Who is Dan Lin? All about Netflix's new film chief

Dan Lin has reportedly taken over the duties of Scott Stuber as Netflix's Top Film Boss, as per a recent announcement from earlier today. This comes after Stuber announced that he’d be stepping down from the streaming giant in March. Many were in contention for the position, including Sean Bailey, former Universal chief Stacey Snider, and others, but Dan Lin was also among the favorites for the role.

According to a recent report from Variety, Lin will reportedly begin his duties on April 1, 2024. The replacement came very promptly, much to the surprise of most involved.

The Taiwanese-American film and television producer has a stacked CV and is best known for producing the Lego film franchise, alongside many top Hollywood films like IT. He is also the founder and CEO of Rideback.

---

Who is Dan Lin and why is he famous?

Dan Lin is a Taiwanese-American film and television producer famous for his numerous contributions to Hollywood, both through his production company, Rideback, and as a producer of many popular films and shows.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 8, 1973, Lin moved to the United States at five and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1999.

After working as an intern with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the young graduate was offered a junior position at Warner Bros. a day after graduation. He worked there for eight years, ending up as Senior Vice President of Production. He left in 2007 to form his own company.

Following this, he went on a dramatic streak, which included works on films like Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning project, The Departed, Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC, and Oliver Stone's Alexander, among many others.

Moreover, his work with Warner Bros. also consisted of huge projects like Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Ninjago Movie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, and Stephen King's IT.

In 2008, he started Rideback, which he plans to leave to the new co-CEOs, Jonathan Eirich and Michael LoFaso. Before bagging the Netflix job, Lin was also reportedly a sought-after candidate for leading the D.C. unit, which James Gunn later took up.

Many others have approached him, but he stuck to Rideback until the Netflix offer. Speaking about this in a newly released statement, Dan Lin commented:

"While I’ve been approached many times during my past 15 years at Rideback, I could truly never imagine leaving until Bela reached out with this incredible opportunity...It’s always been my aspiration at Rideback to make movies with worldwide appeal and universal themes, and there is no better place to do that than at the company with the widest global audience. It’s an incredible opportunity that I couldn’t say no to."

With Netflix still on a growing curve and bigger plans for both the streaming and production sides of the company, Dan Lin will be one of the most influential people in the entertainment industry in the coming years.

He most recently collaborated with Netflix on Avatar: The Last Airbender.