TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the recent cooperation between Netflix and the Indonesian Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry regarding a USD 1 billion investment for Indonesia's film industry, Managing Director of Netflix Asia Pacific Kuek Yu-Chuang, said that he is excited about Indonesia's potential in terms of creating new generations of movie industry workers.

Netflix is set to prepare a multitude of programs in the form of creative writing, post-production training, and invitations to submit short movie concepts to train participants, and are also committed to investing USD1 million in Indonesia in the form of a 'Script to Screen' program in Hollywood.

Moreover, Kuek Yu-Chuang noted a unique feature from Indonesian viewers that goes in-line with its Over-The-Top (OTT) service; the tendency of watching movies from smartphones.

"Indonesian viewers really love to watch programs on their smartphone, the number [of smartphone viewers] is two times larger than the global average user," said Kuek Yu-Chuang.

Netflix's involvement with the Indonesian film industry prior to the partnership with the State-Ministry is when the streaming service partnered with director Timo Tjahjanto to produce the Indonesian original series "The Night Comes for Us."

Other popular Indonesian movies are already available on Netflix such as; Aruna dan Lidahnya, Sebelum Iblis Menjemput, Ada Apa Dengan Cinta, Cek Toko Sebelah, and The Raid.

HALIDA BUNGA