Ahead of tomorrow’s tipoff of the 2022-23 NBA season, Warner Bros Discovery announced contract renewals for the four hosts of TNT’s mainstay studio show Inside the NBA.
28.09.2022 - 14:05 / variety.com
Selome Hailu Warner Bros. Discovery is expansing its “Turn Up! Fight Hunger” campaign, a partnership with No Kid Hungry. The news comes timed to company’s participation in the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health on Wednesday. After an initial pledge in 2018 to donate 1 billion meals to children in need in five years’ time and meeting that goal early in 2021, WBD has upped their promise to 2 billion meals. Including the number already donated, the 2 billion total is set to be reached by September 2023. The program began after Gloria Steinem advised CEO David Zaslav to promote some kind of social good upon hearing that Discovery brands (before the merger with Warner Bros.) reached 25% of American women each night. The company has since utilized that reach with easy-to-access action items, like encouraging viewers across platforms like the Food Network and HGTV to donate by texting the word “hungry” to 707070. The money raised allows for schools, food banks and other community groups to buy not only food, but essential resources such as delivery trucks and protective gear for workers.
But donations are not the only tool of the campaign. “Turn Up! Fight Hunger” emphasizes that hunger crisis doesn’t mean there isn’t enough food; rather, it’s a lack of access for the people who need it most. As such, in the new expansion, Warner Bros. Television Group will begin educating its creative leaders on food insecurity, encouraging storylines that incorporate hunger, nutrition, and health topics into content. “Rock The Block,” “Extreme Makeover Home Edition,” “A Very Brady Renovation: Holiday Edition,” “Guy’s Grocery Games,” “Brother v Brother” and “The Kitchen: Thanksgiving Live” are among some of the programs
Ahead of tomorrow’s tipoff of the 2022-23 NBA season, Warner Bros Discovery announced contract renewals for the four hosts of TNT’s mainstay studio show Inside the NBA.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Amazon Prime Video has scored a pair of deals with Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony to bolster its programming in France with premium titles. The agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery gives Prime Video the first-window rights to exclusive TV series from Warner Bros. Discovery in France, including “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” the first two seasons of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Ava DuVernay’s miniseries “DMZ” and “Peacemaker” Season 1. Also part of the pact are library TV titles, on a non-exclusive basis. These include “Legacies” (Seasons 1 through 3), “Pretty Little Liars,” “Fringe,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Originals” and “Shameless.”
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is behind a TV show telling real life stories of people overcoming severe medical conditions to show human bravery, with Netflix’s Amazing on the Inside producer Future Studios and distributor TVF International shopping Unbelievable Me at Mipcom Cannes this week.
Does the world need a reimagining of the 1990 comedy “House Party“? It’s not like that movie is terrible, and it’s an early role for Martin Lawrence, but who remembers it nowadays? And what kind of audience is there today for a remake? Well, LeBron James thinks the comedy needs a revamp three decades later whether anyone asked for it or not. He, Maverick Carter, and Warner Bros. Continue reading ‘House Party’ Red Band Trailer: LeBron James & Warner Bros.
according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Both Tricia and Jill will be here through the rest of the year, working with me as we realign the teams through this transitional period.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Discovery Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics chief marketing officer Tricia Melton is departing the company, along with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim senior VP of marketing and partnerships Jill King. Their exits rep the latest high-profile departures at the conglom as it continues to cut costs and downsize following the April acquisition of Warner Bros. by Discovery. Melton’s and King’s exits come just days after Warner Bros. TV Group’s animation division was hit hard by cuts — including the merger of development and main production teams for Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. Both shingles remain, but with a smaller, merged headcount.
shuttered as part of cost-cutting moves. WBD’s chief DEI officer Asif Sadiq will partner with Warner Bros. Television upon the completion of the current workshop class and will work to grow the program.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to end its long-running writers and directors training program, which the conglom announced Tuesday as part of a series of layoffs and budget cuts at Warner Bros. TV Group, drew a strong rebuke from different parts of the industry, including a stinging statement on Wednesday by the Directors Guild of America. But what Warner Bros. Discovery hadn’t followed up to explain — and quickly revealed on Wednesday — is that its Writers Workshop and Directors Workshop will live on (albeit it, in a somewhat different form, details TBD) but now move from Warner Bros. Television and be housed inside the conglom’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit.
Warner Bros. Discovery has performed a quick U-turn on its decision to close its Writers and Directors Workshops.
The Warner Bros. Discovery layoffs continue.
