As part of Netflix‘s largest restructuring in four years, film division executive Doug Belgrad has been laid off, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Belgrad had served as a right hand man to film chairman Dan Lin since he joined the streaming giant in 2024 following a long run at Sony, including as president of Columbia Pictures. His hire was the first big exec move by Lin at the time after the exec succeeded Scott Stuber in the role overseeing all movies at the streaming giant.
Belgrad had just toasted the launch of the Ben Affleck-directed Animals at its Los Angeles world premiere early in October, and had been a key part of managing Netflix’s massive slate of original movies. (The company spends an estimated $20 billion annually on content, including film and TV, overall.)
At Netflix, Belgrad managed the managers in the film division for original, live-action titles but not animation or acquisition titles. That includes some 30-plus production executives. During Lin’s tenure, Netflix’s film division has been structured into silos by genre. For example, Kira Goldberg oversees thrillers (think: Charlize Theron’s Apex), Jason Young oversees action titles (like Alan Ritchson starrer War Machine) while Hannah Minghella leads animation, and so on.
Belgrad worked on major features with key talent like Guillermo Del Toro on Frankenstein, Pete Berg on the upcoming sports drama Mosquito Bowl and Greta Gerwig on the big theatrical swing of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, among many other titles (including the company’s holiday film slate this year).
On Wednesday, Netflix co-chiefs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters informed staff that it would cut 1,000 employees, around 6 percent of its workforce as part of a widely telegraphed move to reorganize and cut costs.
“We know changes like this are tough, but let’s stay focused,” the memo from the co-CEOs read. “This is one of the most dynamic times in the history of entertainment – and it’s a moment perfectly suited to a company like ours that’s built at the intersection of technology and entertainment. Now it’s on us to step up and meet the moment, together, like we always do.”
Sarandos and Peters also noted, “Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full-year forecast. We’ll continue to invest aggressively in high- impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation.”
Belgrad remains chairman of 2.0 Entertainment, which he founded after exiting Sony in 2016. That company is producing features (Unabomber and The Pope’s Exorcist sequel) as well as co-financing with Sony and Paramount (Heart of the Beast, Primate and others).

This year’s National League Championship Series (NLCS) rematch between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers holds heavy stakes – for the two teams, and potentially the future of MLB.
The high-priced Dodgers are setting their sights on becoming only the fifth team to ever three-peat while thrifty Milwaukee’s out for redemption on the way to their franchise’s second World Series appearance. The rest of the league is watching closely to see how the battle of payrolls shakes out.
It’s no secret that the Dodgers have spared no expense in assembling one of baseball’s most-envied rosters. In just the last two years, the team won back-to-back championships and ranked among the league’s top three most expensive payrolls. Back in the NLCS this year, LA is the second-highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball, spending about $338 million.
The Dodgers’ Midwestern opponent sits in the bottom half of the league when it comes to spending. With about $143 million on the books, the Brewers rank 19th in payroll.
Before Game 1 of the NLCS was played, Brewers general manager Matt Arnold was asked about the premise of small market teams like Milwaukee not being able to compete with powerhouse franchises like Los Angeles and the two teams in New York.
“Nobody here is worried about that right now,” Arnold answered. “We’re focused on trying to win, and I think we have for a while. Regardless of what the economics look like, the guys in there believe, and so do I.”
It makes sense for them to believe. Going into Wednesday’s Game 3, the Brewers have a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
With the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the players’ association set to expire in December, the biggest topic of conversation surrounding upcoming negotiations has been the league’s proposal to implement a salary cap and floor. It’s a potentially monumental shift for MLB, the only major American sports league without a salary cap.
Front offices with wealthier owners would no longer be able to throw the bag at players with no regard for the bottom line (aside from the league’s luxury tax). Stars would be spread out more evenly across the league. Scouting and developmental programs would become overwhelmingly vital overnight. A salary cap would introduce a fundamental change to the way teams are built.
And three of the four teams remaining in the postseason might just be giving the rest of the league the blueprint on how to do it.
While the Dodgers’ deep pockets have come with consistent success, this year might prove that teams don’t need to break the bank to build World Series-ready rosters. After the Brewers’ two wins to open the NLCS, the Dodgers trail in a postseason series for the first time since 2024. But it’s not just the cost-effective top-seeded team in the National League that Los Angeles needs to worry about – the American League has two thrifty contenders that could also pose a threat to the defending champions’ reign.
The Cleveland Guardians advanced to the ALCS while spending just over $74 million, ranking dead last in payroll league wide. The fourth team in World Series contention, the Tampa Bay Rays, stands just above the Guardians in payroll at 25th, with about $98 million on the books.
