“We’re optimistic that we can that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties,” said Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav today of negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios and risk of a strike by the scribes.
“We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” the exec added Wednesday at the MAX streaming launch on the WB lot. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced and we are launching a product on May 23. So, we are ready to go guns blazing in terms of our product and our platforms around the world.”
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Warner Bros is one of the studios and streamers that make up the Carol Lombardini-led Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who started formal talks with the WGA on a new three-year contract last month
“We’re negotiating with people that we highly respect,” a noticeably conciliatory Zazlav said from the stage at Warner Bros today., surrounded by core corporate players US Networks boss Kathleen Finch, HBO chief Casey Bloys and global streaming and games CEO JB Perrette. “We all play an important role in creating great stores.”
On a spring break of sorts from talks with the studios, the WGA’s strike authorization vote began last night and will continue until April 17. Expected to deliver a huge Yes mandate to the Ellen Stutzman-led negotiating committee, the strike vote puts the 11,000-scribe strong guild in a green light position to shut down Tinseltown if an agreement with the AMPTP is not in the cards by the end of the month. While few expect a 100-day walkout like what occurred in 2007, the current contract expires on May 1 and some picketing, even if short lived, is widely anticipated
Zaslav’s labor remarks came Wednesday as the CEO and other Warner Bros Discovery brass rolled out their newly revamped MAX streaming service with all the bells and whistles. Held on the WB lot this morning, the presentation of programing, product and pricing represents a significant expansion for WBD one year after the combined company was officially formed. Zaslav’s comments on the WGA also come after several months of cuts, contradictions, tax write-offs and budget belt tightening at WBD to service debt, streamline production, and control costs. Actions that saw some backlash from the town in an immediate response but have been welcomed on Wall Street. Though the stock is still down around 30% from where it was at in April 2022, WBD shares are up nearly 60% this year.
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