Peter Bart: Dream Job? Netflix’s Next Picture Picker Faces Daunting Challenges As Streamer Confronts Tectonic Shifts
deadline.com“It was a dream job. Except it was the job from hell.” That was the assessment of Michael Ovitz after he was anointed, then dis-anointed, as president of Disney in 1995.
The “dream job” lasted barely over a year. Some insiders reflect on the Ovitz embarrassment in the context of the present decision at Netflix.
Scott Stuber’s dream job as chief of film is vacant. Interviews with successors are underway. Some guess it will be an internal promotion; a few outsiders like Disney’s Sean Bailey are rumored to be candidates. “Will it be an opportunity or a trap?” asks one Hollywood CEO, who, like other power players, is weighing the post-Stuber challenges.
The Stuber gig allegedly pays between $15 million-$20 million a year and empowers green lights for as many as 40 films – less than half of Netflix’ 2021 output but still more than that of prolific MGM in Irving Thalberg’s prime.
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