English Entertainment
FX and FX HD to air back-to-back episodes of season I & II of ‘The Affair’
MUMBAI: FX is all geared up to premiere the season one and two of the famous love drama The Affair. The channel will air back to back episodes of the show throughout March till 19 April 2016 at 9 pm.
The show’s season 1 explores the emotional and psychological effects of an affair that destroys two marriages, and the crime that brings these individuals back together. The extra-marital affair takes place between Noah Solloway and Alison Lockhartwhen they meet in the resort town of Montauk in Long Island. Noah, a New York City schoolteacher and Williams College alum who is struggling to write a second book is happily married with four children, but he resents his dependence on his wealthy father-in-law. Alison, on the other hand, is a young waitress trying to piece her life and marriage back together in the wake of her child’s sudden death. The story of the affair is depicted from Noah’s and Alison’s perspectives respectively, complete with memory bias.
The second season goes a step further as the narrative is expanded to include the perspectives of their respective original spouses, Helen and Cole too as they all move forward with the dissolution of their marriages and deal with the ramifications. The provocative drama is told separately from four different perspectives thus revealing four distinct truths.
While Alison is a young woman attempting to move on from tragedy and build a lasting relationship while contending with the judgment of others and her own self-doubt, her lover Noah is a burgeoning writer trying to balance the temptations of success, the family he left behind, and the woman he loves. Noah’s former wife Helen on the other hand is attempting to piece her life together while navigating the divorce proceedings, care for her children, and her parents’ noxious influence while Cole struggles to overcome his past heartbreak and start a promising new life.
The show has won the prestigious Golden Globe award in the best television series – drama category and comprises of a stellar star cast. The star cast includes Dominic West as Noah Solloway, Ruth Wilson as Alison Lockhart, Maura Tierney as Helen Solloway and Joshua Jackson as Cole Lockhart.
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.
