this is bbc news — the headlines. russia has said it will drastically reduce its military activity in the kyiv and chernihiv regions of northern ukraine — following peace talks in turkey. ukraine's armed forces said some russian units had moved from those regions — but they added forces were regrouping to focus on the east. president zelensky has hailed what he called the positive signals from the day's talks — but insisted kyiv would only trust any concrete results that emerged from the meeting. mr zelensky stressed that the situation had not become easier and the ukraine military would not slacken its defensive efforts. israel's prime minister has warned his country is facing a new wave of terror after a third knife or gun attack in a week. at least five people were killed in the town of bnei brak on the outskirts of tel aviv.

the gunman was also shot dead. now on bbc news... hello. this week, i'm in los angeles for the 94th academy awards, which take place on sunday. and one film in particular is attracting a lot of global films at netflix. if the film does win that category, it'll be the first

time a netflix—made movie has triumphed, after roma and the irishman fell short in recent years. scott is my guest on today's media show. from inside one of the new netflix offices in hollywood, we'll be discussing the impact netflix is having on the movie industry for good or ill, and what he sees as the future of film. well, scott, welcome to the media show. thank you. thank you so much for coming on. first of all, i want to find out a bit more about your own story and how you got into film, because i think long before you became a film executive, you made your debut as an actor in free willy 2 as a policeman, and i think also assassins as a valet parker. that was a film with sylvester stallone. did you always want to be around a film set? i always did. when i was young, i loved films and sports. those were the things i really loved, and i went to university to study film. and when i did those, i worked for a film—maker named richard donner and his wife, lauren shuler donner, a producer. so we were producing free willy and dick always loved to put people who are working with him into the movies.

and so for me, it was nerve—racking, and i realised very quickly, "i'm going to leave this to the pros..." it was your hitchcock moment. yes, it was. it was like, "i'm better behind the scenes than "in front of the camera." but, you know, one of the great things i learned early on, having done a lot of different things, like screenwriting in university, and acting, is empathy. at the end of the day, it is a creative endeavour and myjob is to actually empathise with the artist and make sure that i'm facilitating the best experience for them. because the best thing about what i do is i'm always 13 years old, because you can always dream. and then i think the worst thing is, you're always 13, because you've got that insecurity of putting yourself out there and putting that performance in that film. and every director has that anxiety that his or her art is going to be received by the critics or the audience in the best way. and so having done it, at least i understand the challenges of it. ok, so your biography — you eventually rose up to become an executive producer at universal studios on blockbuster comedies like you, me and dupree, the break—up, which starred jennifer aniston, and ted. fast—forward to 2017.

that was when you became head of global films at netflix, having been offered thatjob by the chief content officer, as he then was, ted sarandos. when you said yes, i mean, i think you have said that part of it was about thinking that certain films might not be made — the likes of taxi driver, do the right thing or the piano — that they might not get made in mainstream film—making these days. and you wanted to make them. just why did you feel like that? what was your view on what was happening to film—making? you know, it's interesting. when i was at universal, we had dvd and there was an ability with the business model to do a lot of different things. so when i was a young executive, i had a year where i was the executive on a beautiful mind, fast & furious and the best man — really diverse, uniquely different stories. and i could see... and i think a lot of us in the industry were getting frustrated. we were pretty much ip driven, animation and low—budget horror films. and they're great, and the artistry of them are incredible. but there's so many young film—makers and different storytellers that want

to tell those stories. and so for me, when i recognised i didn't have those things, i had to pivot and be like, "well, what can we be? "what can we define ourselves as?" and that was the exciting opportunity. it was like...let me go out to those film—makers who don't really, in their vision, want to tell those kind of stories, but they want to tell what they tell, and get someone like alfonso cuaron to say, "i want to tell my story in roma "about how i grew up, in spanish, in black and white," and be a place that actually could champion that and treat it like a superhero movie. and that's been the fun part, and the exciting part is we found a lot of incredibly talented people who want to come here and tell those stories. back then, i mean, netflix was still best known more for the sort of original tv series — house of cards, stranger things, the crown... it tended to license films from the likes of disney or sony. why is it so important for netflix to control both the platform and own the ip to the content that you put on it? well, i think we realised that the companies that were licensing to us were going to bring them back and put them on their own platform. so we saw that coming.

