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Global Film+TV Production Review [January, 2026]

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Global Film+TV Production Review [January, 2026]

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Global Film+TV Production Review [January, 2026]

January 2026 highlights a disciplined film & TV production market — scripted dominance, proven IP preference, and cross-border scale defining commissioning strategies worldwide.

January 2026: Americas and EMEA Lean towards Prestige IP and Factual, while Graphic Novels dominate in APAC

 

The January 2026 production landscape is defined by a global flight to proven IP and high-concept localized storytelling to mitigate market volatility. In the Americas and EMEA, the commissioners leaned toward prestige book adaptations and gritty, socially resonant drama—ranging from psychological thrillers like The Housemaid’s Secret and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to ambitious historical epics such as Mistborn and Beirut 1931. While the West balances scripted dominance with high-impact factual and “event” content focused on global conflict and sustainability, the APAC market remains almost entirely centered on scripted originals (90%), of which graphic novel adaptations like Blue Lock and Gundam driving record volumes in Japanese markets.  Across all territories, major commissioners like Netflix, Prime Video, TVNZ, CBS were amongst the active commissioners. 

Welcome to the latest edition of Vitrina’s global tracking of Film and TV production trends, providing insights across Movies and Feature Films, TV series, Animations, Documentaries, Scripted, and Unscripted projects.

Before we dive into January 2026 metrics, let’s recap the key Film and TV production trends driving the industry over the last 3 years.

Global Film & TV Production: Updated for January 2026

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Source: Vitrina Daily Production Tracker. [X-Axis : Months starting from Jan 2023. Y-Axis Production Volumes : Production Volumes are the total number of projects greenlit or financed or commissioned in that month. Please note that this is an area chart – meaning that the regions are stacked one above the other with the full height of the chart representing the global production volume.

As is evident from the monthly trends monitored by Vitrina globally for Film+TV Productions that were commissioned, greenlit or financed – the last 3 years have been turbulent and eventful – to say the least! A quick summarized view would be:

2023: Marked by Hollywood strikes, which froze scripted productions in the US & UK, forcing many studios to pivot toward unscripted content and international markets to keep productions moving.

2024: A year of stabilization with no major peaks, but regional surprises—Japan, ANZ, Germany, and Brazil saw production spikes, while broadcasters continued scaling back commissioning amid shifting business models.

2025: In 2025, the global entertainment supply chain has steadied, but growth is measured and strategic. Production volumes have recovered, yet the focus has shifted firmly toward proven IP and high-retention franchises. Scripted content dominates across regions signaling a move away from Peak TV excess toward tighter, franchise-led pipelines. While regional preferences vary, the mandate is consistent: reduce risk, back defensible IP, and prioritize long-term value over volume.

Insights on Production Transaction Volumes
January’26

Methodology: Vitrina monitors unreleased or in-motion projects worldwide across all stages of the content lifecycle—development, production, post-production, and till release—on a daily basis. We track various transactions and deal activities related to content financing, commissioning, co-productions, green-lighting, as well as early stage (content development) and late stage (licensing) arrangements. These transactions between production houses, distributors, streamers, and broadcasters enable us to gain valuable insights into industry trends, key players, buyer behavior, and the specializations of production companies. Our monthly Film+TV productions chart serves as a bellwether of production financing and industry health.

Below are the key highlights for January 2026 Film+TV Production Volumes:

🇺🇸 Americas

With 82% of projects scripted and 74% English-language, the Americas are operating in full risk-mitigation mode.

Commissioning is concentrated around renewals, extensions, and book adaptations. Experimentation is limited; recognizable IP dominates.

  • Netflix is building its 2026 slate around global IP — including a live-action Gundam, Film 44, and The Cage.

  • Prime Video pairs sports with premium adaptations like Fallout and Sex Criminals.

  • CBS expands its procedural and reality engines through Survivor, NCIS, and Young Sheldon.

  • NBC invests in event programming such as Last Chance Lawyer.

  • Hulu reinforces franchise comedies like Shoresy.

Book IP is accelerating. The Housemaid’s Secret, Mistborn: The Final Empire, and The Bridge Kingdom illustrate strong demand for fantasy world-building, dark suspense, and romantic sagas. Netflix and Apple TV+ are competing aggressively for genre-rich literary properties.

