It looks as if those Netflix cuts and trims are not over just yet.
Netflix’s head of film, Dan Lin, has been let go from the gig after less than three years at the streamer, a source with knowledge of his exit told IndieWire. Lin is the latest big name cut, joining the firing of chief content officer Bela Bajaria last week and a large-scale set of layoffs that have so far impacted about 1,000 Netflix employees. The layoffs also impacted high-ranking members of Lin’s team, including Doug Belgrad and indie film head Sheroum Kim.
Variety adds via multiple sources that Lin was let go at the start of the weekend and will address his teams throughout the day Monday. It’s unclear who will replace Lin, and rumors have abounded that ousted Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy could be in the running, but Netflix is clearly in the midst of a major restructuring that goes beyond layoffs. Lauded film and TV executive Peter Rice has already been tapped to replace Bajaria.
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IndieWire has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Lin joined Netflix in February 2024, replacing longtime film chief Scott Stuber. He came over from his own production house, Rideback, which built the “LEGO” film franchise, Stephen King’s popular “It” adaptations, and the “Sherlock Holmes” movies. During his time at the streamer, Lin greenlit and acquired over 85 movies, including “Apex,” “Emilia Pérez,” and “Train Dreams,” plus the upcoming titles “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” and Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.”
As IndieWire noted earlier this year, “One of Lin’s hallmarks since taking over has been to organize his film team leaders based on genre, so individual executives are focused on producing 3-4 films a year each within distinct genres like comedy, drama, horror, sci-fi, etc.,” and it’s unclear if the streamer will continue with those distinctions as it continue to re-organize its business.
Though he did champion some ambitious foreign films and art house indies that were awards darlings, Lin had a reputation as being more interested in commercial fare rather than auteur-driven films than his predecessor Stuber. Some of his hits have included “War Machine,” “The Rip,” “People We Meet on Vacation,” and “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” And though it originated as a Sony Animation film, he was at the helm when Netflix’s biggest title of all time came out, “KPop Demon Hunters.”
And yet Netflix across the board, not just on the film side, has struggled with engagement as it tries to compete with the likes of YouTube for total hours spent viewing. Lin’s approach has been to soften its position on theatrical, starting this weekend with reporting box office data for “La Bola Negra” for the first time in Netflix’s history, and it hopes to reach an even larger audience when next year it releases Gerwig’s “Narnia” in wide release with a healthy theatrical exclusive window before it premieres on Netflix.
Variety first reported the news of Lin’s exit.