English Entertainment
Lights, camera, action! Turkish Airlines launches new inflight safety video in partnership with Warner Bros. and The LEGO(R) Movie franchise.
MUMBAI: Turkish Airlines, the airline that flies to more countries and international destinations than any other airline, launches a new animated safety video, complete with familiar LEGO® minifigures in surprising new roles. The custom-animated safety video for Turkish Airlines was created by the teams who assembled “The LEGO Movie”, “The LEGO Batman Movie”, “The LEGO NINJAGO® Movie” and the highly anticipated sequel “The LEGO Movie 2” due in cinemas beginning February 2019, which reunites the heroes of the first film in an all new action-packed adventure. In partnership with Warner Bros. and featuring the popular characters from The LEGO Movie franchise, the safety video will be shown on all flights starting today and will also debut online.
The safety video, which is the first LEGO safety video ever made, demonstrates step-by-step safety procedures to passengers in a fun, unique style – complete with sensible airline-approved humor, celebrity cameos and an unforgettable song and dance number. Turkish Airlines is proud to have one of the youngest fleets in the world and strives to achieve the best in aviation safety standards. Whether frequent travellers or first-time fliers, the video aims to inform and entertain passengers, alongside an extensive selection of movies, TV shows, music and games available in different languages on the in-flight entertainment system.
The safety video will kick off the “biggest partnership with the smallest cast ever assembled”, hinting there is much more to come from the Turkish Airlines and LEGO Movie franchise alliance. Leading up to the worldwide release of “The LEGO Movie 2”, Turkish Airlines will roll-out a global TV campaign, film themed wrapped airplanes, in-flight and in-airport activations and even a second safety video. A partnership sure to entertain and delight!
Blair Rich, President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures Group and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment said; “We are thrilled to be working with Turkish Airlines again and “widening their world” to include that of our colorful LEGO Movie universe. The partnership showcases the best of two different brands converging in a clever and imaginative way, connecting to consumers and entertaining them.”
The LEGO Movie franchise-inspired safety video was brought to life by a 16-strong production team consisting of 2 concept artists, 3 layout artists, 7 animators and 4 lighting technicians. Lasting more than 950 days from beginning to end, the specialists used 2,938,840 LEGO bricks to animate the LEGO action. A total of 9,658,631 CPU hours (Central Processing Units) were used to generate 973 versions of animation. 30 different versions of the new safety video were created, both in English and Turkish, to cover the safety particulars of the 15 different airplane models in the Turkish Airlines fleet.
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.
