TED SARANDOS

NEW YORK — (AP) — This year's PEN America Literary Gala will be notable for the presence of "Saturday Night Live." PEN, the literary and free expression organization, is giving "SNL" creator-executive Lorne Michaels its PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, which in previous years has gone to Toni Morrison, Stephen Sondheim and Patti Smith among others. The May 18 event will be hosted by Colin Jost, the longtime "SNL" writer and "Weekend Update" co-anchor. The PEN gala will be held at its longtime venue, the American Museum of Natural History, in New York. Michaels, 78, has been overseeing SNL since it first aired in 1975, aside from a few seasons in the 1980s.

This year’s PEN America Literary Gala will be notable for the presence of “Saturday Night Live.”.

Netflix’s subscriber growth is surging again.

Netflix co-founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, is in Sydney to meet with executives of other subscription streaming services, February 25, 2022. Netflix's Reed Hastings is giving up his CEO role but will remain on as chairman, the company announced along side its earnings report Thursday. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos will remain in his position. Greg Peters, most recently Chief Operating Officer, will assume the post of co-CEO in Hastings' place. "I want to thank Reed for his visionary leadership, mentorship and friendship over the last 20 years.

Netflix said Wednesday it plans to build a state-of-the-art production facility at a former Army base at the Jersey Shore that will cost more than $900 million, and create thousands of jobs. The subscription video streaming company will pay $55 million for a 292-acre site on the former Fort Monmouth military base in Eatontown and Oceanport. “As a result of nearly a billion dollars in film production spending, New Jersey will further solidify its status as an emerging national leader in the television and film industries." "We are thrilled by the promise this Netflix project will deliver," said Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. Another TV and film production studio is set to be built in New Jersey on the site of a now-demolished public housing complex in Newark.

Netflix says it plans to build a state-of-the-art production facility at a former Army base at the Jersey Shore that will cost more than $900 million, and create thousands of jobs.

Netflix is likely to offer multiple ad-supported tiers, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at a conference Tuesday.

Netflix is finally embracing ads, leading some to question if it should start releasing more of its movies in theaters for longer runs.

The Emmy Award nominations announced Tuesday included some snubs and surprises, like “This Is Us” and “black-ish” walking away forever limply and Nathan Lane making history as the most-nominated best comedy guest actor in Emmy history.

Film scholar Jacqueline Stewart has been named the next director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

Netflix has met with Google, Comcast and NBCUniversal, and Roku to discuss potential marketing partnerships, sources told CNBC.

Ricky Gervais' new Netflix special is drawing fire from LGBTQ and trans advocacy groups.

Dave Chappelle's 2021 Netflix special "The Closer" was criticized for the comic's transphobic statements.

A parolee who murdered 81-year-old philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, has been sentenced to 190 years in a California prison.

The Oscar race may be heating up, but you wouldn’t know it to peek in on the nominees luncheon Monday in Los Angeles.

A new study says that LGBTQ representation on TV series has grown along with the footprint of streaming services.

Even if you haven’t seen “Squid Game” yet, you’ve definitely heard of it after the show quickly received global attention following its release in September 2021.

Netflix reports fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday.

Prosecutors have filed charges against a 29-year-old man in last week's fatal shooting of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant, at their Beverly Hills, California, home.

A 29-year-old man has been arrested in the death of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, who was fatally shot at the Beverly Hills, California, home she shared with her husband, legendary music executive Clarence Avant.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — (AP) — Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music legend Clarence Avant, was fatally shot in Beverly Hills, California, early Wednesday, according to authorities and a Netflix spokeswoman. Netflix spokeswoman Emily Feingold confirmed that Jacqueline Avant was killed in the shooting. Clarence Avant is known as the “Godfather of Black Music" and was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Beverly Hills police have not identified Jacqueline Avant as the victim in Wednesday's violence. The suspect — or suspects — fled the scene and have not been found, Beverly Hills police said in a news release.

A Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of music legend Clarence Avant has been fatally shot at home in Beverly Hills, California.

Jacqueline Avant, a Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of music legend Clarence Avant, was fatally shot in Beverly Hills, California, early Wednesday, according to authorities and a Netflix spokeswoman. Netflix spokeswoman Emily Feingold confirmed that Jacqueline Avant was killed in the shooting. Avant's daughter, Nicole, is married to Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer.

