Netflix's chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, will receive the Variety Vanguard Award at this year's Mipcom conference in Cannes, in recognition of her contributions to the global content business. The honour highlights her central role in the streaming transformation of the entertainment industry, having overseen an unprecedented budget to acquire and produce films and television across many languages and regions.

Bajaria will accept the award on 12 October, the opening day of the four-day event, and take part in an on-stage interview with Variety co-editor in chief Cynthia Littleton at the Palais des Festivals. Having risen through CBS from the mid-1990s and later led a revival of Universal Television at NBCUniversal, she joined Netflix in 2016 as VP of content and became chief content officer in 2023. This year's Mipcom is focused on new content business models and monetisation, reflecting its shift towards the creator economy, vertical dramas and AI trends.