English Entertainment
Keshet bags Croatia crime drama ‘The Paper’s distribution rights
MUMBAI: Keshet International (KI) has bagged the global distribution rights to the new eagerly-anticipated Croatian crime drama series, The Paper. Produced by Drugi Plan and yet to air on HTV1, The Paper is a dark cocktail of political corruption, power struggles, crime and betrayal.
The story is about Mario Kardum, an influential and politically-conservative building contractor from a powerful family who buys a left-liberalist newspaper in deep financial trouble. He has two underlying, questionable motives. Firstly, he wants to keep the investigation of someone close to him as the perpetrator of a high-profile hit-and-run case out of the news. Secondly, he wants to coerce the paper into writing favourably about the presidential candidate he is backing.
The Paper is a blistering, fast-paced account of the obstacles and dilemmas faced by today’s press. Has the profession of journalism, once so important, become nothing more than an instrument to achieve other, even greater interests? It will be available as a finished subtitled series and drama format to buyers at MIPCOM 2016.
Keshet International acquisition head Sebastian Burkhardt said, “We came across The Paper at NEM and were extremely impressed by the quality of the production. Everything from the storytelling, to the direction and the cast leads it to be very timely and universal. With current opportunities for non-English speaking series, and our experience with them, we are confident that The Paper will find its audience outside of Croatia.”
The Paper creator and producer Nebojsa Taraba said, “Through this collaboration with Keshet International, we truly feel as though we have found a common artistic tongue and that our project has — in many ways — come home. The way in which Keshet produces and perceives television is precisely what we’ve tried to emulate and apply in our work for years.”
Created by Ivica Djikic, Nebojsa Taraba and Miodrag Sila and directed by Cannes Film Festival jury prize-winner Dalibor Matanic (Un Certain Regard, The High Sun), The Paper is set in the busy newsroom of a daily newspaper. A highly-acclaimed, provocative drama, it presents an ensemble cast navigating the blurred lines between morality and integrity.
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.
