Cindy Holland and Jason Ropell promoted at Netflix

May 24, 2012 by Jordan Twiss

Netflix announced yesterday a change-up in its ranks which sees 10-year company veteran Cindy Holland move into the role of VP of original content and content acquisition.

There she will be responsible for acquiring and launching original series for the U.S. streaming giant’s 25 million members.

Stepping into Holland’s shoes is Canadian Jason Ropell.

Ropell, who was a legal counsel for Corus and VP of business development at NBCUniversal before joining Netflix in 2011, will oversee TV content licensing for the U.S. market, reporting to Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

He will continue to oversee content acquisition for Canada in his new role.

Acquiring original content has become a key part of Netflix’s growth strategy, as the company premiered its first original series, LilyHammer (starring Steven Van Zandt), this year, and has plans to release four more shows in 2013.

Among the new series is Hemlock Grove, a Gaumont International Television project, directed and executive produced by horror meister Eli Roth, which is currently in pre-production and will be shot in Toronto.

Set in Pittsburgh as a steel town, it chronicles the murder of a young girl and the efforts of a young man who’s suspected of being werewolf and the heir to a family estate to solve it.

Based on a book by Brian McGreevy, Hemlock Grove stars Famke Janssen (X-Men) and Canadian Landon Liboiron (Degrassi).

Other original series include House of Cards, executive produced by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey, and Orange is the new Black from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan.

Photo: Netflix, prnewswire

Tags: Cindy Holland, Eli Roth, Famke Janssen, Hemlock Grove, House of Cards, Jason Ropell, Jenji Kohan, Landon Liboiron, Netflix, Orange is the new Black, Steve Van Zandt, Weeds