Fuji Television Inks Netflix Deal

TOKYO: Fuji Television Network has announced plans to produce original content for Netflix, which is kicking off its Asian expansion in Japan this fall.

Fuji TV and Netflix unveiled two productions at a press conference in Tokyo: a new season of Terrace House and the drama serial Atelier. Both shows will air first on Netflix and will then be available on Fuji TV On Demand and on broadcast television.

Terrace House is a reality show that ran on the Japanese broadcaster from 2012 to 2014, focusing on six young people sharing a house. Fuji Television is resurrecting the show, issuing a casting call for a new 18-episode season. From Fuji Television and East Entertainment, it is set to premiere in the fall. Atelier, meanwhile, will tell the story of a woman working for a high-end lingerie company. The 13-episode drama is being made by FILM and Fuji TV.

“Netflix will commence its service in Japan this fall," said Greg Peters, the president of Netflix Japan. "We feel that Japanese content is paramount in order for all of Japan to enjoy our service. We are extremely happy that we can be involved in providing original series in Japan with Fuji Television, which has an established reputation in producing content that is especially popular with young people. We believe in our vision of 'connecting the world through amazing stories' and will continue to concentrate our efforts on producing amazing content. We hope to use the opportunities from this project to transmit Japan’s amazing content to our customers in Japan and across the globe.”

Toru Ota, the senior executive managing director at Fuji Television Network, added, "With the launch of Netflix in Japan, Fuji TV has decided to produce and provide the first-ever Japanese content on Netflix. We have taken this bold initiative as we firmly believe it is a meaningful and significant endeavor in the content of the future of the television business. Even with the evolution of infrastructure and devices, we believe the most important factor in the end is the level of capability in content production. These two shows will allow us to demonstrate to the world the high quality of our content and production standards. There are many areas where we feel the same as Netflix, including being proactive in producing original shows such as House of Cards, and attitudes regarding handling of content. These are just some of the reasons behind our decision to undertake this project."