Beleagured Disney CEO Bob Iger wasn’t the only senior executive to talk at the New York Times Dealbook Summit in New York earlier this week. Beleagured Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was there, too!
He talked about the challenges the studio has faced from the merger to the pandemic. Zaslav is pretty famous, among Outposters, for being the axe-man. He has proven himself not afraid to take out his chopper and kill off projects. Batgirl, Scoob! and, recently, Coyote vs. Acme all felt the weight of his axe. Then there was a dramatic about-face over Coyote vs Acme.
Zaslav has put a spin on this, saying the decision to cancel projects “takes courage”:
“What content is going to help us win? The content that wasn’t, we made a strategic decision on. It was difficult and it was painful. But I think it was the right decision for the company and it was necessary. It’s a very scary time, but its also an exciting time because of what’s possible. We were the first ones through. We needed to get healthy and needed to build a real business around this company.”
So he seems to be alluding to not all being well in the house of Warner Bros. when he walked in as a result of the merger with Discovery. He says his leaner, fitter company is now ready to “attack for growth”, whatever that means.
Yet another studio head reflecting Outposter conversations in the Disqus, he also pointed to the upcoming challenge from young people not really watching TV or going to the movies like previous generations.
What will this mean? Micro-content delivered via cellphone? Jesus Christ, somebody wake up Quibi!
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