and i think they saw that early on, ted and reed, when they started in the series business. and then as we started to grow, the recognition that film is a global storytelling medium... it's one of the great things that travels around the world, and we see each other culturally in these stories, and we can actually expand the audience. so for us, it was really important to be there and get into it competitively so that we can continue to grow the business so that the audience out there can have the ability, not only to see the crown, but to see the power of the dog and feel like they're getting entertained in the best ways possible. you mentioned earlier on some of the directors and other stars that you've attracted, but back then how seriously was netflix taken by major film directors and actors when you first started? you know what, it was funny. i've been lucky enough to be in this business for a while, and so i thought, "oh, i have a big job now. i'm the head of a new studio "and let me call everyone." and a lot of people go, "no." and i was like, "oh, wait, but we've been friends," or, "we made that film or that film," and it was... at the beginning it kind of shocked me a minute and kind of made me realise and get more competitive and dig down deep.

and like anything... what was the "no" coming from? why did they say no? because it was a non—traditional company. it hadn't had any form yet. they didn't know what it was. they didn't know how the films would get distributed or marketed. there was nothing there yet. and so, really, what you had to do was say, "i have to prove it." you have to prove it. and i think for us, it was really good, frankly, to feel that kind of pressure and to feel that kind of resistance, because you can either run and hide or you can say, "well, i have to prove it to people." and so, for me, it was really important that we solicited and made these films with these incredible film—makers. so the industry went, "well, they're striving to be great, "they're striving to do things unique "they're making sure that they're taking care "of their film—makers and facilitating those "stories around the world." and so, you know, we have a lot to do, but in four years, i'm really proud of where we've come and i'm pretty excited about where we'll be in four more years. and injune 2021, talking

about the kind of people you've attracted, netflix signed a multi—year deal with steven spielberg's production company that's committed to make several films a year for you — all the more significant given the fact that steven spielberg previously said that streaming films should not qualify for the oscars. how did you win him over? i think the same. i mean, listen, i have such admiration for him, and i'm of a generation of probably many people my age, in their 50s, where steven and george lucas were the reason we're in this business. there was with star wars and jaws, and those films, they were lightning bolts that made me dream that i could ever do this. and they were amazing moments in my life and with my family, and i talked to steven quite a bit. like et was a moment with my mom and i at the cinerama dome right down the street. and when i took my three kids to watch it again, it was that same moment where they cried when et died the same way i did. and i'm like, "no, he's coming back. i promise." so, you know, he's someone that i'm lucky enough to know, and we talk a lot about what it is. and i think what he's trying to do, like all of us, is protect it, trying to make sure that whatever these new distribution models are, that, at the core, they're

protecting the movie business, protecting how that great storytelling moves us generationally and makes us want to do it. and, yes, it's changing. i wish that friday night, the movie at the movies was still as important as was when i was 19. and it's changing, because there's video games and there's phones and there's tik tok and all these things. but, really, what we have to do is protect the movie business, and how do we make young generations come through and be the next steven spielberg? and so that's what we're all working together, and he's a great thought partner, and ifeel really lucky to have him by my side and making movies with him, and i hope to get him behind the camera for us one day. and what films is he working on?

can you give us any details? and what budget will he have? you know, it's whatever the story will tell. i mean, we're talking about a lot of different things. we have a big, big movie that we are just actually putting in development that we're talking about, which would be very expensive and a big kind of world—creation film. and then we've got a couple that are just kind of on the runway that we're trying to decide. but it's a... you know, as you pointed out, it's a multi—year multi—picture film deal. so we'rejust kind of lining up what we think the first ones will be and probably should know within the next two or three months. are we talking hundreds of millions of dollars, tens of millions? it varies. there's some... there's one great, really terrific thriller that's probably in the $50—$70 million range. the big one will be in "hundreds of millions of dollars" range if it all comes to fruition. so, you know, for us, it's really what's the best version of the story. and sometimes a movie costs 30 and sometimes it costs 200. now, apparently you have full green—light authority at netflix, meaning you can move any pitch into production without needing the sign—off of corporate bosses. how do you decide which films to back? i mean, is it decades

