“Call My Agent,” the Netflix blockbuster about a Paris talent firm where staff struggle to keep their clients happy and their business afloat, has generated spin-offs at bewildering speed, the Financial Times reported.
Critics say “Dix Pour Cent,” the French title, is a sharp, hilarious look at the hell of being an agent. It features many awesome guest stars, each playing a very believable yet fictional version of themselves.
But a French regulation guarantees the show’s independent producers will earn the profits from spin-offs.
“In terms of rights, Dix Pour Cent is a good example of the old world and the new one because at the time no one knew it would become such a global phenomenon,” Pierre-Antoine Capton, chief executive of Mediawan, an independent producer that owns the show, told the news outlet.
Streaming services like Amazon, Disney, and Netflix are worried about regulations that restrict the freedom of these platforms in a key market.
When the show was first written and financed in 2015 by France’s national television channel, it was done under a rule where producer rights for traditional television were protected by law. In that way, ownership of the brand returned to its producers, in contrast to most Netflix originals.
As a result, while some “Call My Agent” remakes are on Netflix, its producers had the power to sell other versions to rival services and broadcasters.
“The producers we work with in Spain, Italy, Germany and elsewhere in Europe look at the French system with envy and say they wish there was something similar in their own markets,” said Capton. “France is a model in the world of TV and cinema production. The power dynamic with the US studios has shifted.”
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Read more: Blockbusters Give Streaming Services Short-Term Boost, Long-Term Churn
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