Co-productions are increasingly built around high-concept thrillers and psychological horror — including The Catch and Mommy’s Home — while cross-border collaborations like The Blue Box (The Mediapro Studio × Infinity Hill) highlight scale-driven alliances.

Takeaway: The region isn’t expanding — it’s reinforcing what already works.

🇪🇺 EMEA

EMEA remains scripted-led at 74%, with a diversified language mix — English (39%), German (23%), French (8%), Arabic (5%).

Commissioning balances prestige drama and high-impact factual.

  • Netflix backs crime and political thrillers.

  • BBC, Channel 4, and Channel 5 lean into historical drama and investigative factual.

France, Germany, and Ukraine anchor co-production activity, driving globally portable thrillers, prestige animation, and socially resonant dramas.

Literary adaptations run in parallel:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, His & Hers, Narnia, Hamnet, The Odyssey — scaled through producers like Left Bank Pictures and StudioCanal.

Takeaway: EMEA is building internationally marketable prestige with multi-language reach.

🌍 APAC

APAC is the most scripted-heavy region globally, with 90% of deals scripted.

Language distribution is diverse — Hindi (21%), Japanese (19%), English (16%), Malayalam (9%) — but the underlying driver is clear: graphic novel and manga IP.

Titles like Blue Lock and Gundam lead sports and sci-fi momentum, while fantasy properties such as Monster Eater and Megami Isekai Tensei accelerate animation output. Romance (Firefly Wedding) and localized horror (Ella Arcangel) broaden the slate.

Production hubs including Studio Kafka, Cygames Pictures, and Brain’s Base anchor the ecosystem.

Drama blends national historical epics, psychological thrillers (including adaptations of The Night Manager and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and socially grounded character studies.

Takeaway: APAC is scaling culturally rooted, genre-driven scripted content at high velocity.

The January 2026 Pattern

Across all territories:

  • Scripted dominates.

  • Proven IP outpaces originals.

  • Literary and graphic novel adaptations accelerate.

  • Co-productions increase structural resilience.

  • Franchise ecosystems stabilize pipelines.

The global market is no longer chasing “Peak TV.”
It is building controlled, defensible, scalable content economies.

Stay ahead of the competition by tracking the latest production trends and market moves.

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Global Entertainment Leaders Speak

OSN: Exploring the Dynamics of Content Acquisition ft. Rolla Karam

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January 2026 Season Renewals Trends:

Season renewals remain a key strategy for streamers and broadcasters, ensuring continuity in content pipelines, sustaining viewer loyalty, and reducing the risks of launching new projects.

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Source: Vitrina Daily Production Tracker.   Please note that this is an area chart – meaning that the regions are stacked one above the other with the full height of the chart representing the global production volume.

Season Renewals Overview: The Americas lean heavily scripted at 61%, driven by franchise ecosystems at CBS and Netflix, including long-running brands like NCIS and Love Is Blind. EMEA holds a 57% scripted share, with Netflix sustaining momentum through localized format expansions and returning tentpoles such as Black Mirror. APAC remains evenly split at 50/50, led by TVNZ’s factual renewals and localized adaptations of global formats like Culinary Class Wars.

Americas: The renewal cycle skews decisively scripted, with 61% of renewals concentrated in established procedural and comedy franchise ecosystems. The remaining 39% unscripted share is anchored by high-retention global formats, notably the Love Is Blind franchise, alongside enduring competition brands like Survivor and The Amazing Race. Netflix and CBS led activity, doubling down on proven universes and low-risk renewals to ensure consistent, franchise-driven supply across the pipeline.

EMEA renewals skew 57% scripted, led by Netflix with returning tentpoles like Black Mirror (S8), Emily in Paris (S6), and Murder Mindfully (S3). The slate spans animation (Zig and Sharko), durable procedurals (Death in Paradise), and niche factual such as Richard Hammond’s Workshop. The 43% unscripted share is anchored by localized expansions of Love Is Blind (Germany, Sweden) and global formats like Culinary Class Wars. English leads at 32% of renewals, with German, Arabic, and Russian each at 9%, reflecting a balanced multi-language strategy.

