Two veteran Netflix creative executives are parting ways with the streamer following a restructuring of the film group.
Indie film and documentary features lead Lisa Nishimura and indie film vice president Ian Bricke have both stepped down. The change comes as the result of streamlining under Netflix film head Scott Stuber. All live-action film content will now roll up to Kira Goldberg, Ori Marmur and Niija Kuykendall.
“Lisa Nishimura joined Netflix in the DVD days, and as the company moved into streaming, she built our original documentary and stand-up comedy divisions from the ground up, and established Netflix as a powerhouse in both spaces,” Stuber told Variety in a statement of the executive, a fixture in the indie community and on the annual festival circuit.
“Her documentary work includes ‘American Factory,’ ‘My Octopus Teacher,’ ‘Making a Murderer’ and ‘Tiger King’; and on the narrative film side her work includes Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog,’ and the upcoming ‘They Cloned Tyrone,’ ‘Rustin’ and ‘NYAD.’ Along the way, she has been a champion for inclusion on and off screen, a leader and mentor to countless colleagues, and a trusted partner to the creative community,” he said.
Stuber also highlighted Bricke’s decade of service “building and leading our independent film team, attracting filmmakers like Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener and Mark and Jay Duplass. He also championed fan favorites like ‘The Kissing Booth’ and established our Emerging Filmmaker Initiative. We thank them both for their contributions to making us a world-class film studio and wish them the best for the future.”
Goldberg and Marmur were brought on in 2021 to develop premium commercial-facing projects. Kuykendall joined shortly after to shepherd mid-budget films (having previously worked at Warner Bros. Pictures on projects like “A Star Is Born” and the “Magic Mike” franchise).