That tenure has come in for a lot of criticism lately, admittedly, despite Bejaria having gotten the job by shepherding shows like Bridgerton and Squid Game into the public consciousness. In more recent years, it’s been less “surprise hits” than general mockery, though, as Netflix movies have become synonymous with low-rent, attention-span-disrespecting fare that might have once gone direct-to-DVD, while its TV shows struggle to maintain a life past the first flurry of release-day clicks. Beyond a couple of somewhat ostentatious swings for cultural weight—including the brief theatrical release of Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, and this year’s upcoming Greta Gerwig Narnia flick The Magician’s Nephew—Netflix’s content has, honestly, become kind of synonymous with drek. It’s a far cry from the days when the streamer was very deliberately positioning itself as the cultural powerhouse giving folks like Martin Scorsese and David Fincher unlimited creative freedom.
All of which has presumably contributed to the company’s decision—first reported by Puck—to replace Bejaria with former Disney TV exec and Fox Searchlight head Peter Rice. Fired in 2022 by short-lived Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Rice has worked mostly in recent years as a producer. (He’s also, apparently, closely involved with the planning of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which we guess is just sort of what you do when you’re a major film executive who suddenly finds himself at loose ends these days.) With connections in both the film and TV worlds, Rice has a reputation for fostering strong reputations with talent; the hope, presumably, is that he’ll be able to shore up Netflix’s movie-making apparatus while also repairing relationships with creators that have been notably fraying of late.
In any case—and regardless of your feelings about Bejaria’s recent handling of the job—it’s worth remembering that her removal, as with the other 999 or so jobs getting dumped in the crapper this week, is mostly just a reminder of what a strange, self-created problem Netflix has made for itself. It is, was, and almost certainly will remain the biggest streamer on the planet for the foreseeable future, with a global install base so big that its looming “growth” problems have as much to do with the total population of the Earth as they do marketing or individual TV picks. Its latest thrashes (exacerbated by its recent failed bid to buy Warner Bros.) are, then, largely a direct consequence of that virulent growth mindset, one incapable of looking at an eight-way chess game it essentially won years ago and declaring the result sufficient. After all, there’s gotta be more subscribers—or existing subscribers willing to pay more—somewhere; it’ll apparently be Rice’s job to find them, as the endless treadmill towards hell continues to roll.
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