Bela Bajaria, chief content officer at giant Netflix, will be honored at this year’s International Emmy Awards with an Emmy Founders Award in recognition of her role in “reshaping the global entertainment landscape.”
Bajaria took over as COO at Netflix in 2023 and has overseen international hacks such as Squid game – The dystopian K-drama has garnered 265.2 million views so far, making it Netflix’s most-watched series of all time – and a British one-shot AdolescenceWhich won eight Emmy Awards.
During Bajaria’s tenure, international blockbusters have become pretty standard at Netflix with shows across genres and borders, including exciting Spanish series. Stealing moneyFrench crime drama lupine, Or Hindi procedural Delhi crime.
Bajaria also oversaw the finale of the Netflix series Strange thingswhich completed its five-season run with the biggest English-language premiere in the streamer’s history, amassing 1.2 billion views worldwide.
Bruce L. said: “Bela Bajaria is among the most important executives in television today,” said Pesner, president and CEO of the International Academy. “She has built a global content operation of remarkable scope and creative ambition, where stories told in any language can become a global phenomenon. Her leadership has produced some of the most iconic programming of our time. We are thrilled to present her with the International Emmy Founders Award.”
In a statement, Bajaria said she was “deeply honored” to be recognized by the International Emmy Academy, “whose mission reflects everything I believe about what television can be. The stories that have resonated most with audiences around the world are those rooted in a specific place, a specific truth — and what we’ve proven, time and time again, is that authenticity transmits.”
Previous winners of the International Emmy Founders’ Award include Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and David E. Kelley. Last year, Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden was honored.
Bajaria will be honored at the 54th International Emmy Awards in New York on November 23.
