Netflix Layoffs: Unscripted Casting & Development Execs Impacted
Netflix’s layoffs have affected its unscripted television division, including executives in casting and development. The cuts are part of a wider reduction of 1,000 jobs, or about 6% of the company’s workforce, and have also reached teams across scripted television, film, awards, product, technology and human resources.
Those identified include Amy Cohen, Director of Nonfiction Series, who joined Netflix in 2017; Rich Leist, Director of Unscripted Casting, who joined in 2021; and casting executive Annie Roberts, also hired in 2021. Leist helped launch Netflix’s first in-house casting department. The article also reports departures across scripted programming and film, including film vice-president Doug Belgrad and independent films director Sheroum Kim.
- Netflix is cutting 1,000 jobs, about 6% of its workforce.
- Unscripted casting and development executives are among those affected.
- Cuts have also reached scripted TV, film and other teams.
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Netflix is a subscription streaming service that commissions and distributes television programmes and films. Its unscripted shows include formats such as documentaries and reality series, which are developed and cast by teams responsible for shaping projects and finding contributors.
Casting and development executives help decide which programmes to pursue and who appears in them. Netflix’s in-house casting department was set up to handle this work within the company, alongside its broader television and film operations.
The company’s workforce spans creative, technical and business teams. Changes to staffing can affect how it organises work across those areas, including the development and production of future programmes.