English Entertainment
Anigraph goes ‘full house’ on final day
MUMBAI: Being a Saturday as well as the final day at Anigraph, Day 3 opened to a full house. The packed auditorium got to view some very impressive showreels interspersed with talks.
The highlight of the day was the talk on ‘International co-production in animation’ given by Crest Communications CEO A K Madhavan. Madhavan very lucidly explained the wisdom involved in co-producing animation, responding to questions with characteristic patience and calm.
Also of note was the presentation by Broadcast Consultancy Services CEO Reena Ashok. Entitled ‘Renderfarm on Rent by IBM Shaf’ the presentation had Reena explaining as to how such a service can help studios function more effeciently, reduce overheads and improve output.
Rendering being one of the critical processes in animation and VFX, the presentation held the attention of all industry members within the audience.
Some good showreels were demonstrated in the plenary session ‘Special FX in movies and TV’ and in the presentation on ‘VFX in advertising’.
Played during the FX for Movies and TV plenary, the Hatim showreel had the audience spellbound. The students amongst the audience were informed beforehand by the organiser Ramesh Meer, that TV shows have relatively smaller budgets for FX.
Complimenting Jyoti Sagar on the impressive FX of Hatim, the curious audience put up questions on topics like miniatures, CG and compositing.
‘VFX in advertising’, the session by the brilliant VFX & graphics artist Ara of famous FX was a short one and could have been longer. Responding to a question from the audience Ara explained the methodology and innovation that went into the famous ‘Yeh pyaas hai badee’ Pepsi campaign featuring Shahrukh, Saif and Priety Zinta.
The commercial had a scene with 800 cars in a single frame, 30 of which were real while the rest were digitally manipulated. Seperate plates had to be shot from different roof tops at the Bandra-Kurla complex, lighting and reflections considered and a lot of sweat and thought went in the creation of the compelling commercial.
The enriching last day at Anigraph was however, not without it’s share of disappointments.
2 eagerly awaited speakers, Martin Poole of The Pixel Farm (UK) and Pankaj Khandpur of Visual Computing Labs did not turn up.
Meer announced that both the speakers were stranded, (Poole in germany and Khandpur in the United States) due to visa problems.
Meer expressed his irritation with the Indian embassies abroad and said that it was very difficult to get timely assistance from them.
All in all, as Anigraph 2004 came to an end, the audience and participants went back home contented that they had spent their time well. In the past three days they had learnt a lot about the business of animation, techniques and software. All of this for free without paying even a Rupee. For this the organisers thanked all the sponsors, Shaf, Seagate, Apple and Rahul Commerce for their support.
Way to go …………..!!!
Earlier stories on Anigraph ’04
Anigraph 2004 opens with session on special effects
Day 2 at Anigraph ’04: The industry participates
For detailed session wise reports on Anigraph’04 check the June 28 issue of Animation Express. (To subscribe for free send a mail to anex@indiantelevision.com).
English Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