APAC renewals reflect a balanced 50/50 split between scripted and unscripted. English leads at 52%, followed by Hindi (15%), Japanese (10%), and Tagalog (10%). TVNZ was the most active player, reinforcing factual and reality staples like Grand Designs New Zealand. The slate prioritizes low-risk, repeatable formats such as Taskmaster NZ and My Kitchen Rules, alongside localized global franchises including NCIS: Sydney and Culinary

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Most Active Film Commissions in January 2026

Sr. No Association/Industry Commission Location
1 Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles Canada
2 FilmFernsehFonds Bayern Germany
3 The German Federal Film Board Germany

In Canada, SODEC and the Canada Media Fund concentrated funding on drama and documentary, with a visible push into animation and literary adaptations. Capital flowed repeatedly to a tight circle of trusted producers—Trio Orange, Aléas Films, Les Films de L’Autre, Némésis Films, and Portage Films Inc.—signaling institutional confidence in established pipelines capable of delivering both premium scripted series and youth-focused programming.

In Germany, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern directed significant capital toward high-value drama, family, and fantasy titles, with major grants ranging from €700,000 to €1,000,000. Recurring partners such as Michael Kalb Filmproduktion and Maverick Film secured funding for multiple projects, alongside established players like Neuesuper, Claussen+Putz, and SamFilm GmbH—reinforcing a preference for producers experienced in premium theatrical and co-production execution. Meanwhile, German Federal Film Board prioritized documentary and drama development, issuing targeted script and production grants while backing repeat collaborators including Dominik Galizia and Gitti Grüter, as well as internationally oriented companies like Komplizen Film and Carpe Diem AG. Across both markets, the pattern is clear: concentrated investment in proven partners with scalable, cross-border capability.

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Impact Deals – January 2026

High-Impact Deals are a spotlight on significant deals and partnerships shaping the global entertainment ecosystem. This section focuses on a range of unique signals Vitrina has picked up in the last month, including innovative financing, new distribution models, and cross-industry collaborations that offer a glimpse into the evolving business of content.

Netflix Industrializes Japan

In a multi-year infrastructure deal, Netflix will lease high-capacity stages from Toho Studios in Tokyo starting in 2028 — scaling Japanese output to 15 originals annually, including a reboot of the 1960 classic The Human Vapor.

This is more than a production deal.

By securing long-term physical assets, Netflix effectively:

  • Bypasses Japan’s traditional Production Committee model

  • De-risks exposure to premium soundstage shortages

  • Moves toward centralized, studio-led control

  • Enables global simultaneous release windows

Signal: Japan’s fragmented rights ecosystem is giving way to vertically integrated, streamer-controlled infrastructure.

The Rise of the Transatlantic Super-Indie

The ~$900M acquisition of The North Road Company by Mediawan creates a transatlantic production entity exceeding $2B in annual volume, spanning nearly 100 labels across 15 countries.

By merging Peter Chernin’s North American prestige film and unscripted engine with Pierre-Antoine Capton’s European footprint, the new structure:

  • De-risks large-scale co-productions

  • Enables systematic format migration across territories

  • Retains long-term IP ownership

  • Strengthens leverage against global streamers

Signal: The era of the “regional major” is fading. Independent survival now requires multi-territorial scale.

WBD’s Funnel Distribution Model

For the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Warner Bros. Discovery is partnering with TikTok and X to deploy vertical-first, revenue-sharing content via Pulse Premiere and Amplify.

This isn’t promotion — it’s monetized distribution architecture.

Short-form engagement feeds long-form subscription growth across HBO Max and discovery+.

Signal: Social platforms are no longer marketing channels. They are integrated, revenue-sharing layers within premium sports rights distribution.

Data-Led Greenlighting: The Spikes Studio Model

The launch of Spikes Studio, a joint venture between Bill Block and Gammatime, formalizes a data-integrated production model.

By combining premium IP development with predictive audience analytics, the entity aims to de-risk theatrical and SVOD features before capital deployment.

This mirrors the structural logic seen at vertically integrated studios like Artist Equity and Candle Media.

Signal: Predictive analytics is replacing instinct-driven greenlighting in a tightening global commission market.

Blue Ant’s Genre-Based Consolidation

Following its public market expansion, Blue Ant Media finalized its acquisition of Thunderbird Entertainment, adding 1,100 hours to a now 9,000-hour content library.

