Q. Every week, I am amazed at all the original shows that Netflix adds.  But I have to wonder if they have stopped filming stuff because of the pandemic. Are they about to run out of original shows? Will they have to start doing old shows and movies? – Larry, Sharpsburg, Maryland. 

Larry, Netflix has so much money that it can produce and/or buy enough programming for a rainy day, or even a pandemic. When Covid-19 first struck early this year, effectively shutting down production in Hollywood and elsewhere, the world’s largest streaming service was ready with a huge backlog of shows. That’s why it’s been able to add so many original titles every week when other networks/streamers were caught short.

But what about 2021? Won’t the production delays finally catch up with Netflix?

They say not. In fact, in a letter sent to investors last week, Netflix said it expects to debut more original shows in 2021 than it did in 2020.

The streamer says it’s already resumed production on season four of Stranger Things as well as some other high-profile titles.

“We are making good and careful progress returning to production, particularly in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific), but also across much of LATAM (Latin America) and UCAN (United States/Canada),” Netflix states. “We’ve restarted production on some of our biggest titles including season four of Stranger Things, action film Red Notice (starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds) and The Witcher season two. Since the almost-global shutdown of production back in mid-March, we have already completed principal photography on 50+ productions and, while the course and impact of C-19 remains unpredictable, we’re optimistic we will complete shooting on over 150 other productions by year-end.”

Being a global company (Netflix is available in more than 190 countries), it can produce shows not only domestically, but in many lands where the virus infection rate has declined. This helps Netflix to continue pumping out shows despite the obstacles. For example, Stranger Things has been filming scenes in Lithuania. (The other side of the world, so to speak.)

Larry, hope that helps. Happy viewing, and stay safe!

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