Enviro News Asia, San Francisco — ASEAN ambassadors to the United States visited Netflix’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, as part of the US-ABC Ambassador Tour 2026. Indonesia was represented by Ambassador Indroyono Soesilo. The visit provided an opportunity to explore potential cooperation between Indonesia and one of the world’s leading digital entertainment companies.
The meeting was particularly significant for Indonesia as two Netflix executives who welcomed the ASEAN ambassadors are Indonesian diaspora: Ruben Hattari, Director of Global Affairs Southeast Asia at Netflix, and Ryan Rahardjo, Director of Public Affairs Asia Pacific at Netflix. Their positions demonstrate the growing role of Indonesian talent in shaping policy and business strategies within the global digital entertainment industry.
Netflix offers subscription-based entertainment services, including films, series, documentaries, games, and live programming delivered through the internet. In fiscal year 2025, Netflix recorded approximately US$45.18 billion in revenue and nearly US$11 billion in net income. The company had around 302 million subscribers in 2024, making it one of the world’s most influential audiovisual distribution platforms.
Indonesia represents a promising market for the global streaming industry. Premium video-on-demand subscriptions in Indonesia were estimated at 26.9 million in 2025. In Southeast Asia, Netflix has remained a leading platform in terms of subscribers, active users, and viewing hours, competing with services such as Vidio, Viu, iQIYI, and Disney+.
The growing popularity of Indonesian productions has also strengthened the country’s position in the regional content market. In 2025, more than 90 percent of Netflix subscribers in Indonesia watched local content. During the fourth quarter of 2025, Indonesian content accounted for approximately 30 percent of viewing in Southeast Asia, matching the share of Korean content.
By early 2026, 35 Indonesian films had entered Netflix’s Global Top 10. Among them, The Elixir, also known as Abadi Nan Jaya, recorded more than 11 million views within several days of its release in October 2025. The Indonesian horror-zombie film ranked first among non-English-language films in five countries and entered the Top 10 in 75 countries. The Shadow Strays also reached the Top 10 in 85 countries, while The Big 4 demonstrated the international potential of Indonesian action-comedy productions.
During the meeting, the Indonesian Ambassador discussed potential cooperation between Indonesia and Netflix in several areas, including screenwriting development, story research, support for regional filmmakers, production training, animation, visual effects, virtual production, and international marketing.
There is also potential for documentary collaborations covering marine conservation, energy transition, cultural heritage, health, and innovation. Such projects could provide an avenue for Indonesian stories and expertise to reach international audiences while strengthening the country’s creative ecosystem.
The strategic objective should go beyond increasing the number of Indonesian films available on Netflix. Indonesia has an opportunity to position itself as a regional hub for the development and production of creative intellectual property by creating distinctive Indonesian stories, generating quality employment, strengthening small businesses throughout the production chain, and bringing Indonesian cultural identity to audiences across the world. (*)
