MAM
Weekend Unwind with: Chalkboard Entertainment co-founder Shujaat Saudagar
Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is time to unwind with the latest Q&A edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Weekend Unwind—a series of informal chats that peek into the minds of business executives through a fun lens in an attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better.
In this week’s session, we have Chalkboard Entertainment co-founder Shujaat Saudagar.
Saudagar fell into the rabbit hole in 1999 where he mentored under Prahlad Kakkar, also known as the Godfather of Indian advertising. He moved on from Genesis and directed an award-winning short film, Bali, along with the biggest ad campaigns for Pepsi, Lava Mobiles, KFC and Datsun. He stepped into the world of features with his debut directorial, Rock On 2!
Saudagar helms Rabbit Hole Films and has directed an Amazon Original series called Bambai Meri Jaan, based on a best-selling book by Hussain Zaidi. He recently directed an experimental feature, The Underbug, which won the Grand Jury Award at The Slamdance Film Festival 2023.
So, without further ado, here it goes…
● Your mantra for Life
Live for the moment
● A Book you are currently reading
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
● Your Fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
Eat when hungry not when bored
● Your comfort food
Mutton biryani
● When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
“You never know how much time you have left.” Martin Scorsese
● Your guilty pleasure
Bread pudding
● When was the last time you tried something new
2 days ago, Vietnamese Coffee, amazing!
● A Life lesson you learnt the hard way
Trust actions, not words
● What gets you excited about life
Movies
● What’s on top of your bucket list
Playing my film at the Lumiere Theatre
● If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be
Spend less!
● One thing you would most like to change about the world
Increase literacy
● An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
Riding my bike
● What lifts your spirits when life gets you down
A story told honestly
● Your go-to stress buster
My cats
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