of well—honed instinct, or do you look at the data and see what sells? it's... listen, i have a great team of executives, so i mean, we have a bunch of different conversations, and everyone comes to me with what they believe in. but at the end of the day, to be a great film executive, it has to come from your gut. you have to have real... you have to see it in the script. in the film—maker, in his or her vision. and that's what you're backing. and just like in the theatrical marketplace, you look at data, like you go, "well, he or she's been in a movie "that's kind of similar. he or she has directed a movie that's similar. it's a rating that feels right "for that kind of film." so there's all those factors that you have to take into your brain and into your process. but, really, when it comes down to it, you'd better believe in it. those things should never be the answer. it has to be, "i believe this movie with this film—maker and this story "is going to be great." so are you saying that famous netflix algorithm doesn't play much into these decisions, into the creative decisions? it does, the same way it did when i ran universal, and i would look at box office and historicals and things like that, in terms of... but at the end of the day,

it really is about gut and instinct. and that's how you have to make these decisions when you're running a film studio or a network. and it's been pretty striking that some of your biggest successes, some of netflix�*s biggest successes, in film and tv, have come from markets outside the us and uk. so, you mentioned roma, cuaron�*s roma. it was a big success, even though it was in spanish. netflix�*s tv arm has the big korean hit squid game. do you think audience tastes are becoming more international? ithink... you know, it's interesting. what i've learned, and i think you continue to learn, is when we think of global, it really is, in a lot of times we think of spectacle and scope and visual effects. but really, at the end of the day, if you think about both those that you referenced, roma is a story about family and it is a story that's universal in every way, and so, really, if the person at the centre of the story, a man or woman, whatever ethnicity, whatever... ..if it's a human experience, that's a global movie. and squid game is a global issue right now about inequity and what those things go into it and decisions we would make that we would all ask ourselves in those situations. so, to me, that's the exciting part, is... yes, the world is getting smaller in terms of

opportunities for global storytellers, but, really, when you're telling a story... like, we have a terrific film, hand of god, that's nominated, it's really about family and it's about pain and loss, and how do we figure that out as human beings and how do we get past that? and those stories are always going to be global because they're human stories. talking of global, i mean, over in the uk, there are plans to double the size of shepperton studios, where netflix has a huge contract. what will it mean for film—makers in britain, your expansion there? you know, i think it's... to me, it's one of the great places in the world to make film. i mean, it's our second largest market and we've made so many terrific films there. and having been there for 25 years in my career, the artistry there, the storytelling, is incredible. but, really, the craftsmanship, the reason you love going there is the production design and the costumes and all those things. so it was really important for me to find us a foothold there because of the talent level that is there, as well as when you think about when you go to make a film, a little bit we were talking about earlier, i'm asking people to go away from their friends and family, going to london is a great version of it, right? it's an incredible city. it's got great culture and great food.

and for me, i always loved being there. i was lucky enough to be... would you go to newcastle? 0r glasgow? i would go to newcastle. i like scotland. yes, and i shot in belfast and, you know, culturally, there's so much to do there and, you know, there's times when you're away from your friends and family, then on a weekend you get to see all that great countryside and be part of that, that's a great place to be. how much does netflix plan to spend in the uk on films over the next year? well, we don't determine it really that way because you kind of figure out where's the best place to shoot. so it really is... right now, we're shooting a film called heart of stone with gal gadot that's going to be over there. we just finished enola holmes 2 that we shot over there. so, you know, when the film is appropriate and we want to be there, we're going to be there as much as we possibly can. and, you know, elsewhere in russia, netflix announced it was suspending its service following the country's invasion of ukraine. if the war doesn't end, if putin doesn't leave, do you think netflix will stay permanently out of it? i mean, it's hard to speculate on that in a business sense. i mean, i think all of us are feeling the pain for the ukraine people

and what's going on over there. so it's hard to speculate in business issues. i think all we're hoping for is that this gets settled quickly and swiftly, so that there's no more loss and that we can all move on and try to find ourselves a better society and not treat each other this way. are you doing anything at netflix to support ukrainian film—makers, the industry there? you know, we are talking about it, right, and figuring out right now the ways to kind of be supportive and also give funds to the people there and try to help all the damage that's happening there and give as many humanitarian issues as we can and then figure out, as this goes forward, what we can do. i wanted to talk a little bit about representation. you know, the costume drama bridgerton already broke the mould with diverse casting. power of the dog, and in fact, the lost daughter, starring 0livia colman, both have women at the helm. but in the industry at large, obviously, women and black people in particular are still vastly under—represented in the movie industry. what is netflix doing to address this? you know, like everyone, we recognise there's a problem, right? so, for us, we're trying to actually build it from the inside out, right? so when you really think about representation, it starts within my own group, right, and making sure that in the room that the people making the decisions are diverse and they're talking

