AT&T's WarnerMedia & Discovery merger streaming consolidation 2 2

[D84]

Any new firings today?

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:04 PM, D84 said:

It looks like she's signing to cup her boobs and put sprinkles on them.

[Bosco685]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:24 PM, D84 said:

Any new firings today?

Not yet. The guy that should be gone (Toby Emmerich) is still safe.

Walter Hamada, to me, tries to at least bring forward more than Batman and Superman movies. So I have to give him credit for that. Though he was the one along with Emmerich that was against making the Joker movie. Leading to the producer having to find more funding outside of WB Studios to make the film.

[Bosco685]

Quote

Months before the Warner Bros. Discovery deal was completed, execs at the now-merged company promised to find $3 billion in synergy savings over the next three years. In a new memo sent out to Warner Bros. Discovery staff and obtained by Variety, Zaslav began to elaborate on those plans.

Quote

We’ve officially passed the 30-day mark as Warner Bros. Discovery, and let me just say what a thrill the month has been for me and the other members of our leadership team…. visiting our different locations in the U.S., meeting many of you, and learning as much as possible about our businesses, as we chart the future path of this great new company. While there’s a lot of work and some difficult decisions still ahead, I am pleased with the overall progress to date, and am more confident than ever that we are on the right path to building the most dynamic media and entertainment company in the world.

 

Here are the near-term priorities that we will be focused on:

• Invest in our creative engines. Our goal is to reach an even bigger global audience with the broadest and most compelling offering of content across all platforms. To accomplish this, we will invest boldly, but also smartly in what we put on screens, big and small, and always with the intent to drive our business forward.
• Establish a new WBD Culture. We must all work together to build a single cohesive, collaborative culture and start operating as one team. We cannot make decisions and operate in silos and hope to be effective given the sheer magnitude of content and platforms we must maximize to best serve consumers.
• Outperform at the US Ad Sales Upfront. On Wednesday, we’ll host our first-ever Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront in NYC, and the work by our two legacy teams executed to get us here is nothing short of spectacular. We’ll have every advantage going into negotiations and we’re excited to celebrate the results.
• Work toward one streaming platform. There is massive opportunity in eventually combining our streaming services, discovery+ and HBO Max, into one powerful and global tech platform. While it will take time, it will ultimately be a game-changer as no one else has a content offering as vast, comprehensive and exciting as ours will be.
• Reinforce CNN’s critical role in the world. There is no news organization in the world like CNN. Under Chris Licht’s great leadership, our teams around the globe are doing what they do best, which is to be a source of reliable news and exceptional journalism. We are especially proud of our brave crews on the ground in Ukraine, fighting to tell the truth under difficult and dangerous conditions. What they do is so • incredibly important, and no one does it better.
• Focus on financial opportunities. As we build this new company, we need to be guided by data and insights to understand what’s working and what’s not. It’s also important that we work more collaboratively across businesses so that we’re able to be strategic in our decision-making and best serve consumers across all platforms. This will enable us to achieve a more efficient and impactful organization and a stronger business overall. To support our pursuit of these ambitions, we have hand-selected a broad group of your peers who are leading and contributing to a range of workstreams underway. This group is being led by Simon Robinson, our Chief Transformation Officer. Simon is a proven leader and a fantastic colleague and we are very lucky to have him shepherding the process. Look out for regular updates from him on the team’s progress.

While we do not yet have all the answers, here’s what I know for sure: we are a global leader in lifestyle, news and sports; we are the largest maker of TV and motion picture content in the world; we have an unmatched portfolio of iconic brands and franchises, ranging from HBO and Warner Bros. Pictures to Discovery Channel and CNN, March Madness and the Stanley Cup playoffs to DC Comics and Looney Tunes; and we stand apart in our ability to reach consumers across all platforms – linear, cable, digital, theatrical and streaming. Most importantly, we have the best people and creative partners in the industry.

 

Simply put: I believe we have a winning hand. And while there’s a lot of uncertainty that comes with change, I am certain that through these efforts and with your continued focus and collaboration we will emerge a stronger, more capable and more unified organization.

 

Thanks for all that you’re doing and keep up the great work!