Manori Ravindran International Editor Former Warner Bros. Discovery and OSN executives are teaming up to form a new content studio serving the Middle East and North Africa, Variety can reveal. Rise Studios is being set up by industry veterans Emad Morcos, former OSN chief content and commercial officer; Amanda Turnbull, former general manager at Warner Bros. Discovery Middle East, Africa and Turkey; and Amel Farag, former head of content commercial strategy at OSN. Rise will invest in local content and talent in order to launch homegrown film and TV productions on both regional and global broadcasters and streaming platforms.
in a Twitter thread on Tuesday.“And for what? The business model isn’t working. @WBD stock has lost more than 50% post-merger. So stockholders suffer too.
Another wave of Warner Bros Discovery post-merger layoffs is coming.
Naman Ramachandran Leading practitioners of the Asian theatrical business participated in a lively discussion on the future of the sector post-pandemic and the signs are encouraging. Speaking at the APOS conference in Singapore on Thursday, moderated by Variety Asia editor Patrick Frater, Stephen Laslocky, VP at leading research firm Media Partners Asia, provided a handy overview of the theatrical market in Southeast Asia. Laslocky said that Indonesia, the largest market in the region, would be back to 2019 levels of theatrical business by the end of 2022. “In Malaysia, the demand generally appears to be back, the issue was the pipeline just wasn’t so great, particularly this year. But next year, they think that’s going to improve for both local, which has done very well this year, and for foreign films next year,” Laslocky said.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Gerhard Zeiler, president of International at Warner Bros. Discovery, has moved to reassure the Asia-Pacific region that it is an integral part of the group’s post-merger strategy. “Don’t believe that we don’t know how important Asia is for our company, he said Thursday. Zeiler was speaking at the APOS Convention in Singapore on Thursday. He cited examples of theatrical success for “Batman” and “Fantastic Beasts” in the region and investment in local production in the region. The reassurance may have been necessary following post-merger announcements that proposed changes in North America, Latin America and Europe ahead of Asia – despite recent external data showing Asia-Pacific as one of the world’s fastest growth regions.
William Earl Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav assured staffers across Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday that the company is not on the auction block. The chairman-CEO of the newly merged entity made his remarks at a company-wide town hall meeting that was beamed out via Zoom to WB Discovery’s 40,000 employees worldwide. Zaslav’s comments came in response to a question from an employee. WB Discovery was formed in April by the merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and the Zaslav-led Discovery. There’s been speculation about more M&A to come for the conglomerate since before the merger agreement was completed. “We are not for sale,” Zaslav told employees during the 75-minute session. “We have everything we need to be successful.”
Manori Ravindran International Editor As it continues to cement its European leadership structure, Warner Bros. Disccovery has set out the team working across France, Benelux and Africa under Pierre Branco, general manager for the region. Branco, who reports into EMEA boss Priya Dogra, was previously country manager for WarnerMedia in France, Benelux, Middle East and Africa and head of affiliates and ad sales for EMEA. The changes on his team take effect immediately. In the new layout, Romain Carbonne will manage the insights and research teams across the region, while Guillaume Coffin will lead affiliate sales, ad sales and content licensing for the region.
Warner Bros. Discovery has set out Pierre Branco’s leadership team for France, Benelux and Africa.
grow the number of subscribers to its streaming service without regard to cost or profitability.”The plaintiff, a pension fund to benefit current and former police officers in Collinsville, Illinois, suggests that anyone who purchased WBD on the open market post-merger is qualified to join the lawsuit.It’s seeking a jury trial for monetary damages, alleging three separate Securities and Exchange Commission violations.
Deadline.Zeiler specifically mentioned “Harry Potter,” as well as “Game of Thrones” and DC movies, to be part of the future endeavors that will bring the company success.While there were no specifics of what the “Harry Potter” franchise will look like in the future, there has long been talk of a TV series circulating — although Warner Bros. and HBO Max both have previously denied rumors.“There are no ‘Harry Potter’ series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform,” Warner Bros. and HBO Max said in a joint statement in January 2021.However, it is unclear whether or not that has changed, or if there are any updated developments to a “Potter”-verse, as Zeiler suggested.Later that year, Daniel Radcliffe expressed what role he would want to play in the event of a reboot.“I would probably want to go with like, Sirius [Black] or [Remus] Lupin,” he said at the time.Most recently, HBO Max released the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” documentary in January to celebrate the franchise’s two decades of success.Late “Harry Potter” star Alan Rickman, who played professor Severus Snape, left behind memories from the original franchise before he died.