and supporting those stories. and then when you get into making those stories, we've seen so much in the studies we've done that when there's representation behind the camera, there's representation throughout, right? so it's really looking to make sure that we're doing that. and one of the things we learned in our usc study, some you can act very quickly, women of colour in particular are very under—represented in speaking parts and down at the end of the line when you're actually getting those day players in and you're giving them a line, that woman then gets a chance to get a sag card, and then if she gets a sag card, she can get insurance, she can have a chance at a career and then you can build to the next viola davis. i interviewed ari wegner, who's the cinematographer in the power of the dog, nominated for an oscar as well, and she said, "we're breaking the glass ceiling one film at a time, that only 6% of the big films are shot by women." yeah. and listen, we're very proud we've had rachel morrison and ari wegner as the first two women, you know, nominated for cinematography. but that shouldn't be the case. it's not changing fast enough. exactly. and so we have to keep pressing that and we have to keep doing that right. and i can throw out stats that i'm proud of that we've done

because i think we've done a lot of good work, but it's about not only netflix but the whole industry. we have to do better and we have to keep pushing this and making sure that we're building these programmes and building the chance for young people and young people of colour to see themselves on camera and to be behind the camera telling their stories. it's also been more than four years since the #metoo movement began. how has that changed the industry? do you think that's fed into all of this? ithink, listen, what's been good is, i think the business is much more transparent about behaviour. i think people now have the courage to stand up and say, "i'm not being treated right." i think there was an enormous amount of bad behaviour across all kinds of areas of this industry. and i think now it's time for people to recognise that everyone has the voice. everyone has to be respected. and if you don't feel like you're being, you can have the courage to stand up, and there's people that will champion that for you, and that i think we've gotten better about. i think there's work to do, but i've seen a lot of people raise their hand when they're not feeling that they're being treated well, and there's people that are advocating

for that, instead of saying, "no, no, no." and that, i think, is a good change. let's turn to the impact netflix has had on the film industry broadly. are your films best seen in the cinema, on the big screen, with a crowd of people, or at home on a smaller screen? that's what we're trying to do, is give the option. i think what we've learned in terms of technology and the change and what's happened is the audience really wants to get what they want when they want it. i can order a coffee right now on my phone, right? i can get a new suit on my phone. i can do so many things now that are unheard of generationally for me before. so, really, what you're trying to do is find the audience where they are and how they want to be. and for us, giving the optionality is imperative, right? it's to say like, when you want to see it in the cinema, we want to make sure it's in the cinema and you can make that choice. and when you want to watch it at home or when you want to watch it on the subway or the train, you can do that as well. and i think, really, we're all trying to get the audience to love what we're doing in the biggest and broadest way. i suppose something, though... a film like the power

of the dog is a great example of a movie which is arguably best seen in a cinema, you know, those huge scapes. if netflix wanted to, it could decide to lengthen the theatrical window, as it's called, that period when films are exclusively available only in the cinema, to months instead of weeks. and that would have given the cinema a huge boost, particularly after the pandemic. why don't you do that and why didn't you do that with the power of the dog? well, we're constantly iterating, evolving. i think sometimes there's misinformation about it. on the power of the dog, it was, in certain places, in cinemas exclusively for three to four weeks, right? and it still is, right? so it continues to run in over 2,000 screens. many places only two weeks, though, ithink, before it went...

