Meet Bela Bajaria : The Indian Executive Revamping Netflix
A board member of Women in Film, and executive head of Global TV at Netflix, Bela Bajaria has an extensive career in the business aspects of the film and television industries! The Indian-American beauty queen and businesswoman found her place with top-tier studios in the industry in roles as a director, an assistant, and executive lead/member with companies such as CBS and WarnerBros. Her resume includes having a hand in series like YOU(2018-Present), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt(2015-2019), and Queer Eye, Nailed It! (2018-Present).
Bajaria didn’t have the best American teenage experience, bullied in the late 70s and 80s for her Indian heritage and visual distinction. She transformed her self-confidence by becoming a beauty queen winning Miss India USA and Miss India Worldwide, Bajaria went on to launch a powerful career in the TV industry. She went on to achieve reputable titles as “Senior Vice President, Cable Programming for CBS TV Studios, and Senior Vice President of Movies and Miniseries for the CBS network.”
Bajaria keeps a sharp eye on how to increase the chances of a series or film getting produced and the financial, social, and cultural projections a film or series can make. At the heart of her work, compelling and diverse storytelling remains of utmost importance! It is this mission to continue equalizing the entertainment playing field with unique stories that mesh and/or challenge traditional Westernized TV and filmmaking to which Bajaria crunches the numbers on how real-world audiences respond or even internalize these projects and series!
As the head of various executive roles, most recently working as Netflix Global’s Chief of TV, Bajaria has honed in on the algorithm of what attracts audiences to the multitude of shows and films across so many intersections(i.e. race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic background, etc). In a 2021 Keynote interview with Variety, Bajaria highlights: “I think it’s sort of interesting, you know for- so in Netflix U.S. subscribers, increase the viewing of non-English shows between 2019 and 2021 by 67%.” In acknowledgment of this monumental growth in positive pop-cultural reception to dynamic narratives and fresh series concepts, Bajaria additionally highlights that: “... instead of Hollywood exporting stories, and through that lens in that point of view, which we also do, this really allows storytellers, all around the world, you know to export their stories”.
As seen with projects likeLupin(2021-Present), Barbarians(2020- Present), andWho Killed Sara(2021- Present), Netflix seemingly does justice to the craft of enthralling storytelling with a more universal approach.
Executives like Bela Bajaria are paying attention to the watch patterns, social commentary/responses, and cultural moments occurring with fans, domestically and internationally!
Head to the international selections on Netflix and get to watching some top-tier international series!
