Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos pushed back today on a recent New York Times article that reported the streaming platform is taking an approach to make their movies "better, cheaper, and less frequent" under new film chief Dan Lin.
Sarandos addressed the article during today's Q1 earnings call, during which he was specfically asked about that "better, cheaper, and less frequent" passage, as well as the shift in strategy in the leadership change from former film boss Scott Stuber to Lin.
"I would send you back to that New York Times article because that was not a quote from Dan, nor did we participate in that article," he answered. "I will say, just to be clear, there is no appetite to make fewer films. But there is an unlimited appetite to make better films, always, even though we have made and we are making great films. We want to make them better, of course."
The executive went on to praise Lin himself, saying he's been running "a hundred miles an hour" since joining just a few weeks ago. He also pointed to recent comments from Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria, who said the platform's strategy remains about "variety and quality."
"We want to have a lot of movies, we want them to thrill our audiences, and they all have different tastes. And we want them all to be great," he continued. "We take a very audience-centric view to what quality is, and Dan knows that from having produced for us."
Sarandos went on to name a number of projects Lin produced for Netflix, including the Oscar-nominated film The Two Popes and the recent live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
In addition to the projects Sarandos named, prolific producer Lin has also worked on The Lego Movie series, It, and Disney's live-action Aladdin. He'd also previously run production at Warner Bros.
The New York Times article painted a picture of quite a different film approach at Netflix under Lin, noting that he laid off about 15 people in the creative film group. It added that Lin "has indicated that Netflix is no longer only the home of expensive action flicks featuring big movie stars" like Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans' The Gray Man, or Red Notice starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The article, as well as Sarandos' comments, come at a time when other studios have stated a "quality over quantity" approach. Perhaps most notably, Disney CEO Bob Iger recently confirmed that they quietly "killed a few projects" as they try to rebound from a challenging 2023.
Elsewhere in the Netflix earnings, the streaming platform revealed it will no longer reveal subscriber numbers starting in 2025.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
