Netflix has plans for production arm

Online film rental service Netflix is reportedly planning to step up its battle with satellite broadcaster BSkyB by commissioning original scripts and book adaptations.

Netflix has acquired the rights to adapt Brian McGreevy’s novel Hemlock Grove and Piper Kerman’s account of life inside a women’s prison, Orange is the New Black, as the basis for new television series.

The move is similar to Sky’s set-up, in which acquisitions of US films and TV series are supplemented by commissioned work including UK productions.