David Zaslav expresses no remorse about canned movies & series

• The studio’s structure have undergone significant changes since joining Discovery.
• Many job losses were reported at companies such as Warner Bros.

The moves of WBD CEO David Zaslav have not only shook the industry to its foundations, but have also caused everyone to reconsider the business of Hollywood.

According to a new report, during a recent investor call with analysts, Zaslav made no regrets for such changes, adding,  “We did not get rid of any show that was helping us.”

Since Warner Bros. joined with Discovery earlier this year, the studio’s structure and management have undergone significant changes.

After the cancellation of numerous projects generated panic among the artists, the scripted and unscripted programming experienced a physical bloodbath.

In addition, numerous job losses were reported at companies such as Warner Bros. Television, HBO and HBO Max, and Turner networks.

The straight-to-HBO Batgirl film starring Max Leslie Grace was cancelled while it was nearing completion in post-production.

Warner Bros Discovery was aiming to decrease its $50 billion debt load when it merged. Projects like Batgirl were cancelled for tax reasons, which means the existing footage will never be seen.

The CEO defended his choice, saying that it is “more than just a cash tally of what we’ve saved on a cost line.”

He reported that WBD had boosted its savings target to $3.5 billion, a 17% increase from the original $3 billion target.

Furthermore, the layoffs are “fundamentally rethinking and redesigning how this company is constituted,” according to management. And we are empowering our business unit executives to restructure their businesses with an owner’s perspective, a focus on quality, and an emphasis on accountability.”

While Zaslav mentions accountability and quality, the company has lost those virtues with its audience, i.e., the fandom, which has rallied against many decisions made by the studio, such as the cancellation of Scoob! Holiday Haunt, the Batgirl movie, and the Final Space animated feature, which has no physical copies available in the market, implying that the show will be lost once it is removed from Netflix.

Creators are also devastated by the studio’s action, as many thought after HBO Max’s large layoff that the corporation “doesn’t care” about its talent, since it severely impacted the diversity that cancelled shows offered to the table.

The decision to merge the HBO Max streaming service with Discovery+ reflects Zaslav’s verdict, and WBD is also working on a free, advertising-supported service.

“The strategy to collapse all windows, starve linear [television] and theatrical [box office] and spend money with abandon, while making a fraction in return, all in the service of growing sub numbers, has ultimately proven, in our view, to be deeply flawed,” he stated.

Another priority for Zaslav is to improve verticals such as DC Studio, which just signed James Gunn and Peter Safran to co-lead the studio.

He emphasized his desire to expand the Harry Potter brand and mentioned that the company hasn’t developed a Superman film in a long time.

“The movies that we launched in the theater do significantly better and launching a two-hour or an hour and 40 minute movie direct to streaming has done almost nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention or love of the service,” he said.

While the new management has the authority to overhaul WBD in order to make it more profitable, the real cost of the decisions is that fans, frequent collaborators, and talents are losing faith in the company, such as Christopher Nolan, who jumped ship to Universal Studios to make his new film Oppenheimer.

Zaslav may have shown some sorrow in his latest words after damaging so many lives and their magnificent products.

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