English Entertainment
Cannes Lions announces jury presidents
MUMBAI: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has completed its announcements of the 2016 jury presidents, revealing the names of the remaining seventeen.
Lions Festivals CEO Philip Thomas said, “It’s not easy to win a Lion. On average our juries will award just three per cent of more than 40,000 entries. They’re looking for unique work that is creatively exceptional and challenges the norm. What we look for in our presidents is people that have been in this three per cent time and time again – it’s a significant responsibility leading a Cannes Lions jury and we’re incredibly proud to have such a powerful mix of individuals who know what creative excellence looks like, because they have it in abundance themselves.”
The full line-up of 2016 Cannes Lions jury presidents have been named as follows:
Creative Effectiveness Lions: BBDO, Global CEO Andrew Robertson
Creative Data Lions: Havas helia, Global group CEO Tash Whitmey
Cyber Lions: R/GA, Global SVP, executive creative director Chloe Gottlieb
Design Lions: Landor, France executive creative director Tristan Macherel
Digital Craft Lions: MediaMonks, The Netherlands founder & COO Wesley ter Haar
Direct Lions: Publicis Communications, Global creative chairman and Leo Burnett Worldwide global chief creative officer Mark Tutssel
Entertainment Lions: CAA Marketing, USA chief creative officer & co-head Jae Goodman
Entertainment Lions for Music: Grey Group, USA EVP/director of music Josh Rabinowitz
Film Lions: The Martin Agency, USA chief creative officer Joe Alexander
Film Craft Lions: Great Guns, Global founder & CEO Laura Gregory
Glass Lion: The Lion for Change: Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Global CEO Madeline Di Nonno
Health & Wellness Lions: The CDM Group, USA president Joshua Prince
Innovation Lions: Finch, Australia director – applied technology Emad Tahtouh
Media Lions: Dentsu Aegis Network, Asia Pacific CEO Asia Pacific Nick Waters
Mobile Lions: Cheil Worldwide, Global global chief creative officer Malcolm Poynton
Outdoor Lions: J. Walter Thompson, Brazil chief creative officer Ricardo John
Pharma Lions: Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, North America group president, North America Alexandra von Plato
PR Lions: Edelman, North America chair, Canada, head of creative and content John Clinton
Print & Publishing Lions: DDB Group, Singapore group executive creative director Joji Jacob
Product Design Lions: fuseproject, USA lead industrial designer Amina Horozic
Promo & Activation Lions: McCann Worldgroup, Global global creative chairman Rob Reilly
Radio Lions: Pirate Group Inc., Canada CEO and director Tom Eymundson
Titanium and Integrated Lions: BBH, Global founder, creative Sir John Hegarty
The presidents will be joined in Cannes in June by over 400 jurors as they work to identify Lion-winning creativity. The winners will be revealed and honoured during a series of six awards ceremonies which will take place during Cannes Lions.
The Festival runs from 18-25 June and incorporates specialist events, Lions Health, Lions Innovation and Lions Entertainment.
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.
