Dennis RomeroNetflix is becoming a bigger and bigger player in the Hollywood film industry. All you have to do is look at the success it has had distributing original episodic programming (Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards).
So it should come as no surprise that, as the online streaming service goes Hollywood, it's going to Hollywood.
Netflix and the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti formally announced yesterday that the company's L.A. area operations will be moving from Beverly Hills to the Sunset Bronson Studios complex in Hollywood.
Garcetti's office said Netflix will “lease a significant portion of Hudson Pacific Properties' ICON office tower at Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood.”
A spokesman for the company said about 400 of 2,100 or so full-time employees are based in the L.A. area, but that the move will include an expansion, with an unknown number of new hires in the next year or so.
“We have been growing fast here in L.A. because of our investment in original productions, and we are constantly running low on space,” Netflix's Jonathan Friedland said.
“Netflix’s decision to relocate and expand at Hudson Pacific Properties’ beautifully designed ICON office tower reaffirms that Los Angeles remains the nexus for innovative tech and creative companies and that the future of the entertainment industry will call Hollywood home,” Garcetti said. “With this move, Netflix will bring many well-paying jobs to the Hollywood community, one of our city’s sought-after live-work-play environments. My business team is assisting Netflix with relocation and permit approvals.”
Netflix is headquartered in Silicon Valley community of Los Gatos.
The company says it expects to occupy about 200,052 square feet at the $200 million ICON complex.
Credit: Netflix's new digs via Hudson Pacific Properties
“The deal is the largest office lease signed to date in Hollywood in terms of square feet,” the company said in a statement.
Original content shot in the L.A. area for Netflix includes Arrested Development, Grace and Frankie, Fuller House, The Ranch, Lady Dynamite, Flaked, Love, With Bob and David, and Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.
CFO David Wells said, “ICON is a state-of-the-art facility that places Netflix squarely in the middle of Hollywood’s creative culture to support our next stage of growth and content creation.”
It will be at least a year before Netflix moves in, however. The developer of ICON says it's scheduled to be completed in late 2016.
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