Ted Sarandos sympathizes with directors who long dreamed their movies would end up on the big screen only to land on streaming as the business continues to shift away from movie theaters.
While talking with Tom Papa and Fortune Feimster on SiriusXM’s “What a Joke” podcast, the Netflix co-CEO tackled the ongoing topic that is the future of the movie theater. Sarandos acknowledged that the business has gotten tougher while saying he feels for directors whose movies never see the silver screen.
“I talk to a lot of directors and I totally respect that they — a lot of them grew up and this was their dream, to have the gigantic screen and a room full of strangers,” he said. “It’s a very tough business model anymore. And I just feel like, I hope it is always around as an option. I just think it will be more and more challenging.”
Sarandos added that movie theater ticket sales have been declining since the ’60s – though they appear plateaued due to price inflation. According to him, Netflix and other streaming services allow for people who don’t live near theater chains to enjoy the moviegoing experience from home.
“Technology evolves, behaviors evolve, consumer behavior changes,” he continued. “I do think there’s something very special about it, but thank God it’s not the only way I can see a movie. And again, back to that, serving underserved audiences. Most people don’t live anywhere near a movie theater.”
Jerry Seinfeld — who wrote, starred in and directed the Netflix film “Unfrosted” in 2024 — shared a harsher sentiment about the movie business. Despite being in league with the streamer, he told GQ last April he thought the business was dead in the water.
“[Making a movie] was totally new to me,” the comedian said. “I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.”
When asked if he shared his insights on the industry with his partners at Netflix, Seinfeld admitted he kept that to himself.
“I did not tell them that,” he added. “But film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”
