Within days of each other, both Netflix and Disney named new leaders for their respective film divisions, with David Greenbaum replacing Sean Bailey as President of Live Action Films at Disney and Dan Lin selected to replace Scott Stuber as Film Chairman at Netflix. Both hires signal a directional change at two of the most influential studios in the industry. They don’t appear to be headed in the same direction.
Before his new appointment, Greenbaum was in charge of Disney’s Searchlight Pictures, the specialty studio that Disney acquired as part of its 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The studio was known for producing critically acclaimed, original titles such as THE SHAPE OF WATER, NOMADLAND, THE FAVOURITE, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, and this year’s POOR THINGS.
This output is in stark contrast with the work of his predecessor in the new job, Sean Baily, who had success with live-action remakes of THE LION KING, ALADDIN, and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. However, the string of live-action films has begun to show diminishing returns with THE LITTLE MERMAID underperforming and HAUNTED MANSION bombing outright. There is broad acknowledgment that Disney will generate more success with original stories, and Greenbaum has a track record of doing just that, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Under Scott Stuber, Netflix emerged as one of the industry’s most prolific champions of original films, with the company releasing as many as 80 original films in a single year. Those releases included art house favorites such as THE IRISHMAN and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and action blockbusters including RED NOTICE and THE GRAY MAN.
While those films attracted large audiences on Netflix, they largely failed to make a cultural impact or win Oscars, a long-held objective of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. They also do not appear to have sparked the potential for sequels. Previously, Lin has had success creating franchises with THE LEGO MOVIE, SHERLOCK HOLMES, GODZILLA, and IT. Netflix hopes that Lin can somehow recapture the magic of one or more blockbuster movie franchises.