Who Can Save Netflix Films? Richard Rushfield Has Two Names

About this episode

How do you solve a problem like Netflix Film, and who is best positioned to figure it out? “As currently constructed, it’s an impossible job,” Richard Rushfield tells Elaine Low and Sean McNulty on this week’s pod. The problem? Netflix wants to churn out 30-plus movies a year, deliver the next KPop Demon Hunters, compete for Oscars and somehow make films that actually become cultural events. And it’s increasingly failing at that last part. Netflix, Richard warns, is “starting to look like the Walmart of streaming” — and losing market share in the process. With Dan “Lego” Lin out after just two years, Rice faces a fundamental choice: Does Netflix need more crowd-pleasing programmers (even if the mission is now steaks, not gourmet cheeseburgers), bigger theatrical swings or the kind of movies that restore its reputation as Hollywood’s most exciting disruptor? Or, frankly, all of the above? Two years ago — with prescience and accuracy that would make the prediction markets blush — Richard said Lin should get the top job. The suggestion was so unexpected that even Netflix itself hadn’t thought of the prolific producer until Richard’s column. Now Richard’s back with his crystal ball.