English Entertainment
Sony Pix to air ‘Paddington’ movie on 29 May
MUMBAI: How adorable will it be to spot a cuddly suited booted Teddy Bear, alighting a train and strutting his luggage finding his new abode. It’s a childhood fantasy that we must have all had at some stage and to see its depiction on the big screen is an absolute visual treat.
Sony Pix, staying true to its brand persona will make sure you Stay Amazed with the story of the endearing bear from the Peruvian rainforest Paddington, a name that fate chose for him at Paddington Station where his life was going to change forever. Watch this adorable bear’s tryst in the urban jungle far far away from his comfortable life in the rainforest on 29 May at 1 pm and 9 pm.
Paddington is a family movie that will work its way into your hearts and minds with love from both children and adults alike world over.This charmingly delightful affairgot a rotten tomatoes positive rating of 98% and a rating of 7.2 on IMDB and is going down as one of the best family films.Paddington is truly hilarious and heartwarming with a story that is so rich and compelling that it just grabs everyone by the heart with its charm and humour.
A deadly earthquake destroys the Peruvian rainforest and a young bear (Ben Whishaw), makes his way to London in search of a new home. The bear, dubbed Paddington reaches the london train station and finds shelter with Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins). Although Paddington’s amazement at urban life soon endears him to the Browns, someone else finds her eye on him: the sadist Taxidermist, Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman), who kills and stuffs exotic animals to house in the Natural History Museum. She becomes aware of Paddington and sets out to hunt him down.Through his journey, Paddington must not only find himself a humble abode in London, but also escape Millicent’s vicious plan to stuff him.
Based on Paddington Bear created by Michael Bond, the charmingly funny and shamelessly punny, Paddington is directed by Paul King, written by King and Hamish McColl, and produced by David Heyman. Ben Whishaw is the voice behind Paddington and will be seen along with co-stars Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters and Nicole Kidman.Paddington has become the highest-ever grossing non-Hollywood family film after banking $200million at the box office in its release year.
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.
