Hollywood is becoming international, and if you're a writer, filmmaker or tanet anywhere in the world, that's the best news you've heard in years.
For most of the twentieth century, breaking into the industry meant one thing: moving to Los Angeles. The geography was the gatekeeper. You needed to be in the room — literally — to have a shot at the room. Pitch meetings, staffing seasons, writers' rooms, networking events. All of it was physically located in one city, on one coast, in one country. If you weren't there, you weren't really in the game.
That is no longer true. And the shift happening right now is one of the most meaningful structural changes in the history of screen storytelling.
Production has gone global — not as a trend, not as a talking point, but as a permanent reconfiguration of how film and television gets made. Tax incentives, world-class infrastructure, and the streaming revolution have collectively redrawn the map. The UK has transformed into a genuine production powerhouse. Pinewood and Leavesden are booked solid. Wales has become a serious destination. Canada — Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal — has cemented its role not just as a shooting location but as a creative hub with real development activity. And South Africa has emerged as perhaps the most exciting story of all: Cape Town is now hosting major international productions year-round, building crews, building talent pipelines, building something durable.
But the really significant shift — the one that matters most for writers specifically — is what's happening in television. Because film was always somewhat porous. An independent film could always come from anywhere. Television was different. American TV, especially network and cable, was famously, almost aggressively, insular. Writers' rooms were physical, hierarchical, and almost exclusively Los Angeles-based. You had to climb that ladder in person, rung by rung, for years. The showrunner system — creatively powerful as it is — created a bottleneck that filtered out almost everyone who wasn't already embedded in the LA ecosystem.
Streaming has cracked this open. Netflix, Apple, Amazon — they don't just buy American content. They commission originals in dozens of countries, many of which go on to massive global success. They have established writers' rooms and development infrastructure in London, in Toronto, in Sydney. The model of the single centralized room is giving way to something more distributed, more genuinely international. HBO, Netflix and Apple have all made serious commitments to British productions and British talent. Canada's co-production treaties, built up over decades, now function as real creative partnerships. South Africa's writers are increasingly being brought into international projects shot in the country — creating knowledge transfer that is building actual, lasting infrastructure.
The practical result for writers is significant. A British writer no longer needs to relocate to staff on a US show — the show may come to them. A Canadian writer in Toronto now has access to productions that would have been unimaginable without an LA address ten years ago. A South African writer with a strong voice and a compelling sample is now genuinely on the radar of international buyers in a way that simply wasn't true before.
Writers everywhere who are serious about their craft now have a genuine shot. Not a consolation prize. Not a regional footnote. A real, viable path into the rooms that matter.
That's worth paying attention to.
5 people like this
Very encouraging!
4 people like this
This is great and encouraging new Geoffroy Faugerolas - thanks as always for shining a light on the good that is happening. I did see RB's IG post about distribution opening up. Are streamers opening up what he meant?
3 people like this
Streamers are definitely opening up. But they're focusing on certain territories. For example, Netflix has shut down some local offices and are opening new ones elsewhere.
3 people like this
Understood Geoffroy Faugerolas, Sorry for the folks who may have lost jobs in those closures but thankful for things opening up. Thank you!
3 people like this
This is very encouraging. I’m a screenwriter from Ethiopia with several scripts, and it’s inspiring to see the industry becoming more global. What advice would you give to writers from emerging film industries trying to get international attention?
2 people like this
That’s incredibly encouraging. I hope to become the first Moroccan dreamer to break through in this world with my sci-fi concepts.
4 people like this
Hey Redai! The timing genuinely could not be better for this question. The success of films like PARASITE, RRR, and the global explosion of content on Netflix and Apple has fundamentally shifted what buyers are looking for: stories rooted in specific cultural worlds that carry universal emotional truth. Your Ethiopian perspective isn't a barrier to entry, it is your competitive advantage. The more specific and authentic the world, the more it travels. A good story is universal and can resonate with audiences worldwide.
A few things worth focusing on. Lead with story first and let the cultural specificity do its work naturally rather than positioning your scripts as "Ethiopian stories" — frame them as human stories that happen to live inside a world most audiences have never seen. That framing resonates differently with international buyers and opens more doors.
Comps matter enormously when you are pitching across borders. Find the international successes that share DNA with your work and use them as reference points so a producer in Los Angeles or London can immediately place your material in a marketplace context they understand.
The Stage 32 Success Team at success@stage32.com works with writers from all over the world and can help you think through the most effective strategy for getting your scripts in front of the right people internationally. Reach out and tell them where you are and what you are working on. They would love to hear from you.
5 people like this
Fantastic! Yet another reason to be excited about doing what you love!
3 people like this
Cheering you on for that Meriem Bouziani!
3 people like this
Thank you very much for your encouragement Leonardo Ramirez
2 people like this
Wonderful news. I'm definitely not moving to LA at any point so I'm glad Hollywood is expanding to include more people.
2 people like this
This is great news as i have a few projects that are international in location selection
2 people like this
I pitched one of my screenplays to Saudi Arabia a few months back.
1 person likes this
Absolutely! Great insights and notes from the field Geoffroy Faugerolas! We must consistently think global in today's entertainment industry. Bravo!
1 person likes this
Great news for a Brit who is serious about her craft!
1 person likes this
THANK YOU, Geoff, your deep industry insights always elevate my screenwriting career strategy.
1 person likes this
This shift is even bigger than production volume. What it actually changes is what a script has to do to survive a border crossing. The things that used to carry American scripts abroad were all cultural shortcuts. High school rhythms. Courtroom procedure. Network act breaks that assumed a specific viewing habit. None of that travels the way it used to.
The writers who are going to move in this new map are the ones who anchor their stories in behavior and systems that read the same everywhere. How power actually works. How people cover their own exposure. How institutions respond when a problem lands on a desk. That layer does not need translation. It reads in Cape Town the way it reads in Vancouver.
One more thing worth saying. When you write a story set in a place that is now a real production center, buyers notice if you understand the logistics of shooting there. Not in a location scout way. In a what would actually be possible to make here way. That is becoming a craft skill in its own right.
2 people like this
Banafsheh Esmailzadeh You can fly in for meetings or when you have an offer on the table ;)
1 person likes this
That's true Geoffroy Faugerolas~
1 person likes this
Geoffroy Faugerolas This is a really encouraging shift, especially for writers outside traditional hubs. The idea that you no longer have to be in one city to be taken seriously opens up so many possibilities.
What stands out to me is how this changes the mindset now it’s less about where you are and more about how strong your voice and material are. That’s a big shift.
At the same time, it also raises the bar. If the industry is truly global now, you’re not just competing locally you’re competing with talent from everywhere. Which makes craft, originality, and consistency even more important.
Overall, it feels like a great time to be a writer as long as you’re ready to think globally and build work that can travel.
3 people like this
Stage32 can send me to any of these locations to support and nurture storytellers around the world! lol! This is an exciting time for those who crack the code.
1 person likes this
This is a really interesting shift to see. The increased access and global production definitely feel like a big step forward, especially for writers outside traditional hubs.
At the same time, it feels like while geography is becoming less of a barrier, access to the right networks and opportunities is still a big part of the equation.
It’ll be interesting to see how much this continues to open up in practice over the next few years.
Amy Wilhelm How did it go? Any differences you can pin point in contract to pitch to US or UK-based producers?
@Whitney Let's go to Cyprus! Mediterranean sea, sun and medieval towns!