 

[Bosco685]

Quote

The biggest rumor swirling around town is that Alan Horn is returning to Warner Bros. under the new Zaz era. Rather than partake in the rumormongering, I picked up the phone and asked Horn myself.

 

In the film world, that would be the executive equivalent of a blockbuster. Horn has enjoyed one of the great Hollywood careers. Over five decades, he co-founded Castle Rock, got rich on Seinfeld, then joined Warner Bros., where he is credited with popularizing the “tentpole” strategy of pouring huge resources into a small number of high-priority films, like Harry Potter or Batman or The Hobbit, that prop up the entire studio. Time Warner C.E.O. Jeff Bewkes pushed Horn out at age 68 in 2011, a decision that Bob Iger quickly capitalized on. During Horn’s tenure, Disney remade itself as a megahit factory, producing almost exclusively pre-branded tentpoles from the Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Disney Studios and Disney Animation units, releasing 20 billion-dollar grossers, and setting an industry high-water mark of $11 billion in global box office in 2019—a feat that few believe will ever be replicated.

 

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

Quote

The Wonder Twins have been deactivated.

 

Sources say the decision to shut the project down occurred several weeks ago. According to insiders, the leadership of Warner Bros. Discovery, the new company combining Discovery and Warner Bros. and now being led by CEO David Zaslav, is imposing a mandate that DC movies should now be made with a theatrical-first goal. Wonder Twins, the way it had been conceived, was “too niche,” said one source.

 

At the same time, one source said the budget was too high for what is considered an HBO Max movie. Twins was looking at a $75 million budget but according to sources, Zaslav wants to keep HBO Max original movies $35 million and under. He has concluded that higher budgeted offerings do not add enough value, ie., add a significant number of subscribers, as much as having the more modestly-budgeted movies that seem to do the job of retaining subs. Original theatrical movies, however, do a gangbuster job of attracting subscribers, The Batman being a huge hit for the service, according to several sources.

 

“A lot of things that were developed are going to do away,” said another insider, referring to the broader scrutiny that is coming to the slates of many Warner divisions, including film.

 

[Gatsby77]

On 5/18/2022 at 6:59 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

That's an interesting indictment of the Justice League Snyder Cut - which had a budget significantly higher than $35 million.

[Bosco685]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:28 PM, Gatsby77 said:

That's an interesting indictment of the Justice League Snyder Cut - which had a budget significantly higher than $35 million.

'Indictment'?

Obsessive love disorder: you can't quit Zack Snyder. Admit it!

[Gatsby77]

On 5/19/2022 at 3:28 AM, Bosco685 said:

'Indictment'?

Obsessive love disorder: you can't quit Zack Snyder. Admit it!

As you highlighted, "He has concluded that higher budgeted offerings do not add enough value, ie., add a significant number of subscribers, as much as having the more modestly-budgeted movies that seem to do the job of retaining subs. "

Name another HBO Max original film that cost significantly more than $35 million to produce - other than the Snyder Cut.

[Bosco685]

On 5/19/2022 at 5:12 AM, Gatsby77 said:

As you highlighted, "He has concluded that higher budgeted offerings do not add enough value, ie., add a significant number of subscribers, as much as having the more modestly-budgeted movies that seem to do the job of retaining subs. "

Name another HBO Max original film that cost significantly more than $35 million to produce - other than the Snyder Cut.

I'm thinking you assume this matters. I do not want to get in the way of your love interest. It's too intense.

[Bosco685]

CW's CEO talks about the mass cancellations and the potential sale.

 

Quote

The CW CEO Mark Pedowitz knows fans of his network’s programming are really upset at its atypical round of cancellations this season.

 

Following years of renewing nearly its entire roster of U.S. scripted originals, The CW canceled half its roster. Batwoman, Charmed, Dynasty, In the Dark, Legacies, Legends of Tomorrow and Roswell are all gone from The CW’s newly announced 2022-23 schedule. Rookies The 4400 and DC’s Naomi also failed to make the cut, as The CW added only three new shows to its roster as a sale to likely station group owner Nexstar looms.

 

The network’s sale comes as its business model no longer makes financial sense for its parent companies, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. With the end of its $1 billion Netflix output deal, originals moved to Paramount+ and HBO Max as The CW’s ownership also retains lucrative foreign rights to programs like Walker and its new spinoff, Walker: Independence.