The company is restructuring into three genre hubs:

  • Kids, Family & YA (Atomic Cartoons, Jam Filled)

  • Unscripted

  • Premium Entertainment (Insight Productions)

Legacy boutique brands are being sunset to eliminate operational friction and strengthen streamer negotiations.

Signal: Genre-led vertical integration is becoming the primary mechanism for scalable franchise building.

Institutional Liquidity in Spain

The expanded €200M financing agreement between RTVE and Instituto de Crédito Oficial doubles prior credit allocation through 2029.

This framework:

  • De-risks independent production

  • Enables bridge-financing for high-value European IP

  • Reduces reliance on volatile private lending

  • Strengthens producer equity retention

Signal: State-backed liquidity is reshaping competitive dynamics in the European production ecosystem.

The Broader Pattern

Across these deals, three themes dominate:

  1. Infrastructure ownership

  2. Multi-territorial scale

  3. Data-driven capital allocation

January 2026 reinforces a market where leverage comes from control — of stages, libraries, analytics, or capital.

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How the Industry Uses Vitrina

Vitrina For VFX and Post Companies:
Vitrina is helping VFX companies like PhantomFX, Crafty Apes, and Light Iron discover and secure new Film & TV projects by tracking unreleased productions across development, production, and post. With deep intel on production companies, crew-heads, and decision-makers—plus direct contact details—VFX teams can reconnect with past collaborators, pitch at the right time, and expand their network of high-potential leads. It’s smart, targeted business development made easy.

Vitrina For Production Companies & Indies:
Vitrina empowers production companies and indie creators to find the right financing and commissioning partners—globally. From early-stage tracking of co-production-friendly projects to surfacing the latest deals and investment themes, Vitrina helps match projects with relevant financiers, commissioners, and collaborators. With up-to-date preferences and verified contacts, creators can focus on pitching to the right people—saving time and increasing chances of success.

Vitrina For Streamers:
Streamers use Vitrina to navigate the global content supply-chain with clarity. By tracking unreleased slates, mapping competitive activity, and identifying trending genres, formats, and territories, Vitrina equips content and strategy teams with the intel to make proactive moves—whether it’s preemptive pre-buys, co-production deals, or vendor discovery. With insights drawn from markets like LATAM, APAC, and Europe, Vitrina helps streamers stay ahead of content trends and competitors alike.

Get In Touch with Vitrina Today:

    •  Feature your company and content announcements: Email us at updates@vitrina.ai
    •  Request production trends or competitive intel reports: Contact us at sales@vitrina.ai

Frequently Ask Questions

Yes, Vitrina provides buyers with direct access to the contact information of vendors. Our platform includes verified leadership and key decision-makers within vendor companies, along with their mapped departments, specializations, and accessible contact details.

The Vendor Reputation Rating on Vitrina is a comprehensive metric that incorporates various factors critical to buyers’ assessments of vendors, service providers, and suppliers. This rating is used by buyers to evaluate vendors’ qualifications and capabilities in the M&E supply chain. Vitrina’s Reputation Rating system provides buyers with valuable insights into vendors’ size, parentage, past work, quality of projects/clients, recency, specializations, strengths, and other factors that may affect the vendor’s suitability for the buyer’s project.

Yes, Vitrina can assist you in finding and shortlisting the ideal partners for your project. Our Partner-Finder team is experienced in running vendor recruitment and screening mandates that are specific to your needs. We can help you find the best vendors for your business by identifying niche and specialist companies in new markets. We stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the M&E supply chain, allowing us to continually identify and qualify the most innovative vendors. Additionally, our extensive network of storefront owners updates their latest projects, capabilities, and certifications on our platform. These sellers are highly engaged and active on our platform, allowing us to connect buyers with vendors who are best suited to meet their requirements. By working with Vitrina, you can access the latest solutions and expertise in Animation, Localization, VFX, Stages, Virtual Production, and gaming engines. Contact us today to learn more about how Vitrina can help you find the right vendors and partners for your business.

Vitrina is a private and exclusive business network designed for dealmakers in the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry. Members are carefully screened to ensure they meet the network’s high standards for professionalism and integrity, and the platform is not open to the public or to search engines. This ensures that all information shared is kept confidential and private. Vitrina takes the privacy and confidentiality of its members very seriously and provides a secure platform for members to share valuable information and insights with a select group of vetted and verified buyers and sellers.

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