no, but then it kept going. it was different in different windows, right? so it was really trying to get that optionality in terms of where the audience was and expand it, right? and i think, also, we're trying to learn into it. so, as before the pandemic, that window is very long, right? and it was hard for us in a subscription model to say to the consumer, you've got to pay now and then you've got to wait three or four months to see the film. as the pandemic has changed some of these theatrical models, it's given us the opportunity to talk to the theatre chains around the world and find the right answer. and we're working into it... what is the right answer? sorry. people do say netflix is killing cinema, for example. well, i'd hate to think that, right, because, for me, that would be terrible, as someone who loves it so much the way i do. i think it is important that we're expanding it. can you say why they say that? yes and no, because i think... i think, really, when you think about when you're a new company, right, and i've seen this happen so many times. so you're a new company

and you come into a business that has a theatrical model that suits big tent—pole entertainment with giant marketing things, and you're coming in with an original story, that is a very hard way to maintain a business, right? so, for us, we were trying to build a business, trying to get up to a place of artistry and penetration and width of storytelling that these other companies have been doing for 100 years. so while you're trying to do that, you're trying to maintain a healthy business and as you do it, now you're trying to say, ok, where is the best way to do this? how can we expand our theatrical? how can we actually get to a place where the audience has that choice in the biggest and most profound ways? sometimes it's here, sometimes there. and i think if you look at our competitors in the way that disney and warner's and others are doing it, they're doing the exact same thing. so everyone�*s trying to say, "ok, where is the audience for this movie? "i'm going to put it straight into disney+," or, in the cinema." and i think it reallyjust becomes, now, what you believe the best version of that film is for that audience, right, and where you think you can do the best in the business with it, so... anecdotally, i mean, lots of people i've spoken to who saw the power of the dog

on the small screen actually found it a bit boring and missed the twist. people who saw on the big screen absolutely loved it. so you've got to hope that those academy award voters saw it on the big screen. exactly. you never know. you never know these days where everybody�*s watching it, right? 0k, what about quality? it's estimated netflix releases one majorfilm each week. you know, what do you say to those who argue, "look, your company is prioritising quantity over quality?" you know, i think in the beginning there was a lot of that. i mean, i think we realised that, like you said earlier, that our competitors were going to take our films off our service, so the licensed movies were going to go away. and so the concern was, with the consumer, will they have enough? will there be the storytelling there, right? so we did scale up very quickly knowing this was coming. and as we've done that, we've looked at it and said, "0k, there's a lot..." we have a lot of different film groups, right? i have an animated group, a documentary group, an international group, multiple teams here. but what we're really trying to do is, because there's multi ways for these different services at home, for me now it's scaling back. now it is scaling back and being about quantity, but also recognising that quality is in the eye

of the beholder. so we will make international films and animated films and documentaries that we try to make great for that audience, right? so, like i said before, when we make a teen/ya movie, it's got to be great. it's got to be that groups best version of it. and when we make power of the dog, it also has to be the best version of that, and that... so we are going to actually reduce the output for that perspective, because now we have to really focus on that, as much as anything. finally, you know, ijust want to talk to you a bit about where you see the film industry going. what genres or new markets are you most excited about? you know, i think it's going to be a bold decade in film, right? i think, as we figure out all these new distribution models and how we figure out how they work best together, it's going to be exciting to me because i really feel like the �*70s was an era that we all look towards, and i think you're going to see those new film—makers come through and there's new voices and the next generation ofjane campion and spike lee and martin scorsese, and these young film—makers coming up and being able to tell their stories. and i even think about... when you talk about the internet, it is amazing. when i was at film school, you had to figure out how

to make your student film and no—one would ever see it. and now some young person anywhere in the world can tell a story and put it online, and you can see the artistry of what he or she is trying to get across. and it can be great, and i can get to me, and i can find it or my competitors. so i do think it's going to be a great time for new voices around the globe. and that'll be exciting. and then i think... what do you predict the next big trend is in film? i do think you'll see... ..probably because there's so much in streaming across all these entertainment companies, now you'll see someone make a big film that relatively quickly, there'll either be another one — usually there's two—year cycles, right? obviously, the most famous is peterjackson, and new line give them the money to make all three films. but i think you'll see... lord of the rings. yeah, lord of the rings. so i think you'll see someone make two big, say, star wars movies, and they'll be six months apart, instead of two years apart. and i think you'll see someone make a big film that then will very quickly have eight or ten episodes of the series offshoot, so that the audience who loves that story and the depth of that storytelling will be able to see it very quickly thereafter in whatever

