English Entertainment
Glenn Weiss, Ricky Kirshner to produce the 95th Oscars
MUMBAI: With a focus on expertise in live television event production, Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment have been named executive producers of the 95th Oscars. The announcement was made by Academy CEO Bill Kramer. This is Hollywood’s most prestigious awards show. For the eighth consecutive year, Weiss also will direct the show, which will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on 12 March, 2023. It will be Weiss’s second time and Kirshner’s first time producing the Oscars. Weiss first produced the show five years ago along with Donna Gigliotti.
The show will air live on Star Movies in India early in the morning on 13 March, 2023.
A creative team has been assembled to work with Weiss and Kirshner to help shape the vision and direction of the Oscars, including the following:
· red-carpet show executive producer David Chamberlin, a veteran of live television production
· red-carpet creative consultants Lisa Love and Raúl Àvila, creative contributor and creative director for the Met Gala, respectively
· creative director and Academy member Kenny Gravillis, who has developed key art and campaigns for movies
· production designers Misty Buckley, production designer of world tours and televised music shows for artists Kacey Musgraves, Ariana Grande and Coldplay, and Alana Billingsley, art director on previous Oscars, Emmys and Grammys broadcasts.
“We are thrilled to have Glenn and Ricky at the helm. Their expertise in live television production is exactly what the Oscars need. We look forward to working closely with them, our board of governors, and the board’s awards committee to deliver an exciting and energised show. Joining them is an incredible slate of creative partners – David Chamberlin, Lisa Love, Raúl Àvila, Kenny Gravillis, Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley – who will bring fresh ideas to the broadcast and the red carpet” said Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang.
“Bill made us ‘an offer we couldn’t refuse’ but he really ‘had us at hello,’” said Weiss and Kirshner.
“We couldn’t be more excited to have live event veterans Glenn and Ricky as executive producers of the 95th Oscars telecast on ABC. Their experience and creativity are bar none, and we look forward to seeing their vision play out for Hollywood’s biggest night,” said Walt Disney Television executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment Rob Mills.
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.
