Peter Bart: Streamer And Agency Layoffs Leave Hollywood Feeling Extra Ruthless

Stranger Things was financially impacted by the Covid pandemic more than many of Netflix’s other shows, according to Ted Sarandos.

The recent pink-slipping of hundreds of employees cost Netflix a bundle, with more likely to come.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix disclosed that it took a $70 million charge for severance costs in the second quarter, as the company adjusts its operating model for slower top-line growth.Netflix made several rounds of layoffs in the second quarter. On June 23, the company said it laid off 300 employees, as first reported by Variety.

Mo’Nique is planning a new comedy special for Netflix.

Nellie Andreeva and Anthony D’Alessandro contributed to this report.

Emmy nominations were announced and as all the networks and streamers are placing their advertising campaigns ahead of September’s ceremony.

Where do great movies come from? When Netflix started creating its own shows a decade ago, Ted Sarandos and his colleagues put that question to select creatives around town. It was a smart exercise – but most respondents insisted there was no answer.

Regé-Jean Page is reflecting on his time on Bridgerton.

The results of the departure are less impressive in Williams’’ case, but there’s still a notable maturity to “The Sea Beast” that could have clashed with the mostly sanitized storytelling that currently dominates Disney. Sailors drink their pints and bleed when injured.But though one can appreciate Williams’ and Benjamin’s interest in crafting a philosophically layered fable, there’s a righteousness to the message of “You must change!” that blindsides the adult characters.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the record-breaking release of the two final episodes of Stranger Things’ Season 4, creators Matt & Ross Duffer have formed Upside Down Pictures and recommitted to Netflix with several new projects. To run Upside Down, they’ve hired Hilary Leavitt, a vet of BBC America and MRC who most recently ran her own Hulu-based Blazer banner. Series she helped develop include Orphan Black, Ozark, The Great and Shining Girls.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian has a connection to the fourth season of Stranger Things.In the finale, titled ‘The Piggyback’, Jim Hopper (David Harbour) picks up and wields a sword against a demogorgon inside a Russian prison.Speaking to British GQ, actor David Harbour revealed the prop blade is the same one wielded by Schwarzenegger in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.“I don’t know if you saw this, but that sword I pick up – it’s the actual prop sword they used in Conan the Barbarian,” Harbour said. “It’s the sword that Schwarzenegger swings in the movie.”In the same episode, Hopper and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) also share a kiss, which Harbour described as “a bit of fan service”.“It’s always something that Winona and I have talked about – on set riffing about what their relationship was in high school, and y’know, who they are to each other,” Harbour said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFans of the Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” which chronicles the rise of con artist Anna Sorokin, may have noticed an intriguing guest star: Cisco phones are used prominently in at least one episode. If advertising giant Interpublic Group has its way, more advertisers are likely to get those sorts of cameos.Two companies under Interpublic’s umbrella — the Rogers & Cowan PMK entertainment-marketing operations and the large Mediabrands media-buying unit — are teaming up to launch a new analysis-and-database product that helps advertisers determine what movies, TV programs and streaming series will serve as a good fit for in-show product placement.

Sky regularly switches up its TV package offers but for viewers signing up this month there's even bigger savings to be had as the company has done deals with major streaming services Netflix and the newly-launched Paramount+ that will see them incorporate them at no additional cost into customers' bundles.

leading streamer’s enterprise value, which ballooned to $277.3 billion last year, is down to around $100 billion.During the company’s recent earnings call the CFO, Spence Neumann, said the company was slowing cost growth to maintain margins due to to the slower growth in revenue. Among other ways to boost subscribers and cut costs, Netflix has hinted at introducing ad-supported pricing tiers to its service and cracking down on users who share passwords with other households, among other changes.

Netflix has laid off an additional 300 employees.

Netflix again, with the streamer letting go of roughly 300 staffers on Thursday, Variety has learned exclusively.The cuts are across multiple business functions in the company, with the bulk of the jobs lost in the U.S.These new layoffs, which Variety first reported would be coming earlier this week, hit just a few weeks after the streaming giant — which has a global work force of roughly 11,000 staffers — made an initial round of reductions of similar size in May. At that time, Netflix laid off 150 employees and dozens of contractors and part-time workers.