Ted Sarandos opened up about the theatrical model during the TIME100 Summit, referring to the theatrical model as being “outdated.” Suffice it to say, the Netflix co-CEO is wrong.

Asked about the theatrical experience, Ted Sarandos said the following: “I believe it is an outmoded idea, for most people—not for everybody.”

His comments were proceeded by the following: “Folks grew up thinking, I want to make movies on a gigantic screen, have strangers watch them, play in the theaters for two months and people cry and sold out shows. It just doesn’t happen very much….It’s an outdated.”

Now, Ted Sarandos argues that most Americans cannot walk to movie theaters as they do in Manhattan. I’ve watched movies in Manhattan while covering the Tribeca Festival (formerly Tribeca Film Festival) in 2018, 2019, and 2023. More often than not, I’ve relied on New York City’s subway to get to those theatrical screenings! But even when one lives in the suburbs, as opposed to a rural area, it’s likely going to require using a vehicle to get to the theater. Where I live, I don’t really go to the two closest theaters because all of the press screenings are located at other movie theaters!

Ted Sarandos is wrong. In fact, I’ve seen two films this year that are going directly to Prime Video when they should have gotten a theatrical release. The first was the Nicholas Stoller-directed You’re Cordially Invited, starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell. The second is Paul Feig’s upcoming film, Another Simple Favor, which premiered this past March at SXSW. Interestingly enough, Feig’s recent film, The School for Good and Evil, was released by Netflix.

I’ll have a formal review coming soon for Another Simple Favor but let’s just say that the real winners are those getting an opportunity to see the film at the theaters. Again, Ted Sarandos is wrong. It was one thing to be watching films from home during the pandemic but watching at home is not the same thing as a shared communal experience. Unless you have a home theater installed at your house or in your apartment, you miss out on seeing things by watching a movie for the first time at home. One of those things: the audience reaction. Laughter is contagious.

The sound experience at home is not exactly the same. If it’s summer, the air conditioner is going to be competing with a movie’s sound design. That’s no fun for everyone. You should have seen my Christopher Nolan binge in the lead-up to Oppenheimer for this reason. Mind you, those are films that are horribly designed for the home viewing experience. You want to hear the dialogue? You’ll have better luck reading the subtitles!

If anything, we need to change the theatrical experience. Some chains are rather lax about checking phones and it absolutely ruins the moviegoing experience. In that regard, I can understand the reasoning behind someone deciding not to spend all this money–tickets cost way too much these days–to see a movie for two hours. The irony of it is that when people stay home and watch a movie on streaming, nothing is stopping them from using their phone or getting work done. Are they really taking in the full experience of watching a movie when watching in this way? Probably not.

Streaming companies are no different than movie theaters when it comes to their costs. They both keep raising the prices. That’s something where the theaters should listen to audiences at lower costs. We’re living in a period of economic uncertainty and I’m sorry Ted Sarandos but it won’t be the theatrical model that keeps people away from theaters, it will be the rising inflation and costs that forces people to remove some entertainment from their life. Will Ted Sarandos and Netflix continue to raise costs or keep them the same?

Early on in the pandemic, I decided to upgrade from a 32-inch TV to a 43-inch 4K Smart TV. Most press screeners are highly watermarked so naturally, I always prefer to see movies in a theater. Why would I want to stay home and watch MY EMAIL: THE MOVIE?!? I do give Ted Sarandos and Netflix credit for having the watermark be at the top of the screen. Others located them in the middle of the screen or at the bottom, where they always conflict with reading subtitles.

As I was typing this, Netflix sent out their summer slate for 2025. I’ve been lucky enough to experience a number of Netflix films on the big screen. That’s the way they SHOULD be experienced. If Ted Sarandos and Netflix is listening, Rian Johnson’s upcoming Wake Up Dead Man needs to be released for more than a week. I know people who would have watched it in theaters had they A) known it was getting a theatrical release or B) had more time to get to theaters but couldn’t until after the theatrical release.

When they don’t have a seven-day theatrical release, films end up being categorized as a TV movie rather than a theatrical film that would otherwise qualify for the Oscars. That brings us to another problem we have today with the Emmys: we are long overdue for the Emmys to shake it up and separate Limited/Anthology Series and Movies into their own acting categories. With the dearth of streaming, there are more than enough award-worthy films that qualify. Case in point: Ben Foster would have gotten an Oscar nomination had The Survivor been released in theaters.

Watch Ted Sarandos at the Time100 Summit by clicking here.

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