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A Night at the Academy Museum … and a Coup for Netflix

There was a sense among some at the opening night gala for the new Academy Museum that Ted Sarandos, for all his love of film, has been Trojan Horsed into Hollywood. And Netflix waving around its influence at the Academy Museum, of all places, felt like a slap in the face.

Ted Sarandos and JJ Abrams
Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Matthew Belloni
September 27, 2021

Last night might be considered a coronation of sorts for Ted Sarandos. As the Netflix co-C.E.O. took the stage for a looooong speech at the opening night gala for the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, he ascended as a conquering king. Not a decade after launching high-end original content on his streaming service, Sarandos has pummeled the movie business into submission. The studios have all “pivoted” to streaming-first strategies; Fox was forced to sell to Disney; Amazon gobbled up MGM; actors even gave away their backends—all thanks to Netflix.