Two former Netflix employees who raised concerns about anti-transgender comments on Dave Chappelle’s TV special are dropping labor complaints and one has resigned from the company.

The actor believes there are "other areas" in which a writer can have "successful creative endeavors."

Old tweets from a transgender activist who led the Netflix walkout following the Dave Chapelle comedy special “The Closer” have gone viral for expressing racist, anti-Asian sentiments. Background: The Netflix special drew heavy criticism for Chapelle’s allegedly transphobic comments. According to Bloomberg, employees raised concerns that several of his jokes about gender-neutral pronouns and transgender anatomy was offensive and hurtful and felt disappointed that Netflix “continues to release programming with transphobic sentiments.”

"To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody's demands," Chappelle said.

Jon Stewart is putting on his public relations cap in defense of longtime friend, comedian Dave Chappelle, who Stewart is adamant was not trying to be divisive in his latest comedy special, "The Closer."

Actor Colton Haynes thanked protesters for the "marathon that you're having to run just to ensure that there's a safe workplace, and safe content and safe speech."

The group is demanding Netflix remove the David Chappelle special.

Multiple stars including Jameela Jamil and Jonathan Van Ness also supported the walkouts calling for better trans content on the platform.

The group is demanding Netflix remove the David Chappelle special.

The group is demanding Netflix remove the David Chappelle special.

Netflix employees walked out Wednesday in protest of Dave Chappelle’s special and its anti-transgender comments.

Ted Sarandos says he "screwed up" the company's response to the backlash over comedian Dave Chappelle's latest special "The Closer."

The Netflix employee resource group supporting trans and non-binary people is demanding better representation, both onscreen and in management.

Netflix has posted sharply higher third-quarter earnings thanks to a stronger slate of titles.

The company is facing backlash from the show, which has been criticized for containing transphobic and homophobic content.

Netflix says it has fired an employee for disclosing confidential financial information about the Dave Chappelle comedy special “The Closer,” which some have condemned as being transphobic.

A Netflix executive says his comments on the trans community in "The Closer" don't cross "the line on hate." The company denied suspending three employees over tweets about the comments.

People Dave Chappelle FILE - Dave Chappelle arrives at the 22nd Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 27, 2019, in Washington, D.C. A top Netflix executive said Dave Chappelle's special “The Closer” doesn't cross “the line on hate” and will remain on the streaming service despite fallout over the comedian's remarks about the trans community. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP, File) (Owen Sweeney)LOS ANGELES — (AP) — A top Netflix executive said Dave Chappelle's special “The Closer” doesn't cross “the line on hate” and will remain on the streaming service despite fallout over the comedian's remarks about the transgender community. But the company responded to news reports it had suspended three employees, including one, Terra Field, who'd criticized Chappelle's special in tweets. Field identifies herself on Twitter as a senior software engineer at Netflix and as trans. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so," Netflix said in a statement.

A top Netflix executive says Dave Chappelle’s special “The Closer” doesn’t cross “the line on hate” and will remain on the streaming service.

The company claims the popularity of 'Squid Game' has led to a surge in network traffic, and they are asking Netflix to pay associated maintenance costs.

Netflix released data Monday on its most-watched TV shows and movies.

Netflix says it has bought the works of Roald Dahl, the late British author of celebrated children’s books such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”.

Netflix is building on early efforts in gaming as it faces fresh competition from video games such as Roblox.

Amblin Partners, which is behind Spielberg's iconic films, has produced countless movies – some of which have already gone to Netflix.

Film Netflix Spielberg FILE - Filmmaker Steven Spielberg poses at the 2019 "An Unforgettable Evening" benefiting the Women's Cancer Research Fund in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Feb. 28, 2019. Spielberg has set a new deal with Netflix in which his production company, Amblin Partners, will make multiple feature films per year for the streaming giant. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) (Chris Pizzello)NEW YORK — (AP) — Steven Spielberg, a filmmaker synonymous with big-screen enchantment, has set a new deal with Netflix in which his production company, Amblin Partners, will make multiple feature films per year for the streaming giant. The partnership, one long courted by Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, is a major get for the company that, amid increasing competition, brings perhaps the most beloved film director more officially into the streaming fold. Reports around then circulated that Spielberg believed streaming releases should vie for Emmys, not Oscars.

Steven Spielberg, a filmmaker synonymous with big-screen enchantment, has set a new deal with Netflix in which his production company, Amblin Partners, will make multiple feature films per year for the streaming giant.

