David Zaslav’s new management at Warner Bros Discovery promised sweeping changes at the studio and in recent weeks it's come to light exactly how brutal some of those cost-cutting plans are. With the cancellation of straight to HBO Max Batgirl with relatively little explanation, as well as the disappearance of several Warner Bros. properties from their own streaming service and massive layoffs, it has turned into a bloodbath. As the newly merged company reported a second-quarter net loss of $3.4 billion and a decline in revenue, Zaslav has made his intentions clear. While a plethora of shows and movies are being canceled left and right, a new report from Deadline reveals that the non-scripted community is “devastated” as the diverse shows and their cast and crew are soon to suffer.
The studios’ streaming service HBO Max will combine with Discovery+ next summer. The worry for many is that the new combined service will cut down on budgets and lead to cancellations. In recent years, HBO Max had become a haven for original reality series — Selena Gomez’s cooking show Selena+Chef has had a successful 4-season run, and Queer Eye producer Scout Productions’ voguing competition series Legendary is commended for bringing something fresh to the table. The streamer would usually dish out $2 million per hour for non-scripted series which is nearly four times higher than Discovery’s usual budget.
While no cancellation or renewal announcement for these shows have been made as yet, they have a better chance of survival than series like Natasha Rothwell’s dating show 12 Dates of Christmas, Yvonne Orji-hosted dating series My Mom, Your Dad, Tattletales reboot About Last Night hosted by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, along with docuseries Generation Hustle, YA drama Genera+ion, and more. “That’s two years of my life, and of many collaborators’, gone,” a creator whose show was set to be pulled from the service said, adding that the situation is “heartbreaking.”
Another side effect of Warner Bros. Discovery’s controversial decisions is that it is affecting the diversity of the projects. The studio garnered much backlash for canceling Leslie Grace’s debut as the first Afro-Latina Batgirl. Now with the cancelation of un-scripted series the studio must brace for another wave of backlash. The shows like About Last Night, My Mom Your Dad, and many more have diverse cast and crew both in front and behind the camera. The aftermath of cost-cutting could put the studio at risk when in regards to its relationships with talent. One source revealed:
"If you look at all the people getting let go and all of the shows that are getting pulled, it’s like being whitewashed. That’s not part of their equation when they make decisions, but I just think that they don’t care."
The full extent of Warner Bros. Discovery's cost reduction plan remains to be seen. Meanwhile, you can check out the details of Batgirl's cancelation below: