PARADIGM SHIFTERS
Globalizing Streaming Content
BELA BAJARIA — HEAD OF GLOBAL TV, NETFLIX
WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED that the breakout hits on American television this year would be Squid Game, a survival story from Korea, and Lupin, a French thriller about a Black gentleman thief? Even Bela Bajaria says there was no way to predict it. But as the head of global television at Netflix, it’s her job to find the next big show—and if it comes from an unexpected corner of the planet, all the better.
“There has been this pervasive idea that only Hollywood exports stories, which I find really limits who gets to tell those stories,” Bajaria says. “We’re pushing beyond that and opening the doors to creators of all different types around the world.”
Netflix is the world’s largest streaming service, which makes Bajaria one of the most influential programmers
in television. Show by show, she and her colleagues are changing
