Peter Bart: Publisher and Agency Layoffs Are Making Hollywood Feel Too Brutal

“It was a palace like a square. There has never been such a place. “

An agent friend described the Netflix reception lobby that was almost weekly for him and his clients. It was so clogged with dealmakers that projects were often remixed and repackaged before Netflix went live.

The palace has become a cathedral of tranquility as Serpentine’s 450 employees have been laid off. Expected to lose 2 million global subscribers this quarter, Netflix’s current priority is to cut costs while creating ad-supported tiers to generate new revenue.

The behavior of Netflix employees reflected this change. “I spend all morning hosting shows and then I look for job opportunities in the afternoon,” says a Netflix executive I’ve known for years. “If I hear one more person teaching me about ‘resilience’, I’ll cut them off.”

Inevitably, the turmoil in the job market led to speculation about the Hollywood version of the “circle of life.” A Warner Bros., which, like many, discusses its own business etiquette. “Who knows who you’re going to punch tomorrow,” the Discovery executive thinks. Are calls returned instantly? Were the rejections compassionate? Or is it possible?

Even the behavior of CEOs is now more rigorously critical. When Disney CEO Bob Chapek abruptly fired Peter Rice two weeks ago, some were publicly shocked by the decency; Why couldn’t he give the former lieutenant a reason?

After observing Rice’s rigorous etiquette over the years (he was even polite during arguments, and he and I had a few), I was personally impressed with Chapek’s performance.

Peter Rice Says Goodbye to Disney Staff in Final ‘Weekend Reading’ Email

Rice belongs to a small group of senior executives (including Disney’s Alan Horne and Paramount’s Jim Gianopulos) who have earned recognition and respect for their manners and generosity. All of them are currently unemployed. Chapek’s contract was renewed, his salary was increased.

Institutional rudeness is not a new phenomenon. Former Viacom boss Sumner Redstone has experienced stormy layoffs, as has its chairman, Tom Freston. Legendary agent Sue Mengers was aggressively confrontational. “Your last movie sucked, but if you just shut up and do your job, I have a job for you,” the director’s client told Peter Bogdanovich (he told me at the time).

Under UTA’s previous regime, abusive behavior was so appalling that the agency hired a staff psychiatrist to deal with it. An agent, Gavin Polon, warned the court that “Hollywood is the Wild West for Jews” and later retracted that warning (Pollon speaks softly in Modern Life).

The volatility of the current labor market, combined with the pressure to include, has increased the pressure on university behavior. “Every meeting feels like a writer’s room where anger flares up,” the producer told me. The new layoffs affect not only studios and networks, but agency companies as well. The death toll from the CAA-ICM agreement only initially reached 105.

Everything is magnified on Netflix. by Wall Street JournalAn Evercore study revealed a significant drop in customer satisfaction, while another showed an increased loss in customer alert costs. Surveys continue to confirm Netflix’s dominance in streaming, but point to limits to future growth.

All of this puts pressure on Netflix’s future partner to develop the new level of advertising: Competitors include Google and Comcast units. Whatever agency does the job, he knows Netflix’s philosophy very well: poor performance leads to fast termination.

And given current practice, termination is disingenuous. There are no Rolexes to reward hugs, farewell dinners, faithful service.

When I personally quit my job at Paramount a few years ago, I decided to keep it a secret and be honest. I even politely parted with Sidney Korshak, the studio’s unofficial advisor, who seemed pleased. “It’s always best to leave quietly and you’re doing it right,” he assured me with a rare smile and handshake. “The safest way out is the silent exit,” he said. It felt like comforting advice from Al Capone’s favorite lawyer.