Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos discusses prospect of a writers strike
(Credit: Daniel Benavides)

Netflix News

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos discusses prospect of a writers strike

Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, has discussed the prospect of a writers’ strike amid the company’s first-quarter review. As a member of the ‘Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’, Netflix is currently negotiating a new deal with the Writers Guild. 

“We respect the writers, and we respect the WGA,” Sarandos said. “We couldn’t be here without them. We don’t want a strike. If there’s a strike — and we want to work really hard to make sure we can find a fair and equitable deal so we can avoid one — but if there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world. We can probably serve our members better than most.”

Sarandos is the second Netflix executive to confront the possibility of a strike after the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, revealed last week that he was “optimistic that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties” but that he’s “assuming the worst from a business perspective”.

The streaming giant came under fire after it was revealed co-founder Reed Hastings had bought a stake in a ski resort. Dailyn Rodriguez, co-creator of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, wrote on social media, “They are so poor”, with a link to the story of Hastings’ controversial purchase.

Sarandos explained that the last time there was a strike, it was “devastating” and “really hard” for the industry to cope with. “It was painful for local economies that support production. And it was very, very, very bad for fans,” he added. 

“We really don’t want this to happen,” Sarandos affirmed. “But we have to make plans for the worst. We have a pretty robust slate of releases to take us into a long time but just be just be clear, we’re at the table and we’re going to try to get to an equitable solution so there isn’t a strike.”