English Entertainment
Zee Studio presents June Highlights!
MUMBAI: This June soak up the rains in the comfort of your homes as Zee Studio brings to you the most amazing line up of movies once again. This June Zee Studio will showcase some of the finest titles from Hollywood catering to every emotion be it comedy, adrenaline thumping feats or bold animation! Sit back; relax and choose from the widest range of films only on Zee Studio.
The channel is all set to launch a fresh, unique property called Death by Laughter. The entity showcases everyone’s favorite action heroes gearing up to take people onboard a smashing laughter ride. Tune into the star line up of Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and many more as they guarantee you fall off your chair chuckling. The Hollywood star casts take center stage with movie favorites like Shanghai Knights, The Pacifier, Stop! Or my mom will shoot you, Wild Hogs and many more every Wednesday at 8 pm.
In addition to comedy, Zee Studio is also showcasing Brave: THE ONE movie you must watch on Sunday, June 22nd at 1 pm. Fans will be able to catch a repeat telecast of this Oscar winning film at 10 pm to ensure they do not miss Princess Merida (female protagonist) paving her own path in life.
The channel is dedicated to bringing the best action movie line-up from Hollywood to entice its movie buffs. Premier Action is an action packed unit offered to the fantasy fight fan club. This June join Jake Gyllenhallas he conquers kingdoms in his pursuit of becoming the brave Prince of Persia. This premier action movie of the month will telecast on Sunday, 8th June at 10 pm.
Speaking on the occasion Mr Anurag Bedi, EVP & Business Head, stated; “In our efforts to provide the best of international content to our Indian viewers we pick award winning films that appeal to the mindsets of our target audience. Our new property Death by Laughter is very unique. Also to provide an exceptional viewing experience we have Brave: The one movie you must watch and Prince of Persia for all our movie buffs out there. We are sure June will really please our audiences”
Zee Studio is a firm believer of the statement “Hollywood on television” and that is exactly the experience fans relive. The channel is home to the biggest movies in English entertainment and viewers are offered only the best this June.
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.
