Longtime Netflix executives Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke have departed amid a restructure which will have the industry scrutinising its evolving content strategy.
Nishimura was with the company for more than 15 years and led the charge on stand-up comedy and docuseries. She most recently served as VP of independent film and documentary features and worked on the likes of Making A Murderer, My Octopus Teacher, American Factory, and Tiger King.
Among her lower budget narrative credits were Power Of The Dog from Oscar-winning director Jane Campion, and the upcoming They Cloned Tyrone and NYAD.
Bricke served as VP of original film and helped build Netflix’s strong romantic comedy roster.
Under the restructure, Netflix film head Scott Stuber is combining units responsible for features across various budget ranges in a bid to make fewer, higher-quality features.
Kira Goldberg, Ori Marmur and Niija Kuykendall will now oversee live-action features, while the documentary unit overseen by Nishimura now falls under the remit of Dan Silver.
Stuber said: “Lisa Nishimura joined Netflix in the DVD days, and as the company moved into streaming, she built our original documentary and stand-up comedy divisions from the ground up, and established Netflix as a powerhouse in both spaces (…) Along the way, she has been a champion for inclusion on and off screen, a leader and mentor to countless colleagues, and a trusted partner to the creative community.”
Stuber continued, “Ian Bricke has been at the company for more than a decade, building and leading our independent film team, attracting filmmakers like Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener, and Mark and Jay Duplass. He also championed fan favorites like The Kissing Booth established our Emerging Filmmaker Initiative.
“We thank them both for their contributions to making us a world-class film studio and wish them the best for the future.”
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