Ever since Warner Bros merged with Discovery earlier this year the studio saw sweeping changes in its structure and management. The scripted and unscripted content experienced a literal bloodbath after the cancelation of countless projects sparked fear among the talents. Further, countless jobs cuts were announced from subsidiaries including Warner Bros. Television, HBO and HBO Max and Turner networks. The straight to HBO Max Leslie Grace-led Batgirl movie took a massive hit by getting canceled when it was near to finish line in post-production. WBD CEO David Zaslav’s decisions have not only shaken the industry to the core but also made everyone rethink the business of Hollywood. As per a new report by LA Times, speaking to analysts during a recent investor call Zaslav made no apologies for such cuts saying “We did not get rid of any show that was helping us.”
Upon its merger, Warner Bros Discovery was looking to reduce its $50-billion debt load. Projects like Batgirl were axed for tax purposes which means the existing footage can never see the light of day. Defending his decision, the CEO said that this is “more than just a dollar tally of what we’ve saved on an expense line.” He revealed that WBD has increased its goal to $3.5 billion in savings, an increase of 17% from the originally aimed $3 billion. Further adding that with the cuts the management is “fundamentally rethinking and reimagining how this organization is structured. And we are empowering our business unit leadership to transform their organizations with an owners mindset and a view on quality and accountability.”
While Zaslav mentions accountability and quality, the company has lost those virtues with its audience i.e., the fandom, which rallied against many decisions taken by the studio like the cancelation of Scoob! Holiday Haunt, Batgirl movie, and Final Space animated feature that has no physical copies available in the market, meaning the show will be lost after its taken down from Netflix. Creators too are devastated by the action of the studio as after HBO Max's massive layoff many felt, the company "doesn't care" about its talent as it massively affected the diversity that axed shows brought to the table. The reflection of Zaslav's verdict comes with decisions like merging the HBO Max streaming service with Discovery+, WBD is also working on a free, advertising-supported service. He explained, “The strategy to collapse all windows, starve linear [television] and theatrical [box office] and spend money with abandon, while making a fraction in return, all in the service of growing sub numbers, has ultimately proven, in our view, to be deeply flawed.”
Another thing Zaslav is looking at is strengthening verticals like DC Studio which recently hired James Gunn and Peter Safran to co-lead the studio. He expressed his wish to further the Harry Potter franchise and noted that the studio hasn’t made a Superman movie in a while. He upheld his decision, saying, “The movies that we launched in the theater do significantly better and launching a two-hour or an hour and 40 minute movie direct to streaming has done almost nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention or love of the service.”
While, the new management has all the rights to overhaul WBD to make it more profitable, the real cost of the decisions lies in the fact that fans as well as frequent collaborators and talents are losing trust in the company like Christopher Nolan who jumped the ship to Universal Studios to make his new movie Oppenheimer. After affecting so many lives and their beautiful creations, Zaslav could have showed some remorse in his recent comments.
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