The question of the evolution of remuneration models in the streaming landscape continues to arise.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reiterated content chief Bela Bajaria’s assertions earlier this month that the streamer was not looking to change how it compensates talent.

However, Sarandos said he is “open to more personalized deals,” but that rarely happens because “usually the talent chooses the initial model.”

Sarandos basically throws the ball back in the talent’s court (and, of course, their agents’ court), suggesting that his stars want to continue working in the cost-plus model that Netflix “started” rather than betting on their own success.

“We love our role model and the talent loves our role model. It will have a lot more impact for our business if we can make our films, our series, just a little bit better, that will have a lot more impact than making them a little bit cheaper,” he said during the company’s third quarter financial results conference call.

“Bela made it very clear a few weeks ago to all talent agencies: we are not changing our compensation structure. Paying up front, something Netflix actually pioneered, benefits creators, and it benefits Netflix. So for creators, Netflix takes all the financial risk so they can focus on creating the best possible version of what they’re working on. For Netflix, this model makes it possible to attract the best talents in the world. Now, having said that, we have been and continue to be, and we are open to more bespoke deals where talent is interested. Today this rarely happens, because usually the talent chooses the initial model. So we think we have the right model and we are not looking to change it,” he added.

All this comes after a meeting at Netflix headquarters, attended by a group of high-level agents and managers, where many expected, or at least hoped to hear about a new payment model, which particularly encourages rights ownership and back-end. offers.