Korea has become a jewel in Netflix’s crown, with global hits such as Squid Game, Kingdom and All of Us Are Dead produced out of the country. In 2023, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos promised that the streamer would invest $2.5B in South Korean content over the next four years. On the progress of this spend in the country, Kim says: “We are continuing to make that investment and we are on par with, if not more, what we have actually promised that we will deliver. This comes out in the shows that you’ve seen.”

Of course, the big title for later this year is Squid Game Season 3, which will complete the survival thriller’s story. Seasons 2 and 3 were shot back-to-back, with the most recent run ending on a cliffhanger note after once again achieving huge viewership. The final season will drop globally on June 27, with Lee Jung-Jae and Lee Byung-hun starring.

While building its original slate in Korea, Netflix has also stocked its shelves with a steady stream of licensed content from partners such as local broadcasters JTBC and SBS, as well as entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM — even with the latter running a rival streaming service, Tving.

Could that domestic competition lead to likes of CJ pulling back from selling to Kim and her team, Deadline wonders. “What I have witnessed, even as they are building their own platforms, is that they have a strategy around their platforms and their shows,” she says. “We now have a very good relationship with them to really figure out what works for us and what works for them.

“To be very frank, there are sometimes overlaps in the shows that they want and that we want, and we end up not being able to license them in our service, but that’s not a big concern for us, because we have so many different partners that we work with. It is important for us to continuously think about how to deliver the best original slate, rather than thinking of getting ready for when we will not have those licenses anymore.”

Increasing engagement in APAC

Looking beyond Korea, Kim says that the overall budget for Asia is “increasing every year.”

She adds: “APAC is one of those regions where people really love local content. The share of consumption around local content is the highest in countries like Korea and Japan. The big challenge is that we’re still growing in this region. Some people will think that Netflix is number one in Asia right now, but I would actually say that we’re still growing in Asia, and there are a lot more untapped audiences. If you look at the overall engagement, we are less than 10% — and far less than that in Asia.”

Kim and her team figure out how many shows they need by analyzing historical data to assess audience needs. “If we really do our jobs right, how much will that increase? Then we put that in. We also have to know the market, because we heavily rely on partners to come up with ideas and make those shows together with us.”

Kim says that she hopes to work towards a future where Asia is an entertainment hub that is “on par with Hollywood in terms of the scale and the ability.

“In Asia, in order for industry to be sustainable and be able to operate on its own, it needs a certain scale,” she says. “But when we look at these Asian countries, each of their industries separately are not big enough, and that’s why we need to make sure we are able to connect all those entertainment industries in Asia.”

“The creative and production ecosystem, and infrastructure they have are all very different. For example, for Thailand, the skillsets around post-production are very, very good. Yet surprisingly, it’s difficult to find the VFX companies that are able to deliver to a certain level. It becomes a chicken-and-egg situation – because the industry was unable to tell the stories with a bigger ambition, there was no need for the companies to actually develop and upskill. But now, as we start to tell more of them, I think the Thai VFX industry will change as well.”

Kim further highlights examples of different and specific strengths that each market has around Asia. She says that for Japan, the country’s strength is in its wealth of IP, which is well-received locally and across the world. In Korea, she points out the country’s strength in VFX, with many highly-skilled and competitive companies. Netflix has tapped on these different strengths to deliver original titles, bringing together cross-cultural teams. “For the rest of the region, we rely on some of the Korean companies to deliver difficult VFX shots,” says Kim.

One example of regional collaboration is in Netflix’s Japanese series remake of French romcom Anonymous emotional (Romantics Anonymous), which was developed by Korea producer Yong Film and has both Korean and Japanese talent behind the camera.

The future of live sports in Asia

As Netflix has evolved, live sports have become a major growth area. Last year’s Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight drew 60 million live streams, even as technical issues beset the event. Kim emphasizes that the streamer’s live sports strategy globally currently revolves around “eventized moments,” not leagues.

In the U.S., this strategy has also involved top-drawer, eye-catching events such as the NFL Christmas Day games and Kim says that if Netflix eventually enters live-sports programming in Asia, the streamer will carry over a similar focus on events.

“Live sports is an area as a company that we constantly try to find ways to entertain our members,” says Kim. “When it comes to the live strategy, what Netflix is really looking at are events, and to be more precise, eventized moments that actually bring members to our service that have not come before, or to create more of a conversation and moments where people can connect together.

“I do hope we will actually expand it to other markets, but right at this moment, we’re trying to learn and build a capability in the U.S., and trying to learn through trial and error until it’s ready for us to bring it to Asia.”

Reflecting on the Tyson-Paul fight, Kim adds that another key takeaway was the significant interest in the women’s boxing match between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano held prior. “What was a pleasant surprise was the women’s boxing before, which created a lot of viewing and conversation and brought women’s boxing more to the surface. That was a really interesting discovery for us,” says Kim.

Thailand and Indonesia’s first zombie films from Netflix

Away from the boxing ring, the undead are rising on Netflix. Some of the streamer’s most successful titles across films and series in South Korea revolve around zombies, including two seasons of Kingdomspinoff feature Ashin of the North and All of Us Are Dead. The streamer will now hope to replicate its successful streak with the genre in Thailand and Indonesia — two countries where adjacent genres and subgenres such as horror, monster films and creature horror have already done well.

Netflix will later this year premiere Elixir from Indonesian horror auteur Kimo Stamboel, as well as Ziam from Thai director Tent Kulp Kaljareuk. Kim says that both teams consulted with the Korea team behind Kingdom to help them better prepare to make their respective zombie films, while retaining a strong local identity.

“The Korea team can teach the techniques, but how you interpret and apply in the films are really up to the Thai team and the Indonesian team,” says Kim.

“These stories will definitely have social commentary that is very relevant to their Indonesian and Thai contexts,” adds Kim. “I am curious, because as a Korean, when Kingdom came out, it was interesting to see the response from the world about how Korea has this brand of a Korean zombie.

“This was not something that Koreans picked up at first, but when people outside of Korea started talking about the characteristics of Korean zombies, that’s when Koreans recognized that this is really Korean. A good, locally authentic story actually comes very naturally, so I’m curious what the conversations around Elixir and Ziam will be.”

If things work out for Kim and co, viewers around the world will just as familiar with Thailand and Indonesia’s undead.