How Netflix's messy transfer will shake up Hollywood: I'm looking at you, NBCU

It started with a dinner. Peter Rice and Yenon Kries met for a meal in late September, days before Kries surprised the industry by jumping from the CEO position at Mattel to become Skydance's chief executive alongside David Ellison. The report of the Kreis-Rice meeting on the sixth page of the New York Post after […]

The developments of the appointment of Peter Rice and the removal of Bela Bajaria as Chief Content Officer have fueled speculation about the streaming giant's next moves.

Peter Rice and Yenon Kries met for a meal in late September, days before Kries surprised the industry by jumping from the CEO position at Mattel to become Skydance's chief executive alongside David Ellison.

A report of the Crayz-Rice meeting was published on Page 6 of the New York Post after Crayz's role in Skydance was announced. This sparked speculation that he was hiring Rice for a major role at the major studio. It seems that Kreese was trying to convince Rice to sit on the chair at Barbie's house. Related Oscars stories: Pakistan picks documentary 'Hanging from a Wire' for international competition (EXCLUSIVE) 'Under Siege', Netflix's second ambitious Colombian series - a 'huge undertaking even by our standards' - bows Nov 6

The media coverage of Rice's courtship by Craze is one of the motivations that prompted Netflix to make a hire that will have ripple effects across its broader film and television operations. Bela Bajaria's firing from the role that Rice now plays was messy and angered many inside and outside of Netflix.

"We don't live in Hollywood right now. We live in Silicon Valley," said one prominent agent, referring to the general mood of the creative community. The brutal treatment of managers of Bajaria's stature is a sign that no one is safe from scrutiny and no one should be counted on to make a decision. A graceful exit.

"It's more like a technology approach than a studio approach to letting someone go. It's embarrassing, it's bad, and it adds to the feeling that we're all operating by the rules of Silicon Valley," the representative said.

The source noted Bajaria's irony that just two weeks after the executive he replaced at Netflix — Cindy Holland — was also rushed out of her new role at Skydance. Holland's role was sacrificed to make room for HBO boss Casey Bellows to take over all streaming now that the Warner Bros. Discovery merger is complete.

The big executive shakeup at Netflix, along with signals that insiders are reading about the layoffs Netflix implemented this week, has fueled speculation that the streaming giant could return in search of a major studio or some other major content asset. NBCUniversal is a logical target, given that the company will be spun off from Comcast next year, so it would be a much smaller and more manageable acquisition than Comcast as a whole.

The switch to Rice also raises questions about whether Netflix will remain as aggressive in its local content strategy as it was under Bajaria. In his first memo to Netflix staff, Rice's reference to the need to deliver more buzz for the "UCAN" market (Netflix's pejorative term for the United States and Canada) didn't go unnoticed.

Bajaria, according to multiple sources, learned the harsh reality of her fate on Wednesday evening when she courted Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for the first season of the third season of the sitcom Nobody Wants This at a private Los Angeles residence. (Notably, neither Saranos nor Bajaria appear in any of the promotional photos shared from the event.)

At the event, Bajaria promptly asked Sarandos if there was any truth to the growing rumors — and Sarandos, who is believed to have originally been set to break the news on Monday, told him right then and there.

Rumors about Bajaria's fate have run rampant in recent months. As the saga of the Paramount Bros. and Warner Bros. merger began, there was much speculation that HBO boss Blues would jump on board to take a big role at Netflix or launch a budget-friendly prestige label for the streamer. But Bajaria's speculation subsided when Blues was confirmed as the new head of streaming for Skydance. On Monday, Bajaria was on stage at the Mipcom content conference in Cannes, where he accepted the Vanguard Award for Global Market Contribution presented by Variety and Mipcom.

But even as Europe's top content industry insiders gathered to hear Bajaria speak, talk of his future opened up in Hollywood this week. It turned out to be a perfect storm of events, with Netflix gearing up for its biggest layoffs ever and its third-quarter earnings report on October 20. The layoffs, equivalent to 6 percent of the company's workforce, or about 1,000 positions, took effect on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, it meant Netflix employees were already reeling when the shock news of Rice broke just after lunch on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, as recently as two weeks ago, Rice was telling friends she wasn't interested in running again — a sign that Sarando acted quickly once she learned Rice was available.

Bajaria is said to have received a lot of support from his wide network of contacts in the creative community, both at home and abroad. Given his fame, the executive has openly told friends that he is completely shocked, multiple sources say. Bajaria declined to comment.

The microscope now turns to two of Bajaria's top vertical lieutenants - Dan Lane in the film and Ginny Howe in the original TV series.

Lane has been a fixture in Netflix's movie operations for two and a half years, starting to stem the massive spending spree of the streamer's formative Scott Stubber era. However, budget cuts come at an emotional cost, and Lane has had to make sure the talent delivers a quality product without a blank check signed by Saranos.

In addition to making cheaper films, Lane has backed some high-profile acquisitions ("Emilia Perez" and Netflix's current Oscar contender "La Bola Negra"). However, multiple reports suggest that Lin will leave the company when Rice takes over. The timing couldn't be more critical, as Netflix will launch Greta Gerwig's highly-anticipated "Narnia: The Magician's Nephew" in full in theaters in February. Upon receiving the boot, rumors immediately suggested Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi — the ousted heads of Warner Bros. Pictures — as potential replacements (which actually started a month ago, as Paramount and WBD finally found a way to combine).

According to insiders, U.S.-Canadian screenwriter-director Howe appears to be secure in his role, with Rice likely to begin by focusing on the film side of things. With whispers in Hollywood of Netflix recently trying to produce another Stranger Things or Bridgerton-style megahit, Howe, who takes over in August 2025, has a heavy workload on his plate and is just starting to see some progress of his own.

This includes Meryl Streep in "The Reformation," Adam Driver and Michael Fassbender in "Rabbit, Rabbit," Martin Scorsese's "Roman" and the live-action/CGI "Scooby-Doo: Origins."

"They want him to stay," one source said. "If he goes, it will be a disaster for them."

Meanwhile, given Rice's experience, some also wondered if Sarando had just hired someone who could eventually be a candidate to replace her — if the stock continues to suffer and the company needs to make more changes.

This week actually offered more drama than anything Netflix has put on its service this year.