Medhi Bensaïd, Morocco’s Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, met with representatives of Netflix to discuss what the American platform can offer the country. Their discussion on October 3rd is the first of many, leading perhaps to a strategic partnership. Several points were discussed.
The first concerns the platform’s development and product promotion in Morocco. The minister wants Netflix to “set up here as it has just done in Nigeria” with the aim of making Morocco a key base and filming location for international productions. This first discussion was “to put [Netflix representatives] in touch with the studios in Ouarzazate and the future studios in Marrakech so they can work together. This will allow the townspecialising in film production to have real visibility over several years, especially for television series which have several seasons and dozens of episodes.” Mr. Bensaïd wants Morocco to be ranked among the top 5 countries hosting international productions.
The meeting was also a chance to discuss distributing Moroccan films on the platform. Morocco wants to highlight its own films and more particularly produce with Netflix documentaries and series about the country’s history to enhance its image and heritage.
A second meeting is scheduled for November.
