English Entertainment
Spain’s comedy drama ‘Father There Is Only One’ is set to premiere on &PrivéHD
MUMBAI: Fifteen years of marriage and five kids makes for one crazy household. Here’s a family of young and old that come in all hues and shades and one that is sure to drive you absolute nuts. Directed by Spain’s all-time highest grossing film franchise, Torrente’s filmmaker Santiago Segura who also stars in the movie, comes the Spanish family drama Father There Is Only One aka. Padre No Hay Más Que Uno that is set to premiere on &PrivéHD. The premium destination of nuanced cinema will present this entertaining foreign language film that is a complete family entertainer as part of its latest property, ‘Privé World Box Office.’ The channel will air this laugh riot everyday at 9PM for the entire week till Thursday thus enabling movie fans to be entertained with must-watch blockbusters from around the world that promise to make you feel at home, no matter the language.
An iconic figure in Spain’s comedy scene, Santiago Segura is known to get you rolling on the floor with laughter. Father There Is Only One is one of his comic bests that garnered a blockbuster response in Spain upon its release from critics and audiences alike. Set against the backdrop of 2019 Madrid, the comic caper revolves around Javier (Santiago Segura), a workaholic father who knows nothing about housework or childcare. He is forced to stay home alone with his five children when his wife Carmen (Sílvia Abril) goes on a trip without him. This 21 century CEO who thinks he has it all together gets the biggest shock of his life as he spends the coming days with his five children who come with five hundred mood swings. Packed with the funniest one-liners, rib-tickling moments and truckloads of laughter, here’s a hilarious tale of a family for whom all hell’s breaks lose when Mommy goes on a vacation. Sounds relatable?
Bringing new premieres every week, &PrivéHD’s World Box Office promises entertainment for everyone with movies of varied themes and genres. The line-up includes movies that are each blockbuster in their country of origin and are from varied genres ranging from romantic dramas and comedy to fantasy and adventure.
Watch the craziness unfold at this madhouse with Father There Is Only One premiering this Friday, 26 March at 9PM with repeats running all week till next Thursday only on &PrivéHD
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.
