Netflix celebrates its 15th anniversary in Latin America as one of its most sophisticated markets.
Mexico City, Sep 7 (EFE)
Netflix’s Vice President of Content for Latin America, Francisco Ramos, highlighted this Monday, while celebrating its 15 years in the region, that it is “the first place for international expansion” and one of its most “sophisticated” markets in the world, with high-impact productions such as the television adaptation of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’, the successful Mexican film ‘Roma’ or the Argentine series ‘El Eternauta’.
“Latin America represents the first site of international expansion, 15 years ago. Growth has been constant,” Ramos remarked in an interview with EFE at the content platform’s headquarters in Mexico City.
Netflix began offering its content streaming services in Latin America in 2011.
“There’s a sophistication among Latin American audiences, who watch content from all over. If you look at the top ten, in the case of Mexico, they’re watching content that’s clearly Mexican, but also from other countries. It was the site that gave us many clues that local content was going to be a determining factor in our value proposition,” he emphasized.
In this regard, Ramos cited as an example that the first non-English language series produced by Netflix was precisely in Mexico, ‘Club de Cuervos’ in 2015, which broke with the tradition until then that the only audiovisual content that “traveled regularly was American”.
“I think what happens is that people like to see themselves and also see other people. And that’s the secret ingredient in our recipe,” he added.
Recently, the company has launched high-impact productions based on adaptations of classics of Latin American literature, such as ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez, or ‘Pedro Páramo’ by the Mexican Juan Rulfo.
“We want to be a deeply committed part of the societies in which we operate. And we want to be perceived as a Mexican company in Mexico, a Brazilian company in Brazil, or a Colombian company in Colombia. If we don’t take risks, we aren’t truly committed to society,” he explained.
For Ramos, one of Netflix’s objectives is to challenge prejudices and position the Latin American region as one of its key markets.
“We need to get rid of this notion that Latin Americans only know how to make soap operas. All that’s missing is someone taking a chance. The talent is there, the ideas are there. I refuse to believe that Koreans or the British can make series like ‘The Crown’ or ‘The Squid Game’ and we can’t make series like ‘El Eternauta’ or ‘Senna,’ and we’ve proven it,” he said.
Mexico, one of the great global audiovisual centers
Within Latin America, Mexico is one of the company’s main markets, where it has recently expanded its offices.
Netflix has produced or co-produced more than 200 titles between 2016 and 2025, and during that period its investments contributed more than 50 billion pesos (more than 2.7 billion dollars) to Mexico’s GDP, when accounting for its multiplier effect on local supply chains as well as the hiring of talent agencies and food and beverage services.
“I’m always asked why Mexico is so important. One, because there are so many of us Mexicans. And two, because there is so much love for Mexican culture and art outside of Mexico,” he said.
As main advantages, Ramos highlighted that Mexico has a “greater cultural diversity” than other places and that its proximity to the United States has made it “very competent in technical execution” because many American productions are carried out in the country, among which he cited hits such as ‘The Walking Dead’.
According to Ramos, the potential of cultural industries goes beyond the obvious economic return, as it allows for the development of “the construction of a country brand, an identity, and a core of thinking people who move consciences and cause countries to position themselves in a differentiated place.”
Finally, he noted that Netflix productions were filmed in more than 100 cities and towns across Mexico, with approximately 50% of the locations outside of Mexico City, including Guadalajara, Puerto Escondido, San Miguel de Allende, Hermosillo, and Tijuana.