Amid growing pressure on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, NBC said Monday that will not air the Golden Globes in 2022.

Netflix reported earnings for the first quarter of 2021 after the bell on Tuesday.

They announced a docu-series that will be executive produced by Prince Harry, who will also appear on camera.

This image released by Netflix shows Phoebe Dynevor, left, and Rege-Jean Page in a scene from "Bridgerton." Netflix films were more likely to have women directing (23.1%), writing (25.2%) or producing (29%) than the top-grossing movies of 2018 and 2019. In Netflix films and series, 31.9% of leads were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Latino representational lagged especially, accounting for just 4% of film leads and 1.7% of series leads. LGBTQ leads were featured in only 2.3% of Netflix films and series, though 12% of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ.

Netflix released a first-of-its-kind diversity study Friday to analyze the makeup of Netflix's on-screen talent, as well as the behind-the-camera creators, producers, writers and directors. The report shows that the company has made progress, but still has more work to do to close diversity gaps. Smith's team examined all of the films and series Netflix commissioned between 2018 and 2019. Netflix was also found to exceed proportional representation of Black leads and main cast. The study also found that LGBTQ+ characters were rare: just 4% of leads in film and 1% in TV series.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on diversity, inclusion, $100 million talent pipeline fund "CBS This Morning" is exclusively revealing a USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative study on the diversity and inclusion of Netflix's content. Netflix Chief Content Officer and co-CEO Ted Sarandos joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the new report and the company's talent pipeline initiative.

Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | Getty ImagesNetflix said Thursday that it will spend $500 million this year on films and series produced in South Korea to broaden its growing slate of content from the country. Netflix disclosed that as of the end of last year, the streaming service had 3.8 million paid subscribers in South Korea. Over the last two years, we've seen the world falling in love with incredible Korean content, made in Korea and watched by the world on Netflix. Besides acquiring rights to existing Korean content, Netflix has made more than 80 original shows and films locally, including the popular zombie thriller "Kingdom" from creator Kim Eun-hee. On Thursday, Netflix also announced two new original films out of South Korea.

Netflix's expectation of soon becoming free cash flow positive would bring to life the bull case for the stock. It's raised $15 billion in debt since 2011 and currently has $8.2 billion cash on hand. Free cash flow for Q4 was negative as predicted due to production restarts in some regions, but not as significant as expected. Free cash flow for full year 2020 was +$1.9 billion versus -$3.3 billion in 2019. Netflix executives spoke in depth about competing with Disney, much more so than in previous earnings interviews.

The footprint of the production hub will grow with a private land purchase and a lease involving state trust land. She said the partnership with Netflix should send a signal that New Mexico is the place to be for film and television production. As part of the proposed investment, Netflix has committed to providing training programs in partnership with the New Mexico Film Office, local universities and industry organizations. Since coming to New Mexico in 2018, Netflix said it has spent more than $200 million, used more than 2,000 production vendors and hired more than 1,600 cast and crew members. Netflix is in production in New Mexico on the original films “The Harder They Fall" and “Intrusion" and is expected to soon begin filming “Stranger Things 4" in Albuquerque.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he's confident that the company's slate of films and television shows planned for release in 2021 will find a place on the streaming service next year. The coronavirus pandemic has hindered content production in the U.S. and globally, postponing theatrical releases and cable television premieres. Sarandos said Netflix's production is "nearly fully operational" globally, and the platform is prepared to deliver the majority of the content on its calendar next year. Sarandos said more content will likely arrive in the back half of 2021, particularly its bigger titles, due to the delays in production caused by the pandemic. The company has already completed more than 50 productions since mid-March and is set to finish another 150 more by the end of 2020.

Ted Sarandos attends the Ted Sarandos panel during Netflix 'See What's Next' event at Villa Miani on April 18, 2018 in Rome, Italy. It wasn't Netflix's finest quarter, but if you're a long-term Netflix believer, you've got reason to smile. The streaming video giant reported 300,000 fewer global net subscriber additions than it forecast. Sure, the subscriber trajectory isn't great -- from 15.8 million additions in the first quarter to 10.1 million in the second quarter to 2.2 million in the third quarter. But Netflix warned investors of this earlier this year, saying last quarter that most people who wanted Netflix for pandemic quarantines had already signed up.

