English Entertainment
&Privé HD celebrates the birthday of the Steven Spielberg
MUMBAI: &Privé HD, the English movie channel, presents Club Privé: Spielberg Edition – a curation of five of Spielberg’s best movies exploring different sides of human emotions. The special will air from 18 to 22 December at 11 pm only on &Privé HD.
A master of emotions and technique, Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities. Winner of 3 Academy awards and 7 nominations, he is known for his signature filmmaking style with an enviable filmography. Spielberg’s films have been instrumental in revolutionizing the film industry and refining the views of its audience, as each of his movies compels the audience to delve deeper into the lives of theirprotagonists and feel the other side of cinema.
The Club Privé: Spielberg Edition is in line with the channel’s promise of presenting quality cinema to its discerning non-conformist viewers. Upholding its promise to deliver the finest films to its perceptive audience, &Privé HD celebrates the filmmaker extraordinaire with movies that highlight theintricacies of their characters.Each of the carefully curated films deliver a distinctinsight to the audience, presenting them with multiple layers that appeal to their appetite for cinema that touches the soul. The line-up of movies includes:
Bridge of Spies (18th December, 2017)
Starring Tom Hanks as a lawyer (Donovan) tasked with coordinating a prisoner exchange, the film is a Cold War tale of moral principles colliding with the imperatives of national security. It not only unfolds the story behind how Donovan bargains for the exchange, but also entices audiences to root for a soviet spy as he is returned to his country.
The Terminal (19th December, 2017)
Starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones, the film depicts heart-warming story of an immigrant, who finds himself stranded in a busy New York airport terminal due to unseen circumstances. Nevertheless, he makes the best of his situation, essentially adopting the terminal as his home, befriending the staff and even falling in love with one of the flight attendants.
Super 8 (20th December, 2017)
The cult classic sees six teens making a zombie movie and get caught up in a military cover-up involving a mysterious beast. It projects how the unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth – something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.
Amistad (21st December, 2017)
Relating to the American cultural landscape, this courtroom drama is based on the true story of the events in 1839 aboard the slave ship La Amistad, during which Mende tribesmen abducted for the slave trade managed to gain control of their captors’ ship off the coast of Cuba, and the international legal battle that followed their capture by a U.S. revenue cutter.With the justice system and defenceattorneys all presenting a different viewpoint, the film explores the different opinions of each character, and how each is crucial to the final verdict.
Catch Me if You Can (22nd December, 2017)
Starring powerhouse performers Leonardo Di Caprio and Tom Hanks, the film illustrates the events of a successful con artist and master of deception. While the film shows Frank as a brilliant forger, whose skill at check fraud has netted him millions of dollars in stolen funds, it also highlights the story of Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) as a sharp cop on Frank’s tail. A deeply moving coming of age black comedy that follows the true story of Frank Abagnale, one of the most famous con-artists in history.
Since its launch, &Privé HD has presented some of the most-awaited critically-acclaimed movies for its audience. With Club Privé: Spielberg Edition, it’s time to raise a toast to Steven Spielberg and the sheer brilliance of his work.
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.
