---
title: "Netflix Ousts Dan Lin, the Film Chief Hired to Cut Costs, After Shedding 1,000 Jobs"
description: "Lin is the latest senior executive to go as Peter Rice takes over content and the company prepares to face Wall Street"
author: "Jan Sokol"
published: 2026-10-19T17:21:36Z
modified: 2026-10-20T03:59:09Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/netflix-ousts-dan-lin-the-film-chief-hired-to-cut-costs-afte-3900a2
language: en
tags: ["netflix", "layoffs", "entertainment", "streaming", "executives", "business"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Netflix Ousts Dan Lin, the Film Chief Hired to Cut Costs, After Shedding 1,000 Jobs

*Lin is the latest senior executive to go as Peter Rice takes over content and the company prepares to face Wall Street*

By Jan Sokol · October 19, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/netflix-ousts-dan-lin-the-film-chief-hired-to-cut-costs-afte-3900a2

## In brief

- Netflix confirmed on October 19 that film chief Dan Lin is out; Deadline said he was let go at the start of the weekend
- His exit follows about 1,000 layoffs, roughly 6% of staff, and the removal of chief content officer Bela Bajaria
- Lin was hired in 2024 to cut film spending; Variety reported he met that mandate and also cited tensions over Narnia
- Peter Rice, the new chief content officer, will oversee film until a new head is named
- Netflix shares have fallen more than 40% in a year; third-quarter results are due after the market closes on October 20

On Monday, October 19, word came that Dan Lin was no longer head of film at Netflix. The news first appeared, [as The Hollywood Reporter’s Mia Galuppo reported](https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/netflix-film-head-dan-lin-out-1236733802/) from people familiar with the matter, and later that morning the company confirmed it and released statements from Lin and from co-chief executive Ted Sarandos. According to [Deadline](https://deadline.com/2026/10/netflix-dan-lin-out-1237167562/), Lin had actually been let go at the start of the weekend and was due to speak to his teams over the course of Monday.

He was not the first to go. In recent days the company had already removed chief content officer Bela Bajaria, along with Doug Belgrad, a vice president of film, and a series of senior television executives. [Variety reported](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/dan-lin-exits-netflix-film-chief-1236913606/) that Sheroum Kim, who ran independent film, was also let go. The week before, Netflix had laid off about 1,000 people, roughly 6% of its global workforce. [Business Insider’s Lucia Moses notes](https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-film-chief-dan-lin-out-streamer-cuts-1000-2026-10) that this was its largest round of cuts since 2022, the year the company lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.

The cuts went from the bottom of the company to the top.

## The mandate

Lin arrived in 2024 to succeed Scott Stuber. Under Stuber, Netflix had become the place where well-known directors could still get big budgets and big paydays while the traditional studios were tightening their spending. The films were regularly nominated for best picture, but the top prize never came. Bajaria hired Lin to do the opposite of what Stuber had done: spend less and raise the quality of the whole slate, not only the prestige films by famous directors.

![Red-handled scissors cut a curling black filmstrip with blank cream frames against a yellow background.](https://rews.cc/img/9bf4e04c6bce5dbd113142c8f7ca55c41b7af047.webp)

He did what he was hired to do. He ended the large upfront paychecks to actors, reduced staff and reorganized the film department by genre, with deputies Kira Goldberg, Ori Marmur and Jason Young each running categories such as science fiction, romantic comedy and family. Netflix began making the kind of mid-size films that theatrical studios had abandoned: adaptations of popular books like *Remarkably Bright Creatures* and *People We Meet on Vacation*, and mid-budget action films like *Apex* and *The RIP*. The expensive bets did not stop entirely. Greta Gerwig’s *Narnia* film is due next year, and David Fincher has made *The Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth*, but there were fewer of them. His years also produced the Oscar-winning *KPop Demon Hunters*, along with *Happy Gilmore 2* and *Frankenstein*.