Prior to the first game of the ALCS, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt praised the Tampa Bay and Cleveland general managers respectively.
“Eric Neander and Chris Antonetti are two of the best people in baseball,” Vogt said. “And they’re really good at what they do – and building teams very differently than some of the teams around the league.”
The three non-Dodgers teams remaining in the postseason all spent less than half of what LA did on its personnel. The Brewers’, Guardians’ and Rays’ total salaries combined ($315 million) still come out to less than the Dodgers’ $338 million.
With a possible salary cap coming, teams might be looking closely at the other three going forward rather than the Dodger way.
Throughout the year, these frugal teams have accomplished quite a bit while matching up against the league’s high rollers. The Brewers finished the season with the best record among all 30 teams, entering the postseason with 103 regular-season wins. The Rays had the best record in the American League. The bargain Guardians clinched the American League Central title and earned a bye in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, this year has seen some pricey teams peter out early. The most expensive team in baseball, the New York Mets, didn’t see the postseason this year. The fifth-highest payroll, the Toronto Blue Jays – seen as serious competitors for the AL East title – saw their season end before October. The New York Yankees, the third-most expensive team in the league and a trendy pick to win the World Series, were swept by the Rays in the ALDS.
The Brewers, Rays and Guardians aren’t the flashiest of teams. They don’t primarily rely on big-name sluggers but rather believe in the kind of analytics that lead to the front office emphasizing players with contact skills that put the ball in play. Fundamental fielding, smart baserunning and the entire roster, top to bottom, are necessary for their success.
“Good teams do not rely on just one or two people,” Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said after their Game 2 ALDS win against the Yankees. “We rely on all nine in the lineup, the guys on the bench and certainly our entire pitching staff.”
So far, it’s translated to wins.

The American League Championship Series has pitted two of the most unlikely franchises against each other, with a trip to the World Series on the line.
The Tampa Bay Rays entered the 2026 season with one of the three lowest payrolls in baseball, as they usually do. They made few big additions, preferring to trust their farm system, player development staff, and the ability to mix and match players in specific situations.
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Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians found a way to reduce spending even further, running the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball, in order to maximize profits for team ownership. Fast-forward to October, and the Rays and Guardians are the two AL teams, not the Yankees or Red Sox. Not the Astros and Rangers from big markets in Texas. Or the Blue Jays, with their top-5 payroll, or even Detroit, where the Tigers ran the 11th highest payroll in baseball and by far the highest in the AL Central.
DODGERS DYNASTY ON THE BRINK AFTER THE MILWAUKEE BABIP MACHINE DIALS UP ANOTHER WIN FOR BREWERS
As surprising as it comes, if you haven’t watched baseball before. But maybe even more surprising? How game one of the ALCS between these two teams played out.
Cleveland, hardly known as an offensive powerhouse, fell behind 2-0 against one of the best run prevention teams in baseball. Then, starting in the sixth inning, they started scoring and never stopped. Home runs from Chase DeLauter and light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey tied it, and a parade of hits led to a 4-3 lead in the eighth, which they promptly expanded to 7-3 by the ninth.
The team that finished 24th in the league in runs scored, exploding for seven runs in game one of the ALCS against one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. If that doesn’t demonstrate the randomness of postseason baseball, it’s hard to know what does.
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That set up what amounts to a must-win situation for the favored Tampa Bay Rays in game two, who sent midseason trade addition Freddy Peralta, acquired from the lowly New York Mets, to the mound hoping to even the series. Cleveland countered with Parker Messick, coming off an outstanding season of his own. But on Tuesday, Peralta, despite his struggles in New York, was electric.
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Six shutout innings, with six strikeouts and just four hits allowed, with an average fastball velocity over 2.5 mph higher than his season average. And he got a little help from his defense too, as star third baseman Junior Caminero made a nice play on a liner to his left, and hit the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag afterward.
Just as you’d expect from the Tampa pitching lab, Peralta’s start lowered his ERA to just 0.81 over his last eight starts in a Rays uniform. Somehow, they do it every single time.
On offense, the Rays’ lineup got to Messick in the fourth thanks to some shaky Cleveland defense. After Victor Mesa Jr. beat out an infield single, overturned on review, Jonny DeLuca struck out and Ben Williamson hit what seemed to be a routine grounder to third. But it took a funny hop and got through Guardians third baseman José Ramírez, scoring Mesa from third. Then Liam Hicks made it really hurt, lacing a line drive single to center to score Williamson and Chandler Simpson and extend the lead to 3-0.
