Netflix’s global cost reset has now reached its UK content operation. Deadline reports that the streamer is reducing its London office by around 2% to 3%, with Anna Mallett, VP Production for the UK and EMEA, among those leaving. PR and marketing roles are also affected.
The Ankler first reported Mallett’s departure.
Why Mallett’s exit matters
Mallett joined Netflix just over five years ago and worked across TV shows and movies in the UK and EMEA. That period produced some of Netflix EMEA’s most valuable local hits: Baby Reindeer, Adolescence, later seasons of Money Heist and Berlin. Before Netflix, she was CEO of ITN and, earlier, Group COO and MD Production at BBC Studios.
Her exit lands a few weeks after Netflix said it would cut 1,000 roles, roughly 6% of its global staff base. Product, tech, legal and HR took the heaviest hit, but senior content leaders have also left. Bela Bajaria, known for building Netflix’s local-hub strategy, and film boss Dan Lin are out. Peter Rice, born in the UK, has taken on the content remit.
The signal for planners and producers
Netflix is managing slower growth, softer viewership and a declining stock. The London reductions show the same discipline being applied to the regional content layer that has already reshaped global functions.
Local hubs had been the centrepiece of the international strategy under Bajaria. They gave regional teams the mandate to commission and market shows close to local taste. A production-leadership exit in London, coming alongside global cuts, is a signal that the hub model is being reviewed as the P&L tightens. That matters to everyone who plans against Netflix’s UK and EMEA slate.
For media planners, entertainment marketers and producers, that translates into three practical checks:
- Expect a leaner local commissioning and marketing base through the next planning cycle.
- Do not assume EMEA’s recent hits automatically protect the existing regional structure.
- Watch Peter Rice’s first commissioning decisions for signs of how much autonomy local hubs retain.
The deeper question is whether this is a one-off efficiency pass or the start of a more centralised EMEA content model. Until that becomes clear, partner plans should carry a wider margin for local volatility.
Source: Deadline