Variety reported that Lin was let go even though he had met his mandate to rein in spending and make films that subscribers responded to. In [a separate report](https://variety.com/2026/film/news/netflix-fired-dan-lin-greta-gerwig-narnia-tensions-1236916933), it pointed to tensions over Gerwig’s *Narnia*.

A reflection, not a finding: large organizations rarely fire people for failing at the job they were given. More often they fire people when the job itself has changed and no one has told them.

## The farewell

Both men’s statements were gracious, as these statements usually are.

![A navy blue suit jacket hangs on a cream hanger, wrapped with a large coral red ribbon and bow against a teal background.](https://rews.cc/img/bdd40282d2e2f1820134d9cf3ac4b7f4c152fe4a.webp)

> “It’s been a great privilege to lead this incredible team and work with amazing filmmakers and talent to bring their movies to the world. Thank you to Ted, Greg \[Peters\] and Bela for the opportunity.”

Lin thanked three people, and one of them, Bajaria, had already been removed herself. Sarandos said he had worked with Lin “well before he joined us in 2024” and that “his dedication to quality filmmaking, rigor around dealmaking and strategy, and collaborative spirit elevated our film business. I’m grateful to Dan for everything he’s done for Netflix films.”

The phrase that matters is “rigor around dealmaking”. It describes the cost discipline Lin was brought in to deliver. Sarandos’s memo to staff describes what the company wants now: under Peter Rice, it said, Netflix will focus on “creating big, buzzy hits.”

## The new man

Rice is a former Disney and Fox executive and Hollywood veteran, and he has replaced Bajaria as chief content officer. [Puck](https://puck.news/netflix-chief-content-officer-bela-bajaria-is-out/), which reported her exit first, said she had held the company’s top creative job since early 2023 and controlled a content budget of $20 billion. Rice’s last top job also ended badly: Bob Chapek, then Disney’s chief executive, fired him in 2022.

Netflix said Rice will oversee film until a new head is named. The Hollywood Reporter said the understanding is that he will be the one to choose that person. Deadline reported that no successor will be named before Rice arrives.

![A cream director’s chair with navy fabric stands on a red circular platform wrapped by a cream arrow against a bright blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/d50a3227cf828ac7ea2669f2a4b2e5240da0a7df.webp)

## The arithmetic

Behind all these changes are the numbers. Engagement growth has slowed, and Netflix’s share price has fallen more than 40% over the past year. Free, ad-supported streaming led by YouTube is drawing viewers away, and so is social video. In recent months Netflix has started bringing in podcasters and online creators to fill out its library. Sarandos would like viewership and subscriber growth to be faster than they have been, and lately both have stalled. Variety links the overhaul to months of bad news about engagement and the share price, which followed Netflix’s failed bid for Warner Bros. That company is now going to Paramount, whose [deal for Warner Bros. Discovery a judge cleared](https://rews.cc/a/analyst-says-ellison-must-open-paramount-and-hbo-to-outside--9557bb) last month.

The executives were removed just before the company reports to investors. Netflix releases its third-quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, October 20. Its own forecast, [as summarized ahead of the report](https://financefeeds.com/netflix-q3-preview-12-86-billion-33-2-margin/), is $12.86 billion in revenue and a 33.2% operating margin.

Lin may have somewhere to go. Before Netflix he ran his own production company, Rideback, which made the $1 billion-grossing *Aladdin* and was involved in the hit *It* films and the *Lego* movies. He left it when he joined the streamer, and the partners who stayed had another $1 billion hit last summer with the live-action *Lilo & Stitch*. The Hollywood Reporter suggests he could presumably go back. For now the film chief’s job is empty, and the 1,000 people laid off last week have no comparable company of their own to return to.

## Sources

- [Netflix cuts film chief Dan Lin after laying off about 1,000 employees](https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-film-chief-dan-lin-out-streamer-cuts-1000-2026-10) — Business Insider
- [Netflix Film Head Dan Lin Out](https://hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/netflix-film-head-dan-lin-out-1236733802/) — hollywoodreporter.com