Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr., (born July 30, 1964) is an American media executive who has been the co-chief executive officer (co-CEO) of Netflix since 2020.
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Early life and education
Sarandos was born on July 30, 1964, in Long Branch, New Jersey. He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with his parents and four siblings. His father, Theodore Sarandos Sr., was an electrician, and his mother was a homemaker. His grandfather, Alex Karyotakis, migrated to the United States from the Greek island of Samos and changed his name to Sarandos.
As a child, he spent hours watching television shows like Happy Days, I Love Lucy, The Jack Benny Program, and The Andy Griffith Show. He stated that his family did not travel much, "so the way to see the world was through books and movies and television." In his teens, he developed a knowledge of film and TV, and strong instincts for what people liked while working at a video store. While writing for his high school newspaper, Sarandos met and interviewed the actor Ed Asner, who was in Phoenix for a local Screen Actors Guild meeting. Asner, then in the height of his Lou Grant period, introduced Sarandos to others in the entertainment industry for further interviews and connected his interests in entertainment, politics, and journalism.
Sarandos was educated at Alhambra High School in Phoenix and attended Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona, for two years before dropping out. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said, "I had this kind of epiphany in junior college that I was not a very good writer, so I was probably not going to be a professional journalist. I didn’t really have a plan B." He then prioritized working at the video store, changing from part-time to full-time.
Career
Early career (1983–2000)
He was promoted to store manager of the Cassettes West chain in 1983 and managed retail video stores until 1988. In 1988, Sarandos became Western Regional Director of Sales and Operations for one of the largest video distributors in the United States, East Texas Distributors (ETD). Until March 2000, Sarandos was Vice President of Product and Merchandising for the almost 500 store chain, Video City/West Coast Video. While at West Coast Video, he was responsible for negotiating revenue deals to migrate the company from the VHS format into the DVD format.
Netflix (1999–present)
In 1999, an article came out regarding Sarandos' success, which caught the attention of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. "I did a deal with Warner Bros. and with Sony to do revenue sharing on DVD, which was an unheard-of thing at the time," Sarandos said. "Reed saw the article and said, 'Oh, this is what we need.'" After meeting with Hastings in 1999, Sarandos joined Netflix in 2000. He serves as its co-chief executive officer. Before that, he was the company's chief content officer, overseeing Netflix's original programming and entertainment efforts.
Sarandos was responsible for initiating the first round of original programming at Netflix, starting with Lilyhammer, and then continuing with the breakout David Fincher series starring Kevin Spacey, House of Cards. Beginning with House of Cards, which was bought for $100 million in a March 2011 deal, Sarandos created Netflix's model of purchasing multiple seasons of shows without pilot orders. Sarandos sees the focus as being on subscriber growth as a reflection of revenue health over ratings. This has since changed, when Netflix decided to initiate an Ad-Supported model, which allows users to pay a lower price but have to view advertisements on their account.
Sarandos was also instrumental in Netflix going the route of dropping all of a season's episodes at once, calling it "a super-practical decision". He explained that Netflix had been seeing its users' viewing habits, saying people watched a varied number of episodes but that "nobody watched one." This all-at-once choice made front-page news in The New York Times, with an article titled, "New Way to Deliver a Drama: All 13 Episodes in One Sitting." Following the successful release of House of Cards, Sarandos expanded upon the way Netflix would release shows, saying, "It was not meant to be the template. It was just, Let’s see how people watch it." During a session at the 2015 Aspen Ideas Festival, Sarandos referred to the new program schedule as “The New Golden Age of Television.”
Sarandos uses algorithms at Netflix to predict what programs viewers will want to watch prior to producing them. His personal algorithm focuses on 30% judgement (as a highest priority), with 70% focused on a base of data. He also said that the focus is on the audience, and that there is no programming grid – or appointment linear-based television – that is typically used by traditional TV networks. Barometers of success are whether the audience completes watching the show, the timeframe within which they finish watching a series, and whether there is attention from critics and fans. Sarandos said that the preference is for a show to run for multiple seasons and build a fan base. Sarandos believes the model allows the viewer to be in control and to watch only the content they enjoy. He said Netflix aggregates audiences over a very long period of time, where Netflix can tell if a show will be successful by using a regression model.
Board and advisory work
Sarandos is a member of several boards, including: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Board of Trustees, Exploring The Arts, Board of Trustees, American Cinematheque, Board member, American Film Institute, Board of Trustees, Peabody Awards, Board of Directors, Spotify, Board of Directors, and Paley Center for Media - Board of Trustees. He has also served on the Film Advisory Board for the Tribeca Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Personal life
Sarandos married Michelle Sarandos, his first wife, with whom he had two children: film producer Sarah Sarandos and film editor Anthony Sarandos. In 2009, Sarandos married former United States Ambassador to the Bahamas (2009–2011) Nicole Avant, the daughter of former Motown chairman Clarence Avant. The couple live in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, after previously living in Avant's home town of Beverly Hills, California. In 2013, the couple purchased a beach house formerly owned by David Spade in Malibu, California. Sarandos is Catholic.
Sarandos and his wife held a fundraiser for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign in Southern California in 2009, and raised over $700,000 for the Democratic candidate.
Honors and awards
2008: Aspen Institute – Henry Crown Fellow
2013: Time – Time 100
2014: Simon Wiesenthal Center – Humanitarian Award
2015: International Documentary Association – Pioneer Award
2015: International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Publicists Awards – Television Showman of the Year Award
2015: National Association of Television Program Executives – Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award
2017: SAG-AFTRA – Patron of the Artists Award
The Harvard Lampoon – Honorary Member
2020: Producers Guild of America – Milestone Award
2022: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – Entertainment Person of the Year
2024: Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire