Despite general criticism of Netflix’s performance in India and trailing behind rivals like Disney+Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video, the Reed Hastings co-founded company has decided to make Mumbai home to its first company-owned global post-production facility.

“We take a step forward in our journey, and are thrilled to share that Mumbai will be home to Netflix’s first fully owned, live-action, full-service post-production facility globally,” the company posted on its website.

To be fully operational by June 2022, Netflix said the facility will have 40 offline editing rooms designed as a flexible, collaborative and inspiring environment for show-runners, directors, editors and sound designers to create their best work.

“With innovation and collaboration as the key focus, the facility will pioneer advanced media management workflows that will allow a seamless partnership with India’s post-production community,” it stated.

Elaborating on this India love story, the streamer said five years ago it started on an “exciting journey in India, bringing stories of the world to India and taking Indian stories to the world”. India’s vast diversity and cultural heritage presents a spectacular window of storytelling, from books and songs to plays and folktales.

“Indian audiences love high quality and diverse stories available on demand to suit their tastes and moods. We saw this last year with an increase in viewing of stories across formats, genres and languages. Whether it’s our favourite preschool hit series Mighty Little Bheem, International Emmy winning series Delhi Crime, or our beloved films like Guilty, Ludo, Pagglait and Paava Kadhaigal, it’s been an incredible ride,” the company said on its website.

Pointing out that it is “deeply committed to India” having invested Rs. 3,000 crore (approximately USD 4,10,790.00)in local programming over 2019 and 2020 to build a universe of Indian stories, Netflix said in March 2021, a lineup of 41 titles featuring more variety and diversity was announced — from the biggest films and series to gripping documentaries and reality, and ingenious comedy formats.

“We launched NetFX last year, a platform that enables multiple Indian artists to work on VFX for titles globally. We are investing in the latest technologies and skill development through multiple certifications and training workshops in post-production, script writing and other aspects of creative production. We want to continue to contribute to the Indian creative community.

“Our goal is to keep improving the overall experience for our talent and industry partners, and equip them with the best resources to tell authentic stories in the most engaging  manner,” the company said, adding it couldn’t be “more excited to start this new adventure” together.