Variety: Netflix Film’s Niija Kuykendall to Exit in December

Story from Variety:

Netflix film executive Niija Kuykendall is leaving the streamer after three years.

She joined in October 2021 as VP of film, where she oversaw a new department focusing on mid-sized holiday, faith-based and young adult movies. Netflix didn’t give a reason for her departure but confirmed she’ll be exiting the company at the end of the year.

“Niija’s creative relationships with established and upcoming filmmakers, like Tyler Perry, Denzel and Malcolm Washington, and David Yates, have had a great impact on our film slate,” Netflix’s film VP Doug Belgrad said in a statement. “I want to thank her for her many contributions, including films such as ‘The Piano Lesson,’ ‘The Deliverance,’ ‘The Six Triple Eight,’ ‘Pain Hustlers’ and ‘Mea Culpa.’”

Kuykendall was hired by Netflix’s former film chief Scott Stuber, who was replaced earlier this year by Dan Lin. In Lin’s first month on the job, he laid off around 15 people and reorganized the film department by genre rather than budget level. Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos has emphasized that Lin’s mandate will be focusing on quality and quantity.

“There is no appetite to make fewer films, but there is an unlimited appetite to make better films, always,” Sarandos said in April. “Even though we have made, and we are making, great films. We want to make them better, of course.”

Prior to Netflix, Kuykendall served for 13 years as executive VP of production at Warner Bros. She worked on such films as “A Star Is Born,” “It,” “Magic Mike” and “Judas and the Black Messiah.” She began her career at Viacom before moving to Beacon Pictures and 20th Century Fox.