English Entertainment
MIPCOM: GRB announces new titles; Walt Disney doc, real-life crime, docu-series
MUMBAI: GRB Entertainment, a trendsetter of unscripted, and scripted, alternative programming with a proven track record worldwide, announced a slate of new titles to debut at MIPCOM.
As the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney’s death approaches, GRB brings a documentary on his life and career with exclusive footage and over 50 interviews with celebrities, directors, and animators. WALT: The Man Behind The Myth is the official biography of Walt Disney, sanctioned by The Walt Disney Family Foundation. This 90 minute documentary is presented by Diane Disney Miller and narrated by Dick Van Dyke and is filled with never-before-seen color home movies shot by Walt himself.
Real-life crime is often more dramatic than fiction and GRB Entertainment owns many of the best series and docs in this genre. Occult Crimes takes a look inside the devilish minds of the most unpredictable and dangerous killers in history who take their orders from Satan to commit heinous murders. Until Proven Innocent: The Hannah Overton Story tells the true story of the death of Andrew Burd, a four-year-old from Texas who died mysteriously of salt poisoning. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder and sent to prison for life. But is this churchgoing woman a vicious child killer or had the tragedy claimed its second victim?
Turning to music, Follow The Rules is a 12-part series following Grammy-nominated international rapper turned actor, Ja Rule, and the hectic household that he and his wife Aisha are trying to keep under control. With their two sons, daughter, and Ja’s mother and mother-in-law living under one roof, the house that Rule built is anything but quiet.
In Cleveland Hustles, NBA superstar LeBron James and longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter give four aspiring local entrepreneurs the chance to realize their business dreams while also helping to revitalize neighborhoods in their hometown of Cleveland.
GRB also brings a series of CNN documentaries from Soledad O’Brien. In Babies Behind Bars, follow the lives of female inmates in a remarkable program allowing them to raise their babies while they serve times. Black & Blue tells the shocking real-life stories of young black men facing persistent racial profiling and police brutality. In Black In America and Latino in America, both multi-documentary collections, Soledad O’Brien explores interpretations of race and cultural identity for people living in the United States.
“Our official doc on Walt Disney – an iconic man with a great impact on pop culture – offers amazing exclusive footage of his private life. We also have two fun and inspiring series featuring Ja Rule and LeBron James. We continue to bring riveting, real-life crime with Occult Crimes and Until Proven Innocent: The Hannah Overton Story. We are also thrilled to represent a number of Soledad O’Brien’s CNN documentaries, which span crime and human-interest,” said Michael Lolato, SVP of International Distribution, GRB Entertainment.
GRB is well-known for its gripping real-life crime series as well as intriguing and inspiring factual programs, and serves up both for the upcoming market. Intervention, GRB’s groundbreaking A&E series (200+ episodes), received two Emmy® Award nominations in 2016, a Critics’ Choice Award nomination in 2016, an Emmy® Award nomination in 2015, and an Emmy Award win in 2009 from the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences for Outstanding Reality Program.
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.
