English Entertainment
The 2007 British Academy Film Awards take centre stage on STAR WORLD
MUMBAI: Which of Britain’s celebrated stars will be honored at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards? Find out when STAR WORLD televises the glamorous event on Tuesday, February 27th at 9pm. With talk-show veteran Jonathan Ross hosting from London’s Royal Opera House, the celeb-stacked ceremony promises plenty of surprise wins and shock upsets.
For 60 years, the British Academy Film Awards has recognized and honored outstanding achievements in film and 2007 offers a strong and diverse field of contenders. Reigning supreme at the top of the list is The Queen. The royals-in-ruin drama is nominated for 10 awards, including Best Film and Best Actress for Helen Mirren. Voters were also shaken and stirred by the latest James Bond adventure Casino Royale, which picked up nine nominations, including a Best Actor nod for Daniel Craig. Among the other stars vying for Best Actor honours are Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) and acting legend Peter O’Toole (Venus).
Also in contention with seven nominations is the complex, cross-cultural drama, Babel. As well as nods for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, the Golden Globe®-winning movie is also up for Best Film. In the latter category, Babel will compete against the Idi Amin biopic The Last King of Scotland, which is nominated in four other categories.
Over the years, the British Academy Film Awards has attracted the best from the worlds of cinema and celebrity. The 2007 line-up continues that tradition and includes such gifted stars as Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Toni Collette, Kylie Minogue and Sienna Miller. Filled with surprises, celebrities and style, the British Academy Film Awards is a dazzling tribute to the world’s most talented filmmakers and exceptional stars. So, make sure you tune-in to the 2007 British Academy Film Awards on STAR WORLD on Tuesday, February 27th at 9 p.m.
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.
