Tech workers at Netflix thought the company would always value their feedback.
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The sign that Netflixsculture had irreversibly started to change came in the form of a Google doc.
Does the company regret putting the controversial filmCutieson the platform?
Should365 Days,a film glorifying gender-based violence, be taken down?
Page after page filled with angry blocks of text.
Many employees felt the comedian had crossed a line with his jokes about the trans community.
Sarandoss response marked a tone shift at Netflix and in Silicon Valley more broadly.
Previously, streaming video was a massive problem that could only be solved by investing in engineering talent.
And pressure is mounting from its rivals.
In a statement, Netflix spokesperson Emily Feingold disputed the idea that dissent is less welcome than before.
On all decisions we have what we call an informed captain who is responsible for making the call.
ButThe Closerput that commitment to the test.
My interpretation of this message is that sticky metrics outweigh the possibility of harm.
Is that a fair interpretation of that email?
Days passed, and the question remained unanswered.
Hastings has long creditedthe companys success to its internal work culture.
Ten years later, Blockbuster was bankrupt and Netflix was worth more than $9 billion.
That culture permeated the companys engineering organization.
Even in Silicon Valley, where coders were treated like kings, Netflix stood out.
The engineer didnt hold back, openly calling out dysfunction and identifying unnecessary obstacles to the process.
My manager was really happy, he recalls.
She said, This is the kind of context we are looking for people to bring up.
How many creatives are eager to receive notes from engineers?
In 2017, the company opened the Icon Building on Sunset Boulevard, cementing its place in Hollywood.
Two years after it opened, the New YorkTimesdubbed it the Town Hall of Hollywood.
The company had even set up domes in the break rooms for people to take calls.
What the building lacked in space it made up for in glamour.
Once, two engineers visiting from Los Gatos were heading to the elevator when they heard someone say Hey.
They looked up and saw Shaquille ONeal giving them a friendly nod.
Later, they noticed Chris Pine walking down a hallway.
That never happened in Los Gatos, one says.
The story centers on a trans teenager trying to become a professional dancer.
Employees who watched the film were horrified.
The director and a co-writer were both cisgender.
Youve heard of the male gaze, right?
the former Netflix engineer, who watched the screening, says.
But, eventually, they agreed to add a warning ahead of the film.
Viewer discretion is advised.
For management, it was a relatively small concession.
But for the Trans* ERG, it was a win.
Employees felt like they had been heard.
They cant not show it, the former engineer says.
But at least they were willing to work with us.
The process felt collaborative even though it was a bit hostile.
In the early days, Sarandos was known for taking criticism on the chin.
An anecdote fromNo Rules Rulesrecounts a moment when Sarandos misunderstood the licensing deal forThe Blacklistin 2014.
An employee four levels below him called him out in a meeting.
Sarandos put his hand on the mans shoulder and thanked him.
When Sarandos became co-CEO in 2020, he fired the female executive.
Some of Sarandoss lieutenants were similarly resistant to feedback, particularly from Los Gatos staffers.
What expertise did techies have in making movies?
Eventually, he was fired.
A Netflix analyst had put together a detailed document identifying potential red flags a week beforeThe Closerwas released.
Thestreaminggiant often conducted analyses of films.
The analysis document forThe Closeridentified 20 red flags in the stand-up set.
[00:55:15] Chappelle calls a Trans vagina: Beyond Pussy or Impossible Pussy, reads another.
The brief shocked some employees.
A language manager in Brazil read the document and pinged a colleague on Slack.
To be honest I was not expecting content so … shocking!
I mean … it is really really heavy!
A manager responded that this was Chappelles brand: I would insist that the creative intent is followed.
It is not our place to tone down the content.
Of course, the tenor only became more heated after the special was released.
Workers were infuriated as their Open Q&A questions went unanswered.
(Given the volume of questions, explained Netflix spokesperson Feingold, we opted for town halls instead.)
Netflix execs had no intention of doing that.
(Netflix says it bases these decisions on what the company thinks is important for the viewer.)
This time, there was very little pushback.
That same month, Netflix published an update to its culture deck to include a section on artistic freedom.
It was a conversation that previously might have happened in the Open Q&A document.
Now, the Google doc just seemed like another venue for Netflix executives to post platitudes.
Update July 7, 8:14 PM ET:Article updated with further clarification from Netflix.
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