Yet Another Netflix Stunner: Dan Lin Out as Film Chief — SkimNews
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- Netflix ousted film chief Dan Lin in a layoff round that has affected about 1,000 employees, ending his tenure after less than three years; former Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy were floated as candidates.
- Doug Belgrad was among the high-ranking members of Lin’s team affected by the roughly 1,000-person layoff round; indie-film head Sheroum Kim was also affected.
- Peter Rice has been tapped to replace Bela Bajaria as chief content officer, another leadership change in Netflix’s restructuring beyond layoffs.
- Dan Lin joined Netflix in February 2024, replacing Scott Stuber after founding Rideback, and greenlit or acquired more than 85 movies, including “Emilia Pérez” and “Train Dreams.”
- Dan Lin organized film-team leaders by genre, assigning each executive three to four films a year; it remains unclear whether Netflix will continue those divisions.
- Dan Lin favored commercial fare more than Scott Stuber while still championing foreign and art-house films; “KPop Demon Hunters” became Netflix’s biggest title during his tenure.
- Netflix softened its theatrical position under Lin, beginning box-office reporting for “La Bola Negra” for the first time in its history and scheduling next year’s wide release of “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew” before its Netflix premiere.
Why it matters: Netflix’s restructuring reaches past headcount: the roughly 1,000-person layoff round affected Dan Lin, Doug Belgrad and Sheroum Kim, while Peter Rice has been tapped to replace Bela Bajaria. Ted Sarandos is left with no confirmed film chief and an unresolved genre system in which executives were assigned three to four films a year.
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