iteration that storyteller dreams. so that's still quite traditional, but it's about speed, about the generation that needs things quickly. yes. is that how you attract the tiktok generation, do you think? well, i think what's interesting is, they're seeing things in short form, right, and they're entertaining themselves by their own creation, right, and figuring those things out. but i think we all still love to be transported, right? and i think if you can find... i think it's really depth of character, right? if you think of the first star wars, or those star wars movies, and now you think of whatjon favreau is doing so brilliantly with mandalorian, if you could have that quicker, if you can move that process along so that that fandom is ignited much quicker, i think that's an exciting thing. and then i think, listen, that generation, they're always going to... like, the great thing about generations is they define their own art and their own culture. and i think, for us, it's imperative to make sure that they still love movies. and do you think the way we'll watch movies will change? i mean, what will it look like in ten years, in 50 years? how will we be watching them? you know, istill think

the same, to be honest. i don't think there's a better version to watch a film than on a big screen, or on a big screen in your home. i don't think that those two things will change. i do think there are obviously people now who watch them on an ipad or a cellphone. does that offend you? if someone tells you they've watched your movie...? it bums me out a little bit, then i go, "well, you know what? that's their choice." for whatever reason... i can't do it, right? but i think that's their choice. i still would prefer them to watch it on a big screen or at least a big screen in their home, which is the way i've always watched movies. but i do think there's something about the width of the screen that gives you the opportunity to get lost in the vision, and i think that's what film—making is going to be for a long time. and is there an actor that you're desperate, that you really want to woo to netflix who you haven't had yet? well, it's funny when you mentioned steven spielberg. i said to him... i love daniel day—lewis. i think he's just remarkable. get him out of retirement! i know, but he's retired. he's done that before. he's come back. i know. but ijust think he's amazing. i'm a giant denzel washington fan.

me too. ijust love watching him. i'm a big fan of his. my dream was to get the two of them in a movie together, but that dream won't come true, so hopefully i can just get denzel. scott stuber, thank you so much for coming on the media show. thank you very much. thank you. i appreciate it. hello there. the weather has been turning colder, and on tuesday, it was certainly cold enough for snow in the far north of the uk. that was the wintry—looking scene for a weather watcher in shetland. those colder conditions continue to sink southwards behind this weather front, the front bringing some outbreaks of rain, but with some sleet and snow mixing in, especially over high ground. and to the north of that weather front, a very cold start to wednesday. particularly in northern scotland, a widespread frost. further snow showers giving some accumulations in places and the risk of ice, but there will be some spells

of sunshine to start off wednesday, whereas southern scotland will start off cloudy. a bit of sleet and snow in places, some patchy rain to start off in northern ireland, some wet weather in northern england, some snow mixing in up over the pennines, bit of rain into north wales and the north midlands. but to the south of that, a mainly dry start with some areas of low cloud, mist and fog, but equally some spells of sunshine. now, our band of cloud, rain, sleet and snow will continue to push southwards, most of the snow over high ground, but we could see some to low levels. to the north of that, sunny spells and wintry showers. to the south, some spells of sunshine, but increasing amounts of cloud, the odd shower. still quite mild in the south at 12 degrees, but more widely, we're looking at top temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees. it will feel cold, particularly as the wind starts to pick up. now, through wednesday night, this band of rain, sleet and snow continues to move southwards. could be some wintry weather, especially over the hills in the south, but possibly even to low levels. and behind that band of rain, sleet and snow, a very cold and frosty start to thursday morning. there will be some icy stretches here and there. thursday, a day of sunny spells and wintry showers, the showers tending to push westwards as the day wears on. a keen north or northeasterly

breeze just adding to a cold feel. top temperatures for many of us between 5 and 8 degrees. some spots in the west — maybe glasgow, plymouth — getting up into double digits. now, as we head towards the weekend, as this area of high pressure sinks its way southwards, a subtle change. we lose the northerly winds. we pick up something of a westerly wind, bringing something just a little bit less cold. there won't be a heat wave, but temperatures will climb a little. a lot of dry weather, just one or two showers.

this is bbc news. our top stories... a glimmer of hope for ukraine — in peace talks russia says it'll scale back military operations around the capital kyiv. translation: the ministry of defence of the russian . federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in the kyiv and chernihiv areas in order to boost mutual trust. western leaders express doubts about russia's intentions. the us secretary of state says moscow continues to brutalise ukraine. at least five people have been killed in a shooting in israel — the third such attack in the past week. and queen elizabeth — out in public for the first time in weeks to commemorate

the life of the duke of edinburgh.