Netflix has released at least one movie a week for the past two years, but by 2023, the company is changing course. According Bloomberg, the streaming giant is restructuring its movie division and releasing fewer movies overall. Netflix will combine the team that works on small projects with a budget of $30 million or less and the unit that produces mid-budget movies that cost between $30 million and $80 million. The restructuring will result in a “handful” of layoffs — the company did not specify a number — and the departure of two top executives. Lisa Nishimura, who oversees documentaries like tiger king and low-budget movies, as well as VP of film Ian Bricke, are leaving the company after more than a decade.
As Bloomberg He notes, Netflix increased its movie development efforts after studios began creating their own streaming services instead of licensing their movies to the company. In addition to units that work on low- and mid-budget movies, Netflix has one more division that develops big-budget projects. It is not clear if the latter group is also affected by the restructuring.
Despite the myriad of titles Netflix has released before, only a handful have earned acclaim, reached millions of hours of streaming, or had the kind of cultural impact that some of the biggest blockbusters have achieved. (According to the company Top 10 Pagehis most viewed movies in 2021 and 2022 include red notice, don’t look up and Crystal Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.) Netflix chief film officer Scott Stuber has reportedly decided to scale back the titles the service will be releasing this year so he can make sure the division is producing more high-quality projects.
Stuber did not say how many people are losing their jobs due to the reorganization, but the numbers are assumed to be lower than the layoffs that occurred at the company last year. Netflix implemented job cuts ahead of many of its rivals in the movie, TV and entertainment space. HBO and HBO Max had to lay off some production staff as part of a larger Warner Bros. Discovery restructuring in August, while Disney recently announced it will lay off 7,000 workers, including those involved in media and distribution.