Some newly reported details may explain what may have caused Lin’s exit from Netflix. Lin was said to have been good with meeting mandates and being economical with spending, as well as helping to greenlight movies that would catch the interest with subscribers, but Lin would seemingly accomplish these feats with his stern limitations placed on filmmakers to make sure the business end was never sacrificed. According to Variety, there is now speculation that his tensions with A-list filmmakers like Greta Gerwig and Ben Affleck may have led to the company’s dismissal.
After limited experimenting with theater releases, Lin had reportedly convinced Ted Sarandos to invest in more theatrical screenings for family-friendly IP, which will be seen with Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, these would also be big gambles, which Lin would have to see through to become successful. The word is that Lin had a Zoom meeting with Gerwig for Narnia, which was said to have gone badly. Lin has a reputation of being obtuse and dismissive when he is blunt and the meeting would end with a falling out between the two. A couple of sources claim that Gerwig’s newly all-powerful CAA agent Bryan Lourd went directly to Sarandos to talk about the meeting and Lin would see himself become disassociated with the project. Lin’s right-hand, Doug Belgrad, was appointed to take over for him on the film. Afterward, Belgrad would also become one of the layoffs when Netflix started cleaning house.
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Netflix Layoffs
As we wait to see what the shake-up of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger at Skydance does for its employees, Netflix has started to clean house last week and around one thousand employees found themselves downsized from the company. This includes the shocking exit of chief content Bela Bajaria. Variety is now reporting that the streamer’s Film Chief, Dan Lin, is the latest high-profile figure to exit the company, as he was notified at the start of the weekend. It’s being said that he’ll be addressing his teams throughout the day today. Despite being let go before the weekend, Lin attended Saturday’s Academy Gala, and was spotted Sunday evening at a tastemaker screening for La Bola Negra on the campus of the company.
What’s next?
There hasn’t been an official comment made by either Lin or Netflix about this news, but it is suspected that an announcement will soon be made along with the announcement of who will be replacing Lin. However, it is being speculated that Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy would be taking up the mantle after the Skydance merger removed them from their positions at Warner Bros.
Netflix is said to be going through a major creative restructure following months of public headlines revealing their problems with engagement and stock stagnation, as well as the hiring of seasoned film and TV executive Peter Rice to replace Bajaria. This all comes in the wake of Netflix’s bowing out of the Warner Bros. bidding war, which Paramount entered when they disrupted the once-agreed-upon deal.
Netflix slate?
It’s certainly an uncertain time at the streaming juggernaut. Around this time, Netflix would proudly parade their upcoming originals — from TV to film — with big stars, but they are currently playing things close to the chest with the big company overhaul. They currently have one hell of a title in their upcoming slate with The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which sees David Fincher directing a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s beloved Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and there hasn’t been much promotion coming from the studio, despite the movie premiering in about a month. Even the poster that was thought to be an official release turned out to be a fan-made creation since Netflix has yet to release their own.
