"[9] In his teens, he developed a knowledge of film and TV, and strong instincts for what people liked while working at a video store.

[16][17] Sarandos was responsible for initiating the first round of original programming at Netflix, starting with Lilyhammer, and then continuing with the breakout David Fincher series starring Kevin Spacey, House of Cards.

[13] Beginning with House of Cards, which was bought for $100 million in a March 2011 deal,[3] Sarandos created the model where Netflix purchases multiple seasons of shows without pilot orders.

This has since changed as Netflix has recently decided to initiate an Ad-Supported model which allows the users to pay a lower price but have advertisements on their site.

[23] He also said that the focus is on the audience, and that there is no programming grid – or appointment linear-based television – that is typically used by traditional TV networks.

The spend is typically a large upfront payment, with no back-end fees to talent and creators, especially of original content that Netflix owns.

The shift away from the DVD business came from this evaluation of new model focused on streaming and includes original programming, which is one of the main responsibilities of Sarandos' work at Netflix.

[27] During the 2016 Television Critics Association presentation, Sarandos said he expects the amount Netflix spends on original programming to rise considerably.

[43] Sarandos and his wife held a fundraiser for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign in Southern California in 2009, and raised over $700,000 for the Democratic candidate.