The company fell short of analyst estimates on earnings per share and global paid net subscriber additions, but exceeded expectations on revenue. For the fourth quarter, Netflix forecast 6.0 million paid net adds, still well below the 8.8 million it added in the fourth quarter of 2019. It said it expects to be slightly negative on free cash flow in Q4 as production restarts. It expects free cash flow to be about $2 billion for the full year 2020, up from its previous break-even to positive estimate. For 2021, Netflix said it expects free cash flow to be -$1 billion to break-even.

NEW YORK The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new home: Netflix. Six months after detangling their work lives from the British royal family, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have signed a multiyear deal to produce nature series, documentaries and children's programming for the streamer, according to a statement Wednesday. The couple also pledged to promote diversity behind the camera as their production company gets off the ground. She has done some voice work since the couple left the U.K. with baby Archie in search of their financial independence. News of the Sussex production deal comes after Netflix teased the fourth season of the popular drama, scheduled for release Nov. 15.

NEW YORK Netflix added a flood of new subscribers amid the coronavirus pandemic and also offered clues to a possible successor for founding CEO Reed Hastings, who on Thursday named the company's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, as co-CEO. This change makes formal what was already informal that Ted and I share the leadership of Netflix, said Hastings in a statement. The company picked up 10.1 million worldwide subscribers during the April-June period, more than triple what it usually adds in that period. The increase announced Thursday with Netflixs second-quarter earnings eclipsed the gain of 8.3 million subscribers projected among analysts polled by FactSet. Netflix ended June with 193 million worldwide subscribers, including 70 million in the U.S. and Canada, its largest geographic market.

Gavin Newsom's task force on business and jobs recovery wrote, "the worst of the economic impact [is] likely still to come." The legislation, which the House of Representatives passed Friday, includes $1 trillion in funding for cash-strapped state and local governments. "It will protect core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. It will protect core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. This funding will help our states and cities and America's economy come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient.

Jason Schwartzman arrives at the premiere of Netflix's "Klaus" which has been nominated for an Oscar in the animated feature category that snubbed Disney's "Frozen 2." It was one of two Netflix animated films nominated in the category. "Netflix's commentary on animated films also stood out to us with Klaus recently nominated for an Oscar and Netflix building to several major animated feature films per year," J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth wrote. The increased focus on animation comes as Disney's streaming service, Disney Plus, takes off. Animation like DreamWorks and Nickelodeon episodic content is key to Netflix in providing children with shows they watch repeatedly.

More than 26 million global accounts (26,404,081, to be exact) watched at least 70% of "The Irishman" in the first seven days the film appeared on the Netflix platform, according to Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer. Netflix hopes the popularity of "The Irishman" will spur more top content makers to sign deals with the streaming giant to showcase their best creative works. "When you think about that, people understand the value proposition of a big new movie this week at Netflix," said Sarandos at the UBS conference. "It translates into how they value Netflix." The movie had a limited theatrical debut on Nov. 1 and launched on Netflix on Nov. 27.

The 81-year-old actress, activist and exercise phenom is moving to Washington for four months with a plan to get arrested. But we want to reach the people who know its a man-made problem, know it exists, but they dont know what to do. I dont know, Im not even thinking about it. I read an article about Lyndon LaRouche because he hounded me in the airports Feed Jane Fonda to the Whales, Jane Fonda Leaks More Than Three Mile Island, etc. Its been six years, but its something that I dont really understand.

And we're hoping they'll all be answered in the fourth season of Netflix's hit series "Stranger Things." The streaming service announced the show's return Monday, saying the Duffer Brothers, the creators of the series, have also signed on "to a multi-year film and series overall deal." "We can't wait to see what the Duffer Brothers have in store when they step outside the world of The Upside Down." On the show's fourth season, the only clue the video announcement offers is this: "We are no longer in Hawkins." "Stranger Things" has earned 30 Emmy nominations and won six Emmys.

Netflix is tightening its wallet when it comes to big-budget projects with a narrow appeal, according to a new report from The Information. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos reportedly told some Netflix executives last month that their spending needs to be more cost-effective in terms of the viewership for a show. In the past, Netflix has let chatter around a big project help justify its spending, even if viewership was not equally massive. Netflix has been spending big for original content. In April, Netflix announced that it would offer about $2 billion in debt to fuel its content spend and other expenses.