Netflix Renews ‘Elite’ for Season 2

Netflix renewed Elite, a Spanish-language teen crime series, for a second season on Wednesday.

The new season will debut on Netflix worldwide next year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It was produced by Zeta Audiovisual, which will also produce the second season. Like the first season, season two will run eight episodes.

Elite debuted on Netflix earlier this month, and was created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona.

Elite is set at Las Encinas, a private school where the children of rich Spanish families go. The students’ cushy lives are changed when three working-class children have to attend Las Encinas after their own school is destroyed in an earthquake. To make matters more difficult, there is a murder at the school, and it is not clear who committed it.

Netflix did not issue a synopsis for season two.

The streaming giant recently started a production office in Spain and has begun to ramp up production there. Netflix is also producing Money Heist and Cable Girls there.

While this is part of Netflix’s plans to offer more content for its diverse audiences around the world, it is also required by European Union law to make sure it has produced at least 30 percent of its shows in Europe. Netflix and all other video-on-demand streamers offering content in Europe have to follow the law, which also requires them to invest part of their revenues into local film and TV production.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix said it was prepared for the law, but it still does not think it is fair.

“We anticipate that a regional content quota which approximates the region’s share of our global membership will only marginally reduce member satisfaction,” Netflix wrote in a statement. “Nonetheless, quotas, regardless of market size, can negatively impact both the customer experience and creativity. We believe a more effective way for a country to support strong local content is to directly incentivize local content creators, independent of distribution channel.”

Netflix is expected to spend about $1 billion on making new content in Europe to meet the requirements.

While Netflix continues to make inroads in Europe, the company is also making changes domestically. On Wednesday, Netflix announced that Orange is the New Black, one of its marquee shows, will be ending after season seven, which will debut in 2019. House of Cards, which also helped put Netflix on the map, is ending this year.

Photo Credit: Netflix / Manuel Fernandez-Valdes