Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, and host Ben Mankiewicz at the TCM Gala in April 2023.
Charlie Galle / Getty Images
It wasn’t that David Zaslav wasn’t warned. He was, bluntly, in a December 2022 conversation with CAA’s Brian Lord, who said that damaging the relatively small but beloved Turner Classic films would lead to a backlash from “a lot of important people” — the people Zaslav admired so much and wanted to be admired with a pen Like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson.
But while Zaslav repeatedly declared his love for TCM, by the time the conversation took place, the channel had undergone months of layoffs and budget cuts that eventually led to the departure of the top executives on June 20. It has long been considered by many programmers to be the heart of the network.
In the wake of the expected backlash, WBD announced today that creative oversight for the channel will move from the department that imposed those cuts, headed by WBD TV Networks chief content officer Kathleen Finch, to the principals of Warner Bros. Television. Pictures are friends of filmmaker Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi, as I mentioned earlier Hollywood Reporter. One Warner Bros. expert said: Discovery: “Part of this is creating a more sustainable structure behind the screen, one that takes advantage of the vast resources and promotional drive of the WBD Networks group, so that TCM is set up for long-term success.” The official spokesperson who confirmed these moves.
The directors who have rushed to TCM’s defense pledge to meaningfully participate in the channel’s sponsorship — even though they apparently can do nothing to stop the cable audience’s corrosion at the root of the chaos. “We have already begun working on ideas with Mike and Pam, both true movie fans who share a passion and reverence for the classic cinema that is a hallmark of the TCM community. This unique arrangement, initiated by David Zaslav, reflects his commitment to honoring TCM’s heritage while also involving us in curation and programming, Spielberg, Scorsese and Anderson said in a statement THR. “NTCM is a cultural treasure, and we are honored to help guide the future direction of this beloved brand through the partnership of three of the most celebrated filmmakers of our time,” added Di Luca and Abdi.
Crucial in the sense that this will be a meaningful reset is the fact that Tabesh will return. While financial decisions at TCM will remain in the hands of Finch’s division, the potential for conflict should be minimized, assuming everyone can finally read the room.
The filmmakers’ love of TCM was evident in 2018, when new owners at AT&T shut down TCM’s FilmStruck streaming service. Martin Scorsese called John Stanky, CEO of WarnerMedia, to express his displeasure and express his support for the channel. CAA’s Brian Lord called Paula Changun, executive vice president and general manager of TCM, and said that one of his important clients — Anderson, in this case — was also worried about the fate of the network. Anderson, Lord and Changen met for a drink at the Polo Lounge and a line of communication was established.
Then came the deal that ushered in Discovery president Zaslav as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. As he has positioned himself as an ardent fan of TCM, an insider said, “We all thought maybe fortune would finally smile at us. It just didn’t work out that way.”
Even as Zaslav declared his devotion to TCM, there were moves insiders believed would break up the dedicated but beloved channel. After WBD ordered TCM to cut two-thirds of its staggering salary budget, the leadership team, including Changnon and Tabesh, left on June 20—some making purchases, some agreeing to layoffs. It is said that the leaders concluded that they could not reach the goal without disposing of themselves. Despite cuts in areas like marketing and distribution, WBD claims to be spending a third more on TCM content this year than last year, though that came as a surprise to some TCM sources.
The reaction was quick. Then Zaslav Scorsese called, who called Spielberg, who called Anderson; In the end, the four men ended up on a Zoom call which the filmmakers found reassuring. According to a source, they discussed ways they can get more involved to support the channel; One of Zaslav’s desires was to get more celebrities to talk about movies. Spielberg, Scorsese, and Anderson released a statement expressing their excitement at the talks.
Saddled with debt and desperate to cut costs, WBD management had been cutting the channel for some time. “By last fall, they were really cutting people down, trying to shrink the human footprint,” says one insider. WBD began looking to save money by creating “centers of excellence”—for example, eliminating a marketing executive dedicated exclusively to traditional Chinese medicine and assigning the network to a team of marketing staff who also handled other channels, such as HGTV.
“What this shows is a fundamental misunderstanding or willful ignorance about how TCM works,” says an insider. “TCM is about more than scheduling movies. We try to present these movies in a way that honors the filmmakers and puts into context the time in which they were made. It comes from us, not just someone who was working on it the day before.” Manor front. Warner Bros.’s statement seems to indicate that this aspect of bringing back the Enterprise won’t change.
In November, TCM employees were told to leave the building that had been home to the network for 20 years. Old posters—for John Ford’s Tobacco Road, among others—and archival photos hanging on the walls? WBD wanted to give them up or fire them. “It’s the things that make you feel proud in your workplace,” says an insider. “Another thing they wanted to erase from our identity.” Another says: “TCM has been moved to a temporary location that looks like a call center. It is plastic and cold.” And in the newer boroughs, the WBD enforced a “flexible seating” model where no permanent desk or cubicle is assigned to employees. “They keep us out of sight,” says this person. “We are no longer a group. We will not sit together.”
And the changes are not over yet. Before Christmas, TCM executives heard rumblings that Finch, a favorite Zaslav executive who joined the company from Discovery, might start “interfering with programming,” as one TCM executive put it. The TCM leaders were uneasy that an executive who had been handling Discovery’s mid-to-low reality show would now oversee what they considered a gem to be cared for by people with a deep interest and understanding of film history. Specifically, TCM executives thought the plan was to have Tabesh report to Julie Taylor, Finch’s head of content strategy, rather than to Changnon.
According to this source, Changnon called Lord, who replied that he would meet Zaslav the next day and pass on a message — diplomatically, no doubt: “If you mistreat TCM, a lot of important people will come out of the woodwork.” Sources say Spielberg is also heavier with Zaslav. . Ward filtered that Zaslav then called Finch, expressing his displeasure that people were telling him how to run his business. But Tabish was not reset.
Spielberg and Anderson agreed to appear with Zaslav in a panel at the TCM Film Festival in April after WBD donated significant funds to the Film Foundation, the nonprofit Scorsese Film Foundation, where all three filmmakers are part of a 19-member board dedicated to the restoration and screening of classic films. films. “The best press David Zaslav got all year was the TCM Festival,” says one of the people involved in discussions about the network. But hope that Zaslav would protect the network from further cuts quickly faded. Shortly after that appearance, the executives at TCM were directed to cut about $3 million from their budget. “Considering that the network is small to begin with, $3 million is a lot,” says a veteran TCM veteran.
one planAnd Since then, the two- to three-minute final segments that play after a movie has aired have been dropped with wrap-ups from the hosts providing context. The network’s proposed changes didn’t net anything close to $3 million, but TCM insiders hoped it would be seen as a bona fide effort.
But then the channel was ordered to cut its payroll budget by a staggering two-thirds. Changon took a buyout and Tabesh was laid off after 25 years. In all, five senior executives departed, including Genevieve McGillicuddy, who ran the film festival, Ann Wilson, the studio’s head of production, and Dexter Vidor, head of marketing and brand creative. Other individual contributors across marketing, design and production also departed. “We were just abstract,” says one of the rest. “We knew this was the end. If we didn’t have Charlie to guide us, I don’t know how we would have survived.”
It is expected that Tabes will be able to bring some of his squad with him when he returns. One TCM source was pleasantly surprised that Zaslav had reversed course. “I didn’t think he’d listen,” says the TCM source. “I didn’t think he would bring back the most important person on the channel.”
“TCM does a lot with very little,” says one TCM veteran. “We were very young and managed a cruise, a film festival, a lot of things. We’re very good agents for money as well as movies. We just love this thing a lot.”
Rebecca Keegan contributed to this report.
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