Ted Sarandos defends Netflix business model, says directors are making their best work there

Last Updated on October 24, 2024

You might think you’re a Netflix junkie just because you’ll binge Love Is Blind for an entire Sunday, but nobody is a bigger fan of the steamer than CEO Ted Sarandos. And who can blame him? Since coming on board and taking over the position, Sarandos has helped Netflix grow into a behemoth within the movie and TV industries, now with a major investment in live sports. While there is constant content being pushed on the streaming service, what role does it truly have for the filmmakers?

Ted Sarandos recently defended Netflix’s insistence on sticking with their model, which is essentially shunning theatrical releases as much as possible. As per Deadline, Sarandos stated, “We believe that not making them wait for months to watch the movie that everyone’s talking about adds that value. So what we do for filmmakers is, we…bring them the biggest audience in the world for their films, and then we help them make the best films of their life.” He added, “I’m just going to reiterate, we are in the subscriptions streaming business, and you can see our results. It’s a pretty good business and it appeals to a very large segment of consumers and fans.” We can all admit that it’s just plain easier to press play on the remote than it is to go through the so-called hassle of going to the movies. But is Netflix really encouraging directors to produce their best work or is it more about generating content? Judging by the fact that Sarandos said the viewer numbers comes before the film quality itself, well…

So, what are these “consumers and fans” contributing to the filmmakers? Sarandos added, “Our top 10 films that premiere on Netflix all have over 100 million views, among the most watched films in the world. It’s our desire to connect keep adding value to our consumers for their subscription dollar.” This is a stance that is often argued in favor of subscription services, although there is a false equivalency at play, as Sarandos would go on to suggest that any movie that gets 100 million views is akin to making $1 billion at the box office (going off of average movie ticket prices).

As far as actual accolades, Sarandos did point out that Netflix has released nine Best Picture nominees (positioning it between RKO and Orion), although considering they have produced over 4,000 original movies in less than a decade since their first, we’re not so sure how much backpatting needs to be done…Historically speaking, only Focus Features has more Best Picture contenders without a win.

What do you make of Ted Sarandos’ comments regarding Netflix? We’d love to hear your thoughts below.