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Welcome to another Insider, friends. Jesse Whittock with you as guide through the biggest news and views from the TV and film worlds this week. |
Jappreciation: Hard to believe, but Netflix is this week marking 10 years in Japan. A decade ago the Los Gatos-headquartered streamer had precisely zero market and public presence, but now it reaches 10 million people in Japan and is colloquially known as 'Netofuri.' No surprise then that a company not averse to tooting its own horn spent much of the week horn-tooting. Amid the celebrations, Sara Merican secured an exclusive chat with Kaata Sakamoto
, Netflix’s Vice-President of Content for Japan, who reminisced on the early days and laid out the vision. “When the service launched in the beginning, the brand awareness was very low, but now, many people know about Netflix, and they’re enjoying our services,” he said. No wonder, when you consider its hit originals include Alice in Borderland, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho and Pokémon Concierge, while prepping big-ticket items such as Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?, Steel Ball Run and Straight to Hell. Netflix's anniversary came in the week a Media Partners Asia report
revealed spend on streaming is set to outpace that of pay-TV for the first time in Asia this year ($5B vs $4.9B). With overall spend in Asia's biggest seven territories (Japan is, of course, among them) set to rise to $16.7B by 2029, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic for Netflix and its peers. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters revealed Japanese titles on his platform have been viewed for a cumulative 25 billion hours, making them the second most-watched non-English content globally, and it looks like that number will only increase. This manga-infused creativity ain't stopping any time soon.
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TIFF talk: The Toronto International Film Festival ends on Sunday, and it felt as though this year’s festival passed without controversy. In our politically fraught times, that could be a positive. Nonetheless, on the film side, the buzziest title that you may not have heard of was Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36, which received a 20-minute ovation
after its debut screening in Toronto. TIFF head Cameron Bailey suggested the ovation length, which had to be cut short to leave time for an onstage Q&A, was one of the longest in the history of the festival. The film explores the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in which Palestinians rose up against Britain’s colonial rule, against a backdrop of rising Jewish immigration following the country’s support for the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. On the industry side, Focus closed the biggest deal, with our colleague Anthony D'Alessandro reporting the studio was forking out upwards of $15M on the horror flick Obsession
from YouTuber Curry Barker. Elsewhere, Universal head Donna Langley sat for a chat with Bailey, where she discussed Chris Nolan’s upcoming Odyssey feature and more. Langley said a good slate always starts with an animated movie, as well as a couple of all-audience movies (i.e. a Jurassic World or Fast & Furious). “There’s the 'everything else' bucket from horror to comedy – that’s up and down at the moment, and two original films,” she said. Check out the full Langley chat here. And check back to see who wins the coveted TIFF audience award
here.
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eurovision crisis deepens |
"Unconscionable": The ramifications of Israel's relentless assault on Gaza continued to impact TV this week. Several European countries threatened to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
if the European Broadcasting Union allows Israel to participate. After the likes of Spain, Slovenia and Iceland all made public statements saying they would likely bypass the 70th edition of the singing competition if their concerns were ignored, Ireland's RTÉ yesterday said that participating “would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.” Just as Deadline was going to press, Netherlands pubcaster AVROTROS issued a statement saying there was "proven evidence of interference by the Israeli government" in the 2025 edition. No detail on what the interference amounts to was provided, but we'll have a story online imminently. The EBU usually makes its final ruling on participation in October, but the Israel issue has been
splitting Europe and the decision has been delayed to the final months of the year. Israel this week struck at Hamas leaders in Qatar, marking another escalation in the Middle East. Its leaders said the military action was justified as it targeted Hamas operatives who were behind the October 7 2023 attack on Israel, which killed nearly 1,200 and saw around 250 taken as hostages. Strikes in Houthi-controlled areas on Yemen and more bombs in Gaza followed later in the week, as signs of peace grow fainter by the day.
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In exile: It's been nearly 20 years since Golshifteh Farahani was forced to flee Iran after her appearance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Ridley Scott’s Middle East thriller Body of Lies angered the Islamic Regime authorities in her native country. Despite being one of Iran's most successful actors, she was forced to rebuild her life and career abroad and has gone on to appear in the likes of Eden, My Sweet Pepper Land, William Tell, Paterson, Extraction and Invasion
. She has likened her exile from home to losing a limb. “Soon I will have spent half of my life outside of Iran but I remain Iranian," she told Melanie from the Deauville American Film Festival, where she is jury president. "I travel with saffron; celebrate Nowruz and the fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri, and take Hafez with me wherever I go,” she added, referring to the 14th century lyrical Persian poet. More about her work and life can be found here. |
Shakespearean: Breaking Baz is unparalleled in his knowledge and access to the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and of the actors who tread its distinguished boards. This week, he got the lowdown on Oscar winner Helen Hunt's RSC debut, in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, and heard from The Tempest
director Richard Eyre about his excitement finally getting to work with another Oscar winner, Kenneth Branagh. That's “not for want of trying,” Eyre said with a sigh. “Somehow the stars have never been aligned. I’m very, very thrilled that he’s going to play Prospero.” The role will mark Branagh's first RSC role in three decades. Read the piece for all the usual Baz flourishes and a great anecdote from Hunt about "brushing your teeth [as] the ghost of Peter O'Toole steps over your shoulder." More Shakespearean fun, as this morning
we reported on a BBC Radio interview with Branagh, in which he recalled an on-stage mishap involving a glove that he very nearly got away with (spoiler: not quite). To sacrilegiously tamper with a Will Shakespeare line Prospero made famous, "This is such stuff as dreams are made on."
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