 

“I realize [the cancellation] pattern was different from years past and can see why it came as a bit of a shock to fans,” Pedowitz said. “None of these were easy decisions. We had long conversations with our studios and parent companies, and everyone recognized this was a time of transition for The CW. Difficult financial and strategic decisions were made at every level.”

 

[Bosco685]

New Warner Bros. CEO Reportedly Wasn't Happy After He Found Out Why Recent Clint Eastwood Flop Was Made

Quote

Loyalty can do wonderful things when you’re in the entertainment business. However, that sort of trust can only carry you so far, and those limits have apparently been tested over at Warner Bros. With new CEO David Zaslav trying to trim the fat, and cancelling the production of upcoming movies at the studio, his no-nonsense approach to running the company is in full effect. Which is why he allegedly wasn’t very happy when he found out that Clint Eastwood’s flop Cry Macho was made despite executives thinking it wouldn't be a box office winner.

 

Reportedly, an early meeting between Zaslav and other studio executives revealed as much. In a piece run by The Wall Street Journal,  it was mentioned that Warner Bros. brass allowed Cry Macho to be made despite an assumed loss of millions. The reasons? Apparently, not only had Eastwood been a high-profile actor/director that gave the studio massive hits like the Dirty Harry movies and Unforgiven, he never went over-budget and always came in on time. David Zaslav, unimpressed by this answer, responded with the following: 

 

"We don't owe anyone any favors. It's not 'show friends,' it's 'show business'."

Fire Toby Emmerich!

[Bosco685]

[Bosco685]

[D84]

On 6/1/2022 at 11:34 AM, Bosco685 said:

So did I. 

[Bosco685]

[Bosco685]

Quote

We hear it’s imminent that Toby Emmerich is out as the head of Warner Bros. motion picture studio. This had been always rumored as Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav had been wanting to make changes upon his taking control of the newly formed merger.

 

Emmerich is to receive a production deal at Warner Bros. The fates of DC Boss Walter Hamada and the other executives who’ve been loyal to Emmerich, i.e. New Line’s Richard Brener and Warner Bros Motion Pictures Group COO Carolyn Blackwood are unclear at this moment. We understand that after the Zaslav transition with Discovery taking over, there had been discussion of Emmerich staying on and running Warner Bros.-New Line, however, he sought to take a production deal. There’s apparently three divisions now being structed at the studio — Warner Bros/New Line combined, an animation unit and DC.

 

Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy have reached a deal with the studio, and could take over Warner Bros and New Line as soon as their contracts expire at MGM this summer. They could also take over DC in the short term while Zaslav looks for a long-term hire. MGM is aggressively looking for new leadership and that former 20th Century Fox motion pictures boss Emma Watts is the candidate most often mentioned on the grapevine.

 

When De Luca was fired from New Line in January 2001 after a string of unsuccessful films, he was replaced by New Line Music Exec Emmerich, so this is an interesting turnabout. With De Luca, Warners gets an executive known for having strong relationships with filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson and he’s known for a willingness to go hard at getting big pictures, and a gut for making good decisions.

 

[Bosco685]

Quote

Zaslav’s intention is to model Warners after the system that former Disney CEO Bob Iger implemented at Disney, with the verticals reporting directly to him. Zaslav has talked to former Disney studio chairman Alan Horn about serving as an advisor. (In designing the verticals approach for overseeing Warner Bros. Discovery’s film executive structure, Zaslav consulted not only with Horn but with Iger.)

 

Sorting out DC remains a major challenge for Zaslav. Sources say he has asked Todd Phillips, the multi-hyphenate who created dark 2019 billion-dollar grosser Joker, to do more in the DC universe, potentially acting as an advisor though he will not serve in an executive capacity. A knowledgeable source says Phillips and Zaslav have discovered a rapport, though Phillips is not an expert on the broader DC universe. While at Disney-owned Marvel, chief creative officer Kevin Feige oversees film, television animation and publishing, there has been no single voice guiding DC. (DC chief Hamada oversees the film universe based on the company’s characters, including its HBO Max spinoffs.) DC’s properties are only loosely connected — and sometimes took place in entirely separate universes, such as the Oscar-winning Joker and Matt Reeves’ The Batman, released in March.