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The Guardians, as has become their trademark of late, battled back in the seventh. Patrick Bailey worked a leadoff walk after an ABS challenge, and got to second on a one-out Steven Kwan single. After José Ramírez flew out, Chase DeLauter drove in a run with a 105mph double to right. With the tying run at second base, Cleveland sent up Jo Adell, another impactful midseason acquisition who helped seal the game one win with a two-run single in the ninth inning. But Ian Seymour shut the door, getting Adell swinging on a changeup out of the zone.
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The Guardians couldn’t get anything going in the eighth, and Tampa went into the ninth inning with their dominant closer, Bryan Baker, looking to finish it out. And he did on just seven pitches, going through a quick 1-2-3 inning to even the series at a game apiece.
Tampa entered the series as big favorites, thanks to their deep pitching staff, and a lineup that’s better as a whole than the sum of its parts. Plus Baker, who’s followed up his 1.44 ERA in the regular season with four scoreless innings and four saves in the playoffs.
Tuesday’s game two was a microcosm of this year’s postseason; dominant pitching and timely, often advantageous hitting. Given these two teams’ strengths, that’s likely to continue for the remainder of the series.
The ALCS now shifts to Cleveland for game three, where Gavin Williams, coming off a dominant ALDS start against the White Sox, is expected to face Tampa bulk pitcher Griffin Jax. Expect a raucous crowd at Progressive Field, as the Guardians look to make progress towards a return to the World Series for the first time since 2016.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — RJ Luis’ status with LSU men’s basketball is resolved.
LSU coach Will Wade said Luis, a former St. John’s star who signed an NBA contract in 2025, will not play at the school.
“We’re going to follow all the SEC protocols with him,” Wade said on a virtual call during SEC media day on Tuesday. “I think it’s been pretty clear what the SEC protocols are on all that. He didn’t travel with us to McNeese, and he hasn’t been rostered.”
LSU beat McNeese State 63-60 on Thursday in an exhibition at Townsley Law Arena.
CBS Sports reported on Aug. 26 that the SEC finalized extensive punishments to penalize a program if it signs a player who signed a pro contract (as well as not formally withdrawing from the draft) in professional leagues such as the NBA, WNBA and NFL.
While awaiting word on multiple players’ eligibility, Wade said Sept. 23 that he’s had 15 players practicing with the team since Sept. 2. That included Luis, who was granted a preliminary injunction on Aug. 24 that allowed him to play college basketball.
One day later, SEC presidents, chancellors and athletic directors voted to set rules to prevent member schools from rostering athletes who fit any of these three criteria:
Previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA draft, and did not “appropriately withdraw” from those drafts.
Signed a contract with an NFL or other professional league, NBA or G League, or WNBA or affiliated team.
Been listed on a roster by any of those professional teams.
After going undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz in June 2025 before being traded to the Boston Celtics two months later. Luis was waived by the Celtics in October 2025 before signing a deal with its NBA G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. He was waived by the G League team before the start of the season because of an injury.
Luis averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game at St. John’s during the 2024-25 season, winning Big East Player of the Year honors. He entered the transfer portal but didn’t commit to a new school, deciding to stay in the draft in 2025.
Other players’ eligibility
Since Wade couldn’t fly to media day because of fog in the Baton Rouge area, he spoke virtually to the broadcasters on the SEC Network and to reporters on a separate teleconference call.
In both interviews, he said he believes his other players will be cleared by the NCAA for this season.
“We have another scrimmage tomorrow (Wednesday), and we anticipate having a few more guys tomorrow than we had at McNeese,” Wade said on the SEC Network. “We have a pretty good idea of who’s (getting) eligible.”
Wade said the media make “a massive deal” about the state of the LSU roster, but any of the players would say things are operating normally.
“We don’t worry about what anybody else is saying or what anybody else really thinks,” he said. “We’re pretty secure in who we are and pretty secure in what we’re doing”.
Wade was asked why he’s confident that a couple of his players will receive favorable court rulings in their fifth-year eligibility cases despite the NCAA “winning” recently in court.
A Kentucky eligibility lawsuit saw the Kentucky Court of Appeals dissolve the injunction that permitted some Class of 2022 athletes to play.
“I just feel good about some of the information we have on the ground on some things,” he said. “I would caution that some things are painted as wins and really aren’t wins, and people run with that. I feel good about my information, and we’ll see if we’re right.”
