Netflix Tries Charm in France to Smooth Expansion

When top Netflix executives arrived in Paris to help prepare a European expansion, they were greeted with an open letter from a group of French film producers warning of an "implosion of our cultural model." Netflix's response was a charm offensive.

In a series of meetings with French government officials, executives said they planned to inject tens of millions of euros into France by marketing the Netflix service, striking deals for older French movies and TV shows and eventually shooting an original, French-language TV series set in the country, according to people who attended the meetings. Their message, according to one of the people who attended: "Hey, look, we're not the devil." As Netflix prepares for one of the biggest international expansions in its history, starting service in six Western European countries this month, it is running into a backlash against US Web giants.