Netflix is opening a new production hub in New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced (via TechCrunch). The hub will include an expanded office in Manhattan which will create 127 "high-paying" jobs in executive content, marketing, and production development by 2024. There will also be six sound stages in Brooklyn, which will be capable of holding thousands of production crew jobs in the next five years. In total, Netflix could be investing as much as $100 million in the city.
Netflix has been betting more and more on its original content, and for good reason. Apple recently announced its Apple TV+ subscription service, which is seeing huge investments from the Cupertino company to create original shows from well-known actors and producers, including Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and more.
All the while, Disney, which has pulled some of its content from Netflix, has recently shared details of its own streaming service which will include some of the biggest shows and movies in the industry, including the Marvel universe and Star Wars. With what might well be the two biggest threats the service has faced, Netflix has more reason than ever to prepare to produce more content.
The move is good news for New York, too. Governor Cuomo had hoped to bring in new jobs with the opening of Amazon"s second headquarters, but the deal faced heavy opposition and eventually fell through. While the 127 new jobs in Netflix"s Manhattan office are a far cry from the 25,000 that were supposed to be brought by Amazon, the news will likely still be welcome, especially seeing as Netflix currently only employs 32 people in New York. To reward the creation of jobs, Empire State Development will be paying the firm $4 million in tax credits over the next ten years.