ULCA transfer guards Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent are the only players on LSU who are challenging the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility. They are among the more than 70 plaintiffs who gained eligibility for a fifth season through a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed in California against the NCAA.
What will determine their eligibility going into the regular season is a court hearing for a preliminary injunction on Oct. 20. Dent, however, was among the players who participated in the McNeese exhibition.
The four notable players who didn’t play but were present in the McNeese exhibition were 22‑year‑old Italian‑Senegalese wing Saliou Niang, 23‑year‑old French center Brice Dessert, 24‑year‑old Israeli center Gilad Levy and Clark.
Wade said he’ll accept responsibility for whatever outcome happens this season.
“I’m the one who made the decision to do this,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, you can pin it right on me. But we feel very confident about the group, and we feel very confident about the guys that we have. With our full roster, we have a puncher’s chance in most games.”

KIGALI, Rwanda — Formula 1 will return to Africa with a grand prix in Rwanda starting early next decade once a new track has been built southeast of the capital, F1 and the country’s president said Tuesday.
The announcement of a 10-year-deal to hold an African Grand Prix in Rwanda comes after a campaign by President Paul Kagame to bring F1 to the continent for the first time since 1993.
“This partnership is long overdue,” Kagame said at a launch event in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. “But it is a success and a milestone for the entire continent, especially for the African fans. Ultimately, what we want is for the African Grand Prix to pave the way for other races to be hosted on the continent.”
Racing in Africa will fulfil a long-held ambition for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the only Black driver in F1. The 41-year-old British driver has said he has been “fighting in the background” for years to have a race in Africa.
Exactly when the first race will be held in Rwanda remains unclear. F1 said a purpose-built circuit was expected to be completed “early in the next decade” in Bugesera, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kigali.
The track will be built near an under-construction airport serving the capital and will “work in harmony with the natural landscape,” using hills and dips in the landscape to challenge drivers, F1 said.
“Today is a landmark moment for Formula 1,” F1 President and chief executive Stefano Domenicali said. “With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe.”
The last time F1 raced in Africa was the South African Grand Prix in 1993.
Rwanda becomes the first confirmed new host nation for F1 since Qatar and Saudi Arabia joined the schedule in 2021.
With a GDP per capita of just over $1,100, Rwanda will stand out on a race calendar that features glitzy destinations like Las Vegas, Miami, Monaco and Abu Dhabi.
Kagame said the country aims to use the race to develop sports infrastructure and tourism and to diversify revenue.
Under Kagame, Rwanda has sponsored major European soccer teams and developed a basketball partnership with the NBA, as well as hosting the world cycling championships.
It’s all aimed at promoting a positive image of a country still often known internationally because of the 1994 genocide.
Hosting F1 would take that strategy to a new level.
“Look, our country will be watched on the global stage. And this comes with investments and creations of jobs, especially for the youth,” Betty Mukamurenzi, a university IT student in Kigali, told The Associated Press.
Businessman James Ruzindana said that “for businesses, it is a challenge for us to up our game in terms of having the right products that can be consumed by those who are visiting.”
The F1 spotlight could also bring renewed scrutiny of Rwanda’s human rights record and accusations of “sportswashing.”
Human rights groups have accused Kagame of repressive methods keep his grip on power. The U.N. has accused Rwanda of backing rebels in neighboring Congo, and Congolese officials have condemned its soccer sponsorships.
There have been rival projects to bring F1 back to Africa, with plans in recent years regarding three different potential venues in South Africa and one in Morocco.
South Africa Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie issued a statement last week congratulating Rwanda, even before the decision was official, but still insisted his country “will get F1,” too.
“We are happy for Rwanda’s 2030 F1. They have worked on it longer than SA and deserve it,” McKenzie wrote on X. “Remember though that one country, Italy, has had two F1s a year, and some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one. SA will get F1, even before 2030.”
There was no mention of South Africa in F1’s statement on Tuesday.
Many of F1’s previous races in Africa were overshadowed by the policy of apartheid in South Africa.
F1 and its teams faced increasing criticism through the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in some teams boycotting the 1985 race in South Africa, which was facing various international sanctions and boycott campaigns at the time.
As South Africa began to dismantle the system of racial segregation and oppression, F1 returned for two more races at the Kyalami circuit in 1992 and 1993, the last of those less than a year before the country’s first democratic elections where millions of Black South Africans were able to vote.
F1 also held a Moroccan Grand Prix in 1958, the only time Morocco was part of the world championship. A project was announced last year to build a track to bring F1 back to the North African nation but there have been few updates since.
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Ellingworth reported from Duesseldorf, Germany.
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