English Entertainment
Fox, Ciwen, Fortune Star to co-produce Chinese martial arts film
MUMBAI: MFox, Beijing Ciwen Digital Oriental Film & TV Production (Ciwen) and Fortune Star have entered into an agreement to co-produce a costume martial arts film in China – Gold Bandits (working title) – with an anticipated production start date of June 2007.
Hong Kong filmmaker Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs, Initial D) will produce and direct the film and writer/director Gordon Chan is currently working on the script. The film will also be produced by Ciwen GM Ma Zhong-Jun and Fortune Star GM Peter E. Poon.
Under the agreement, Ciwen will be responsible for the film’s distribution in mainland China (excluding home video). Fortune Star will oversee distribution in India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea. Fox will distribute the film to the rest of the world and also holds home video distribution rights for mainland China.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn says, “Last month, we commemorated a momentous milestone for the studio with the establishment of a Fox representative office in China and a newly formed distribution partnership with Zoke Culture Group.
“Following up on our promise to contribute to China’s growing consumer market and to support development of the country’s film industry, we are thrilled to announce our first Chinese language co-production deal. This project represents an exciting opportunity for Fox to work with China’s own creative community and to meet the ongoing consumer demand in China for high-quality entertainment choices.”
Twentieth Century Fox senior VP film acquisitions Tony Safford says, “Co-financing Gold Bandits is part of the studio’s country-by-country strategy to align ourselves with credible third party producers — in this case Ciwen and Fortune Star — to create distribution partnerships that begin locally, spread regionally, and ultimately reach film audiences worldwide.”
Ma Zhong-Jun said, “We are excited to work together with Fox and Fortune Star on the production of this Chinese major motion picture. This groundbreaking collaboration ensures the creation of a world-class quality production which will spur local box office sales, while also putting in place the capacity for worldwide distribution even before shooting begins.”
Poon says, “We are delighted to work with Fox and Ciwen, as well as with renowned filmmakers Andrew Lau and Gordon Chan, all of which are synonymous with high quality, award-winning films. I am confident that we have a compelling story to tell here and that this film will engross audiences in Asia as well as in the rest of the world.”
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.
