Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth
01:00:15 · Elizabeth Stone
[01:00:15] S1: I think it's already changing at Netflix, because entertainment is not going to be one thing in the future and it's already not one thing now. So, part of the reason that we are going beyond film and TV in our offering is because there's an expectation that consumers have of much greater variety across formats, devices, moments of the day, that Netflix needs to be able to serve well in order to meet consumer expectations and hopefully exceed them over time. So, when we think about the addition of mobile and TV or cloud games, live content, podcasts, working with a broader set of creators who are now on the Netflix service, all of those things create a greater breadth of what entertainment is. And Netflix is able to define and expand that. And it puts a higher bar or expectation on, how do we make sense of that for a Netflix member? So, how do we show you this very seamless journey from I listened to the Bill Simmons podcast to I watch Quarterback, because I love that as one of the Netflix offerings in the more, you could say traditional film or TV space to I play the most recent FIFA cloud game. And I want to be able to do that in both TV and on my mobile phone, because now I'm on the move and I want to be able to discover and engage with the content at different moments of the day. That's already a journey that we're building into Netflix, which I think will become stronger and stronger over time. So, the future of entertainment isn't going to be one thing. And it's going to have to be more personalized, more immersive, more interactive, with this sense of this is a world that I can explore in lots of different directions, depending on what I'm looking for in the moment. And the challenge Netflix has is we've got to make discovery and engagement much easier than it feels today. We have tons of content, it can feel very fragmented, especially when you consider all the services or offerings out there. And I think Netflix is very well-positioned to understand how to solve that problem across entertainment, product and tech.
01:02:19 · Lenny Rachitsky
[01:02:19] S0: The other element of this is AI, obviously. As an outside observer, it's so interesting to see how in tech it's like AI, I love it. It's the future, it's the best. In Hollywood it's like, no, shut it down.
01:02:33 · Elizabeth Stone
[01:02:33] S1: There's a mix. There's a very wide array. So, Netflix's role in this is to enable creators with whatever tools they want to use to bring their vision to life. There are going to be some creators or filmmakers who are on the end of the spectrum that says, "Absolutely not. No AI. That is not how I do production. It's not consistent with my vision." That's fine. We work with those creators. There's other creators, a growing number of them I would say, who are very interested in exploring, wait, can these GenAI tools make something possible that wasn't possible before? Can I tell a story in a new way? Can I make that story higher quality and more resonant for audiences? Can I do things that are extra creative in how I think about bringing a story to life? And we support them as well and we support all the folks who are in the in between. I think that's a really important position for us to be in, again, because entertainment is not going to be one thing. There's not going to be one format. I think there's going to be types of film and TV that feel traditional, and then there's going to be entirely new formats that unbelievable creators help to bring to life. And Netflix wants to participate in that, which means we need to have a flexibility in the tools that we provide, and the types of partnerships we have, and to really have a creator enablement view, rather than a prescriptive, we only do this one way.
01:03:54 · Lenny Rachitsky, Elizabeth Stone
[01:03:54] S0: I think people are going to be surprised by just how good AI content is. Spencer Pratt's videos are just like... everyone's like, wow, this is entertaining. Obviously, AI, but it's so interesting. Do you think we'll get to a place where just whole TV shows are AI and people love it? [01:04:09] S1: I have a hard time picturing entertainment that doesn't have humans at the heart of it. So, that's humans in the creation of the storytelling, which I think is a scarce and valuable skill. Storytelling is one and the same with humanity and knowing what connects with people. So, I think humans will always be a core part or a critical part of the story. And I think watching characters on screen who don't have that humanity feels less compelling to me. And what the power of storytelling really is, to see another human and to watch how they perform a role or bring an emotion to life, that's such a human element. Will AI help to bring that to life? Will it play a material part in some of those productions or how we get them to look and feel a certain way? Yeah, definitely. But I don't see the version of it that doesn't have the human as the backbone. [01:05:13] S0: There's a quote that I think is misattributed to Salman Rushdie, which is, "When a child is born, they first ask for food and water and protection and then they ask for, tell me a story."
01:05:13 · Lenny Rachitsky, Elizabeth Stone
[01:05:13] S0: There's a quote that I think is misattributed to Salman Rushdie, which is, "When a child is born, they first ask for food and water and protection and then they ask for, tell me a story." [01:05:27] S1: It's a thing going back since the beginning of time, that storytelling has been a key part of community, and social networks, and human feeling and connection. So, I love the idea that technology can amplify that and can bring that to life in very new, novel, exciting ways. But to say storytelling wouldn't have that humanity at the center feels like something would be missing. [01:05:57] S0: We're going to see some wild shit over the years coming out of all this. [01:06:00] S1: Oh, there's no question about that. And a lot of it could be very entertaining. I don't debate that either. But I think there's going to be a broad range and I think Netflix needs to be at the center of shaping that and bringing that to life, which is our plan. [01:06:15] S0: Amazing. Well, we covered a lot of ground, Elizabeth. Before we get to our very exciting lightning round, is there anything else that you wanted to share, leave listeners with, maybe double down on some things we've talked about?
01:06:15 · Lenny Rachitsky, Elizabeth Stone
[01:06:15] S0: Amazing. Well, we covered a lot of ground, Elizabeth. Before we get to our very exciting lightning round, is there anything else that you wanted to share, leave listeners with, maybe double down on some things we've talked about? [01:06:27] S1: It probably came across throughout, but I would underscore that this is a really exciting time to be building products in entertainment. Everything we talked about of what's changing in the tech and consumers and what is entertainment. We're at this unbelievable high velocity innovation period, so it's what keeps me at Netflix. I think it's a fun place to be. I would be missing something if I didn't reinforce that I think that's true. I also think that as an industry, we spend a lot of time sometimes talking about the pure tech or the capability and we sort of lose the forest for the trees. We're trying to build great consumer products that people love. We're trying to make great entertainment that people love and it's their favorite thing, that I don't want that to be lost in. Of course, there's amazing tech and product stuff that sits underneath, but in the end, the thing that's most inspirational is what do we bring to people around the world.