Jay Levine Departs as Chief Strategy Officer and EVP Business Operations, Warner Bros.

Warner Bros Discovery is wasting no time in unveiling new leadership teams across the globe with the most recent structure outlined for Japan, Australia and New Zealand under James Gibbons, President and Managing Director of the region. This follows teams in EMEA, India, Southeast Asia and Korea being confirmed in the past 36 hours.

Following the departure of Toby Emmerich as Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Boss, his fellow associate, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group COO Carolyn Blackwood is leaving. This is all ahead of Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy coming in to run the motion picture group under Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterVeteran Warner Bros. executive and film division chief operating officer Carolyn Blackwood is parting ways with the studio, sources told Variety.Her resignation follows a week after word that her boss Toby Emmerich, chairman of the motion picture group, will transition to lot producer later this year. The regime changes come as Warner Bros.

Toby Emmerich had a meal with Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy at the Polo Lounge, a hub of deal-making and power lunches, in a move that was clearly designed to send a signal of solidarity to Hollywood. The bread-breaking, which went down as show business players like producer Donald De Line and CAA agent Joel Lubin dined nearby, came just a day after Emmerich announced that he will step down as head of Warner Bros.’ film studio. De Luca, who worked with Emmerich back in the day at New Line, and Abdy will soon join the company, though in a reduced role; they will oversee Warner Bros.

Toby Emmerich’s exit as chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures group, and the ascension of former MGM film leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, are just the latest instances of upheaval in what is already shaping up to be a tempestuous new era at the studio behind Harry Potter and Batman.Emmerich’s ouster has been gossiped about for years, dating back well before the company was sold to Discovery. Still, his decision to leave for a production deal stunned executives on the studio’s Burbank lot, many of whom had worked with Emmerich for decades.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday dropped his memo to staff about Toby Emmerich stepping down as Chairman of the Motion Picture Group and the three new studio divisions being put in place. It’s a slightly similar structure to the way Disney handles its franchise brands, with the hope that DC will have its own Kevin Feige maestro to exploit IP across all mediums.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterWarner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has finally committed to paper a new strategy for the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.In a Wednesday memo to his staff obtained by Variety, Zaslav told studio employees that he will create “three distinct film segments around Warner Bros.

Below is Toby Emmerich’s departure note to staff at Warners:

announced they would exit their roles as Motion Picture Group chairman and president this summer after Amazon completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of the storied studio. The move is a homecoming for DeLuca, who joined Warner’s New Line Cinema as an intern at age 19 and rose to president of production.

Toby Emmerich is out as the head of Warner Bros. motion picture studio. Replacing him are Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who recently exited the helm of MGM. This had been rumored since before they exited that studio (they’ll stay into the summer until their contracts expire). This is part of Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s grand plan to split Warner Bros into multiple labels, with Warner Bros proper/New Line, DC Entertainment and Animation.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the proposed joint venture between Warner Bros Discovery and BT Group which will create a new premium sports offering for the UK and Ireland. The regulator said today that it notified the respective parties on Tuesday and is inviting comments on the transaction until June 17.

Joe Weinstock, Co-President of Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment label Spoke Studios, has exited to launch a JV with The Masked Singer UK and Netflix’s Hard Cell super-indie Argonon.

Warner Bros. Discovery has formally named Nathaniel Brown chief corporate communications officer of the newly merged company.

EXCLUSIVE: Bong Joon-Ho’s follow-up film to Oscar winner Parasite is currently in pre-production at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLeslie Jones is set to lead the voice cast of an adult animated comedy series currently in early development at Warner Bros. Animation, Variety has learned exclusively.Jones will executive produce the untitled series in addition to voicing the lead character of Plastic Woman. According to an individual with knowledge of the project, the show is not connected to the female-led take on the DC character Plastic Man that was reportedly in the works as a feature back in 2020.Plot details for the show are being kept under wraps.

Sasha Urban editorMike Van has been promoted to President of Billboard while Dana Droppo has been named its first Chief Brand Officer. Both positions are effective immediately.“We are thrilled to elevate two extremely talented executives, Mike and Dana, into the roles of President and Chief Brand Officer,” said Jay Penske, Chairman and CEO of Penske Media. “The spirit of collaboration and teamwork they have helped to build has yielded incredible results and creativity over many years at Billboard.

A new Ocean’s Eleven film starring Margot Robbie is in “active development” at Warner Bros., Deadline can confirm. Four-time Emmy winner Jay Roach is looking to direct the pic, which is not yet greenlighted.

Michelle Obama is going for one last ride with Ellen DeGeneres.