Making Movies Move: Jonathan Deaton ’12 Thrives at Netflix
Making Movies Move: Jonathan Deaton ’12 Thrives at Netflix
When most studio executives are juggling three films at a time, Jonathan Deaton ’12 has been known to manage as many as 18. As Manager of Creative Content for Film at Netflix, what he calls “basically a marketing executive role,” Jonathan is the person making sure everything surrounding a movie comes together: the shoots, the campaigns, the bespoke material you see when an actor pops up promoting a new release. It’s a job with five million moving parts, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
What’s striking about Jonathan isn’t his title. It’s how grounded he stays inside a famously high-pressure industry with plenty of big egos. “My time is not more important than yours, or anybody else’s,” he said early on, almost insistent on the point. Hard to reach? Maybe. Self-important? Never.
When asked where it all started, he didn’t hesitate: Upper School teacher Mr. Chip Voros. Like so many Creek alumni, Jonathan traces a straight line from “Mr. V” to who he is today. Mr. V was known for tough but honest feedback, but also for conveying the sense that you mattered. “If you treat people with respect, regardless of where they’re coming from, and you’re honest with them — that’s so validating. It’s so powerful.” It’s a lesson he’s carried onto every set since.
After graduating from Indian Creek in 2012, Jonathan headed to Elon University and majored in film — a degree he jokes was “worthless” on paper, but which gave him the two things he values most: communication skills and a network. He learned the rest by doing. He turned down a study-abroad semester for the chance to work as a production assistant on a real set, and after graduating he moved to Los Angeles with no job lined up, taking freelance gigs until they led somewhere. “That was the most important education I got,” he says of those early PA days.
His path wasn’t exactly conventional. As a kid, Jonathan was nationally ranked in World of Warcraft and spent most of his free time gaming. Those hours, he’s quick to note, weren’t wasted. The comfort with technology, the instinct to build something himself rather than outsource it, became real professional assets. “Creativity will find its way in any media,” he says. “Find the thing you can’t stop thinking about and see where it takes you.”
That philosophy of equal parts work ethic and self-awareness runs through everything. Jonathan (or Jonny as he was known in high school), is a believer in making your own luck: “You put yourself in a certain position, act a certain way, and over time, better things happen.” And he’s a believer in surrounding yourself with people who will be straight with you. “The best people you’ll keep around you are the ones who tell you things you don’t want to hear.” Yet another echo of Mr. V.
Netflix suits Jonathan. When he once asked a senior leader about work-life balance, the answer stuck: your time is your own, and if you love what you do, you’ll end up doing a lot of it. For Jonathan, that’s not a burden. “I’m not busy because the job demands it,” he says. “It’s because I love it.”
His advice to ICS students working towards a career in the arts is refreshingly simple: Don’t fixate on a job title you don’t fully understand yet — get exposure, get close to the work, and pay attention to what lights you up. And take yourself seriously: “People are so talented. If you have a good idea, it’s a good idea until it’s not, then it’s time to move on.”
If he could talk to his high school self, he’d offer the same advice, plus a little frustration with a culture that’s lost its respect for effort. “When did hard work stop being cool?” he asked. He’d tell young Jonny to start betting on himself sooner.
For all his success, Jonathan stays disarmingly humble. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he says with a grin. “And honestly, nobody does.” From someone managing 18 films at one of the world’s biggest studios, it sounds less like doubt and more like wisdom.
These days he’s especially excited about The Mosquito Bowl, due out later this year — a film he counts among the finest he’s been part of across more than 150 projects. Knowing Jonathan, it won’t be the last!
Indian Creek School
Indian Creek school is a co-educational, college preparatory independent school, located in Crownsville, Maryland. Students in Pre-K3 through grade 12 receive a vibrant educational experience based on excellent academics steeped in strong student-teacher connections.
