Ted Sarandos explains the decision to lay off 1,000 Netflix employees last week, including chief content officer Bela Bajaria: “I know that we could do better, and we want to build on that momentum,” Sarandos said during Netflix’s earnings call. “We’ve seen an opportunity to take our slate to the next level, especially in the U.S., where we can have an outsized impact when we create a big, buzzy show that members love and talk about all over the world.” variety.com/2026/tv/news/ted…

Netflix fired film boss Dan Lin because he could not find the balance between streaming titles and theatrical release experiments, sources say. Lin and Greta Gerwig did clash over the upcoming "Narnia" movie, but sources say the incident is not directly what led to his firing. On a Zoom call earlier this year, Lin is said to have been “dismissive” to Gerwig regarding the progress of the "Narnia" movie, which carries a $250 million budget. Word traveled fast around Netflix that the meeting had gone south. Soon after, Lin disappeared from the film, per sources, and film VP Doug Belgrad stepped in as the primary Netflix exec overseeing the project (until, of course, he was laid off last week). variety.com/2026/film/news/n…