Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed on Wednesday the recent breakdown in contract talks with SAG-AFTRA and repeated his assertion that the union’s eleventh hour demand for a levy was the reason the talks paused.
“We want nothing more than to resolve this and get everyone back to work,” the executive said in a Q3 earnings interview, adding that the sense of optimism over a possible end to the strike was dashed.
“But then at the very end of our last session together the Guild presented this new demand on top of everything for a per-subscriber levy unrelated to viewing or success and this really broke our momentum, unfortunately.”
Talks between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA broke down last Wednesday after AMPTP said the gap between the sides was ”too great” on key negotiating points. SAG-AFTRA accused AMPTP negotiators of using “bully tactics”.
Sarandos continued, “We are totally committed to ending this strike. The industry, our communities, the economy are all hurting, so we need to get a deal done that respects all sides as soon as we possibly can.”
The streamer’s deep programming roster has allowed Netflix to ride out the drastic slowdown in Hollywood production as struck AMPTP member companies have been blocked from making anything anywhere with SAG-AFTRA talent during the strike, which has lasted 97 days.
Sarandos cited upcoming Q4 highlights like the final season of The Crown, All The Light You Cannot See from Sean Levy, and Paul Tomalin’s Bodies from the UK, as well as Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon and awards contenders like David Fincher’s The Killer, Todd Haynes’ May, December, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, and Matt Heineman’s documentary American Symphony.
Asked about data transparency Sarandos said, “I think we’ve been leading the charge starting with our top 10 list and annual wrap-up list that gives a lot of transparency to viewings and I just expect there’ll be more and more.”
He said the streamer eventually came to understand the value of engagement as a metric and also claimed part of the reason for not publishing data sooner on the 15 years it has been streaming film and TV was down to creators.
“At the time we started creating original programming our creators felt they were trapped in this overnight ratings world and weekend box office world defining their success and failures,” he said.
“As we know, a show might have enormous success down the road that wasn’t captured in that opening box office. Part of this was the relationship with talent and not just the business.”
The Netflix co-CEO also addressed third-party licensing, which he said benefited all companies and generated lasting value.
He cited the deal to bring USA Networks’ legal drama Suits, among other titles, to the platform had positioned it “right into the centre of the culture worldwide “in a huge way”. He noted the show was the most-watched on Nielsen’s streaming charts for 13 weeks, setting a record for Nielsen.
“We can’t make everything,” he said, “but we can help you find just about anything.”
The multi-year deal with Skydance Animation announced earlier on Wednesday helped Netflix continue to scale up its content offering.
“[A]nimation] is a very long cycle of development and production – sometimes it can take a decade to deliver an animated film,” he said. “Those single companies are really successful and launch more than two animated features in a year, so that deal helps us to complement the work we’re doing.”
Netflix has programmed its first live sports event for November 14 when racing drivers and golfers from the platform’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive and Full Swing compete in The Netflix Cup golf tournament to mark the run-up to the inaugural Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix over November 16-18.
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