English Entertainment
HBO looks to boost original series franchise with Rome
MUMBAI: In a bid to strengthen its line up of original content, English movie channel HBO will kick off the series Rome from 20 February 2006 at 11 pm. It will air every Monday after the 9 pm movie.
The show is a co-production between HBO and BBC Worldwide. As had been reported earlier by indiantelevision.com the show deals with two Roman soldiers who become entwined in the historical events of ancient Rome. The series has a budget of $100 million. By comparison one Harry Potter movie cost a little more at $120 million.
It has the distinction of being the first English-language series to be shot entirely in a non-English-speaking country Italy. It took 14 months to film the first season. By contrast one episode of a network drama usually takes a week, not a month, to shoot. During the shoot there was a historian on call 24/7. Rome won an award from the Directors Guild of America earlier this month.
HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai says, We are extremely excited to bring one of the biggest series ever, Rome, the groundbreaking HBO original productions to India. Rome is closer to India than most people would imagine as a lot of the elements such as the costumes, set design, colours and the look and feel of the show have either drawn inspiration from India or have been created by craftsmen in the country.
As a preview HBO will air a special Making of Rome on 20 February at 9 pm. Viewers will get an insiders view of the series with clips, cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
Rome deals with love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives. The 12-episode first season begins in 52 B.C., as Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return to Rome. He brings with him legions of battle-hardened, loyal men, unimaginable riches in slaves, gold and plunder, and a populist agenda for radical social change. The aristocracy is terrified, and threatens to prosecute him for war crimes if he enters Rome.
The delicate balance of power lies in the Senate with Caesar’s old friend, partner and mentor, Pompey Magnus. Such is the situation when two soldiers of Caesar’s 13th Legion, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, are ordered into the wilds of Gaul to retrieve their legion’s stolen standard, the unifying symbol of Caesar’s legion, setting off a chain of circumstances that led to the fall of ancient Rome. The series stars among others Ciaran Hinds, Polly Walker who got a Golden Globe nomination, Indira Varma, Ray Stevenson, Kenneth Cranham and Kevin McKidd.
Readers maybe interested to know that Rome was put into development as an HBO miniseries way back in 1998 by executive producer Anne Thomopoulos, who at the time was a senior vice president, original programming. Writer Bruno Heller began work in 2000. Following delivery of the first three scripts in 2001, HBO chairman Christ Albrecht and HBO Entertainment president Carolyn Strauss decided that Rome should be developed as a continuing series instead of a miniseries. Co-production partners The BBC came on board in August 2002.
The series’ writer and producer Bruno Heller says, “You rarely see onscreen the complexity and colour that was ancient Rome. It has more in common with places like Mexico City and Calcutta than quiet white marble.”
The set cost $10 million and is the largest standing set in the world. The set comprises 20,234 square metres of backlot and 6 soundstages. The series required over 4,000 pieces of wardrobe, 2,500 being used in the first three episodes alone. Much of the material came from India, as well as Prato, Italy, Tunisia and Morocco. Approximately 1,250 pairs of shoes and sandals were made in Bulgaria, and 250 chain mail tunics, each weighing 16 kg, were made in India. The prototype for the detailed leather cuirass worn by army officers was handmade at Cinecittà , and 40 were replicated in India. Prototypes for all of the metalwork – helmets, buckles, belts and insignia – were handmade on set and replicated in India as well.
Building the Rome set involved an international crew of 350. All of the fabrics used in the costume design and set dressing are authentic to the time wool, linen, cotton and silk. Fabrics came from Prato, Italy, as well as India, Tunisia and Morocco. They were purchased in their natural state and dyed on set.
Other interesting facts about Rome include
– 40 leather cuirasses were made for the legionary officers mostly from India
– 750 actors/extras were involved in the largest shooting scenes
– 40 horses were used in one scene
– 45 members of the cast were sent on a two-week boot camp run by a former British Royal Marine. 43 completed boot camp.
– The Forum set is approximately 60% the size of the original Foro Romano, and 25% of it is invisible in the form of wiring, pipes and gas to fuel its working braziers and torches
– Battles scenes in Rome represent one of the first times authentic techniques are portrayed, for example, no large, slashing sword movements like Gauls and Celts used; instead the series featured a tightly-packed Roman Wall of men shoulder-to-shoulder, thrusting straight from above and below their shields. The front line rotated to the back every 30-45 seconds, ensuring well-rested soldiers in the fray at all times.
That HBO and the BBC are satisfied with the audience response can be gauged from the fact that a second season will start shooting next month.
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.
