Bela Bajaria Says Netflix Is “Not Changing Our Compensation Model”

There’s been plenty of talk across Hollywood about streamers looking to change the way that they pay talent.

However, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria stated this morning that the company is not actually looking to move away from the cost-plus model.

“We like our model, and we like our model in film and TV and on the film side… we are not changing our model. Our model works great for talent. It works great for filmmakers. It’s worked well for us. We like the model. It’s worked for a long time, so we are not changing our compensation model,” she said at the Bloomberg Screentime event.

Bajaria said that it has only actually done slightly different non-cost plus deals twice on the movie side. “There have been few bespoke deals on a couple movies. The talent… was interested in the opportunity,” she added.

Bajaria was trying to correct the record after Deadline, among others reported, that a group of top agents and managers attended an event at the streamer’s HQ, expecting to hear more about new models of talent compensation, but were instead treated to  stats and general information about the size of Netflix’s global audience, what constitutes a hit, how the streamer markets its shows and how its content impacts music, social media — and people’s lives.

At that event, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, in his signature blunt style, asked, only half-jokingly, “When are you going to talk about backend and how you are going to f*ck us?”