Peter Newman
Professor Peter Newman has been a go-to source for industry insight as a two-time featured speaker at the Sundance Institute’s Producers Conference and a festival panelist for Cannes and New York FF. Following recent moves by the Walt Disney Co. to invest in new services, Variety asked Newman to speak on the new direct-to-consumer model large brands are now taking to maximize their revenue in an ever-changing industry landscape.
“At some point the light bulb went off and these studios recognized that Netflix was enjoying a crazy valuation that was bigger than the rest of them,” Newman pointed out, “and it had done that on the backs of the product they created.”
When Netflix presented its fourth-quarter results, and announced it would start becoming cash-flow positive starting in 2021 and beyond, Newman leant his insight into the impact this will have on the company: “It signals that they won’t have to keep borrowing. Debt has been so cheap for so long, but the question has always been is it sustainable and how will that impact Netflix as an ongoing venture?”
Read more about what this means for investing and the industry at Variety.