GEORGE MF WASHINGTON: Adapt or Die: Netflix Edition.

The question around conference tables and in the air at every Hollywood meeting these days is “what does it mean that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos schwacked all of his senior content chiefs and replaced them with Peter Rice?”

Well, no one who isn’t Ted Sarandos or Peter Rice can know for sure, but here’s what I think (hope?) it means. Peter Rice is an old school theatrical movie guy who built his reputation on working with brilliant young filmmakers like Danny Boyle to make great movies with budgets that were respectful of fundamental economics and which made everyone involved a lot of money… and because I know that, I believe Netflix is hoping Rice can shepherd them into a near future where the majority of their original films enjoy a real theatrical run.

I say I “hope” this is the case because if he doesn’t, and they don’t, then Rice’s proven eye for identifying good stories and great young talent will be wasted and Netflix risks becoming nothing more than a modern-day Blockbuster video without the brick-and-mortar stores and the after-hours drop boxes. And that would be very bad for business… Hollywood simply cannot afford to lose another buyer on the motion picture side.

Read the whole thing.