Netflix deepens its footprint in Latin America. The giant of streaming has inaugurated its new offices in the region this week in Mexico. He does so weeks after having opened some in Sao Paulo and preparing the inauguration of others in Buenos Aires. Greg Peters, the company’s co-CEO since January 2023, landed in the capital to underline the local commitment of Netflix, which employs around 400 people locally and still plans to increase its workforce by 15% by the end of 2026. The offices will serve as a creative center for the Mexican audiovisual community.
Unlike Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, and Ted Sarandos, the company’s other senior executive, Peters (Denver, 1970), who studied Physics and Astronomy at Yale, has a more technological and corporate discourse. Its role has been to expand the conversation about Netflix, which has ceased to be just a film and television platform and has now become a showcase that offers video games, live events and even long-form video podcasts.
Netflix, which has 325 million subscribers globally, is embroiled in a battle over the future of Hollywood. The giant offers $83 billion to take over Warner Bros., in a cash deal. The transaction has another suitor, Paramount, who counter-offered with a hostile takeover bid. The process will have a key moment on March 20, when the studio’s shareholders vote.
A small distraction has taken attention away from the big acquisition. A 15-second clip of a fight between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise created with the artificial intelligence tool of ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has caused waves of fear in the entertainment industry. He recalled the imminent risk of a sector that is rapidly transforming.
Q. Did you see the video of the fight?
R. It’s impressive that technology is getting to that point. I also thought that it does not have the quality that we would like and, above all, that it does not tell a story. And this is the most important thing. People misunderstand how artificial intelligence will influence content creation. The ability to tell a story very well is a very rare human characteristic. You can have plenty of shows that pit two celebrities against each other, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter without great storytelling ability.
Q. The fragment reminds us how quickly technology changes. The first version of Seedance came out just eight months ago.
R. It’s a good point. The technological advances that support production have always moved at great speed. But I think better tools support storytellers, not replace them. I have not seen a single AI model that has made a long-term history.
Q. Are you in Mexico to reiterate your commitment to the country?
R. We have been in Mexico for 15 years. We begin with the commitment to tell more stories to our Mexican consumers. 10 years ago we did our first series outside the United States, Ravens Club. Last year we committed to investing $1 billion over four years to produce here. And we built this site because we will grow and have more employees.
Q. The Mexican Government this week unveiled some long-awaited tax incentives for production. What is your opinion on this?
R. It is a good model for governments to compete to encourage production in their localities. It is a recognition by governments of the positive effects of filming. Pedro Paramo It left an economic impact of 375 million pesos. We have carried out countless tourist campaigns with state and national governments. Expedia, one of our partners, makes packages for people to visit the places where our filming has taken place.
Q. Did Netflix push this legislation in any way?
R. No. To be clear, our commitment is independent of this model. We do not condition it, we suggest it and we are not tied to it in any way.
Q. Will they be able to benefit from these incentives beyond 2029, when their investment commitment ends?
R. Yes, we support them because they benefit the ecosystem. And we trust in a healthy ecosystem. The countries that have these types of incentives are those with the strongest creative ecosystems, like the United Kingdom.
Q. Will this model bring more Hollywood productions?
R. It’s definitely possible because there is an incredible creative infrastructure and a lot of talent here.
Q. You have expanded the conversation about Netflix content, which is no longer limited to series and movies. Also to video games and live events. What are you seeing in the future?
R. One of our core beliefs is interactivity. Fans of a certain universe should have a creative space to celebrate the things they like with more capacity and control. I think that’s where entertainment is evolving. We are seeing it because it is the expectation of the younger generations. And what we are doing is enabling those capabilities that add value on the same platform. One of the things we are most excited about is developing interactive games where people can vote live and the audience participates. Imagine a game where you have six people competing with six others, but millions of people influencing how the game evolves. Or a first person shooter where you can influence how it develops.
Q. Sports have also become a spearhead for the company in markets such as the United States. Can you share a little about this strategy?
R. We started the live events strategy in the United States because when we explore new formats we have to build a lot: what will be the programming strategy? What is the correct experience with the product? How to bring it effectively to consumers? After testing these capabilities, we have started taking it to different countries. Mexico was one of them with the Canelo fight, which had 41 million viewers, 13 million in the country.
Q. Will there be more of that type?
A. This year we will do the event Supernova: Genesiswhich will be amazing. In the future, some will be sporty and some will not. We are testing which sports suit our strategy. Maybe it’s not an entire season of a football league, but something more. A good example is the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, which will be broadcast on Netflix exclusively in the United States and Canada. It is a temporally defined event, with many games in two weeks, and we can tell stories related to the matches, who is who or what are the main rivalries?
Q. With that they aim to have the rights to a men’s World Cup?
R. The rights to that event are sold for a period of time and there is a window to get them. But the Women’s World Cup is a kind of indicator. We think it may fit into our event model.
Q. In these years we have seen Netflix’s appetite grow. It can be seen with the purchase operation of Warner Bros. This week it was announced that they have given Paramount a period of seven days to continue negotiations, why?
R. I would say our ambition has grown because our consumers want more value from us. And we are dealing with that with various mechanisms. We increased production and are giving more licenses. We expand our content through interactive topics or video podcasts. And one of those growth mechanisms, perhaps something exotic because it doesn’t happen every day, is the opportunity to buy Warner Bros. It has been a process with a lot of noise, a lot of drama. Paramount has said a lot and says it has a new offer. To put it plainly: it’s time to talk less and do more.
Q. Is there confidence that they will close the operation?
R. It is important to Warner shareholders, its employees and the creative community. It is better that they have certainties. All this noise and drama is not good.
Q. What do you have left to do these weeks until the shareholder vote on March 20?
R. We have been very clear about the value of our offer and why it is good for consumers. They will have more entertainment and it is also positive for the creative community because we are investing in growth, in productions. We are not seeking consolidation or making cuts or layoffs.
Q. Paramount assures that they have the green light from the German regulator…
R. I think it is an exaggeration of this so-called “approval”. We had that same approval from the German authorities that same day. And just to be clear, it’s not an endorsement. Basically, it’s the authorities saying that we have accomplished everything we are saying we will do.
Q. In the shareholder call last quarter, you said that there is still room for growth even without the acquisition.
R. It’s right. We have increased the production budget by 20%. We are also looking for more aggressive ways to gain broadcast rights. And we look for new alliances that support growth. These could be with Mercado Libre, which has just launched in Mexico, or TF1 in France, with whom we will have an alliance starting this summer. But we are working at full speed to achieve a unique opportunity to have an incredible content library.
Q. There is another final obstacle they would have to clear, the US regulator. Are they afraid that Trump, who has pressured media companies recently, will get involved in the process?
R. We are very comfortable with the regulatory process. You just have to look at the data on competition in the television sector. Let’s just look at the case of YouTube, who has more hours of television than us. We are still a fraction of the market in that sector, around 9% or 10.5%. In all markets our concentration figure is similar. Paramount has more hours on linear television. So we do not see any risk of concentration. This can always be politicized, but we are a good corporate citizen in all the territories where we operate.
Q. Don’t you fear pressure from the White House?
R. I’m not saying it won’t happen with all the noise in our political environment. But we have faith in the regulatory systems and the laws that, at the end of the day, are what govern the decision.
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