Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos on diversity, streaming wars, fate of movie theaters and more

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The Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos says he sees his company as a Hollywood outsider, but it just landed 35 Oscar nominations. Photo courtesy of Netflix.

Ted Sarandos is the co-CEO and chief content officer of the streaming giant that has everyone else playing catch-up. He says Netflix’s outsider status helped it achieve more diversity in front of and behind the camera and dominate the streaming space.

“I didn’t grow up in Hollywood. I’m not second, third or fourth generation in this business. I didn’t even grow up in this town. So I just think that there’s a lot of deeply ingrained cronyism that happens that we never have been a part of,” Sarandos says.

He may see Netflix as a Hollywood outsider, but the streamer just landed 35 Oscar nominations. Sarandos shares the results of a recent Netflix diversity study and talks about streaming wars, the future of theaters, talent relations, data drama, and more. 

And on the banter: Will anyone watch the Oscars?

Credits

Host:

Kim Masters

Producer:

Kaitlin Parker