Todd Yellin

Todd Yellin is a technology executive and filmmaker whose tenure at Netflix placed him at the center of a transformative shift in the entertainment industry. Yellin joined Netflix before the launch of its streaming service as director of product management for personalization. As vice president of product, he oversaw teams responsible for the end-to-end customer experience, including growth, pricing, payments, programmatic acquisition marketing, content-discovery algorithms, and user interfaces across a wide variety of devices. As head of product, Yellin played a key role in transforming Netflix from a U.S. DVD-by-mail service into a global entertainment company that changed the way movies and TV shows are created, distributed, and consumed.

Yellin's contributions to Netflix include innovations that changed how audiences discover content. He led the creation of Netflix's iconic "tudum" sonic trademark and advanced the company's personalized content recommendations. Yellin and his teams applied machine learning and AI technology to enhance the Netflix experience for both content creators and consumers. His work on personalization helped redefine the viewer experience during a period when the proliferation of streaming content made discovery a critical challenge for the platform.

Before his career in technology, Yellin established a foundation in storytelling and journalism. He wrote and directed the independent family drama feature film "Brother's Shadow" and the short film "The Eternal Pitch," and worked as a documentarian, filming political unrest in locations such as Tibet and Myanmar. He became the only person to film Tibetan children escaping over the Himalayas, with footage broadcast by Reuters and his written account published in The Progressive and syndicated by the New York Times. "Brother's Shadow" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was featured at more than 25 festivals worldwide. Yellin holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Southern California.

Yellin later left Netflix to return to writing and directing. He is an independent filmmaker based in Northern California, exploring generative AI technologies and their applications in the creative process. Drawing on expertise in both creative and technological fields, Yellin speaks on topics such as AI, innovation, corporate culture, and the future of storytelling, providing insights into how global entertainment continues to evolve.