English Entertainment
GRB Entertainment announced sales of it’s top 4 documentaries
MUMBAI: GRB Entertainment announced sales of four of its top documentaries to broadcasters in Brazil, Japan and the U.K.
Globosat Brazil renewed Remembering Whitney, a documentary featuring legendary singer Whitney Houston, just in time to celebrate the icon’s August 9thbirthday. This breathtaking one-hour special celebrates the legacy of the six-time Grammy winner, featuring “never-before-seen footage” of Whitney, including interviews with the pop icon, exclusive concerts, private home videos, and candid insights from her family, including her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Nippon Television Network in Japan acquired Michael Sam, a 65-minute doc spotlighting the life of Michael Sam, the first openly gay U.S. football player in the NFL. Cameras follow Sam along his brave journey – from a football player at the University of Missouri to the biggest professional sports league in America as he works to earn a spot on a NFL team.
Sky UK acquired two docs: Confessions of a Superhero follows the lives of three mortal men and one woman who make their living working as superhero characters on the sidewalks of the infamous Hollywood Boulevard. This deeply personal view into the daily routines of these characters reveal their hardships, and triumphs, while they pursue and achieve their own kind of fame; and The Mona Lisa Myth, narrated by Morgan Freeman, is a lavish period docu-drama that takes viewers from Leonardo Da Vinci’s happy sojourn in the duchy of Milan to his struggling years in Florence, through the controversy surrounding his famous painting The Mona Lisa and finally, his retirement at the French royal court in Amboise.
“GRB is well-known around the globe for its wide-ranging portfolio of factual programs and we are fortunate to also represent many top-notch documentaries. From a sports’ figure with a ground-breaking story to a great singer and her tragic life to a group of people chasing a Hollywood dream to the great artist Da Vinci, GRB has programs that transcend borders and language barriers,” said Michael Lolato, SVP of International Distribution, GRB 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.
