Netflix’s head of live experiences, Greg Lombardo, has left the company after more than seven years, TheWrap reported on October 9. Lombardo joined Netflix in 2019 as vice president of creative and production, global experiences, and built the team that launched Netflix House, the streamer’s brick-and-mortar locations in Philadelphia and Dallas. Those first two venues opened in 2025, and a third is planned for Las Vegas next year.
The exit is more than a personnel note. It removes the executive who turned streaming IP into physical, ticketed, repeatable fan destinations at a moment when the format is still proving itself.
What he leaves behind
Netflix House sites have run activations tied to Stranger Things, Wednesday, Squid Game, Bridgerton and, most recently, KPop Demon Hunters. The animated feature will be available to explore at Netflix House later this year. The company also plans a KPop Demon Hunters world tour, following the Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience model that Lombardo shepherded.
Before Netflix, Lombardo was CEO of OffShore Surf and held entertainment executive roles at Fox Filmed Entertainment and BRC Imagination Arts. That mix of hospitality, entertainment and physical operations made him central to the core Netflix House job: making a streaming catalogue feel tangible. The departure follows Pam Levine’s exit as U.S. and Canada marketing and publicity vice president after about 18 months, marking a second senior marketing-side loss in days.
Why it matters for the screen business
Live experiences are becoming a second storefront for platforms. After years of subscriber-growth focus, streamers are investing in lower-frequency, higher-emotion touchpoints that deepen fandom and extend a title’s life beyond its release window. For media planners and entertainment marketers, Netflix House is best read as an audience channel: foot traffic, earned social, local press and branded content, all attached to known IP.
Lombardo’s exit, days after a senior marketing departure, sharpens an execution question. The Las Vegas launch and the KPop Demon Hunters world tour will be early tests of whether Netflix can maintain momentum while the people who built the format move on.
The planner’s lens
The immediate watch item is the delivery pipeline, not the headline. Treat Netflix House as a case study in running physical retail as media—venue footfall, organic social, local coverage and long-tail IP licensing sit in the same strategic bucket. Map one hero title to a measurable in-person activation before copying the play.
- Track footfall and social lift, not just screen views.
- Watch whether Las Vegas opens on schedule after the leadership change.
- Use the KPop Demon Hunters tour as a benchmark for IP touring economics.
If the venues keep delivering through the transition, Netflix will have shown the format is bigger than one executive. If they slip, it will confirm how much of live experiences is operational craft rather than IP strength.
Source: TheWrap
