A Discussion on the Future of WB Discovery

[AlizsahTheBard]

As many here likely know Warner Brothers new CEO is burning bridges to such an extreme degree they deleted two complete movies and also doing the same to animation. I have been following this quite a great deal and only comparison I can think of is BBC Actively destroying old episodes of Doctor Who. But this is not lost media, this is media no one will ever see. And all it got me thinking is this is the kind of thing that leads to lawsuits and professionals refusing to work with WB especially when it comes to actors that are part of Screen Actor Guild, same for Directors. And yes you can further add Erza Miller trainwreck getting chance to be released despite Erza problems which are aplenty (let's try not focus on that, as that itself could be it's own discussion).

Instead this is merely about WB destroying their reputation for tax write offs. There are certain contingent defending this, spouting usual buzzwords. It feels like if people work on something like a movie they should be guaranteed release even minor releases. There should be no way that a complete movie can be deleted - there is another theory about this and how the Snyder Cut may be to blame for this extreme choice. Let me explain, WB are terrified of having any hints of a film released as Snyder showed if there is anything it can be used to force a release of a movie. Not defending them, just saying that makes sense to me.

Think WB can survive burning bridges of all these creative types and actors or will we eventually talent drain for them?

[GloomCookie]

So here's the thing. Hollywood is notorious for doing really, really shady stuff for money, to the point that even a movie that comes in on time and under budget and make 10 times what it cost at the box office might still be counted as a 'loss' to the studio in order to fix their taxes. This has been going on for a long, long time and this doesn't surprise me. A lot of actors and such take on projects with an expectation that they get either a flat fee or a percentage of the overall profits, which is one reason the company might choose to deliberately cook their books so they can screw over actors. It's all a shell game of shifting money around so no one entirely knows what's going on.

WB doing things like this, purging movies and such, it happens from time to time in a lot of industries. Where Hollywood is different is because there's still a semblance that it might still be art, even if the industry itself is just that: an industry. How many projects have directors been called in because they will toe the corporate line while the one just fired didn't portray the movie that the studios wanted? Kathleen Kennedy over at Lucas Film basically has a revolving door when it comes to creative teams because she wants a very, very specific message, or look at how quick they dropped James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy because of tweets over a decade old.

Hollywood is very focused on brand, and I can only imagine that WB is basically looking at what they have and tossing anything they feel won't work. They might burn a few bridges but they're still one of the major studios out there, and they're not just into movies. Discovery is the biggest brand in the world with all their TV stations, and with the new CEO coming in I believe the mentality is "Shape up or ship out". This could very well just be a case of the new CEO being hired because he's tough and no-nonsense, and the Snyder cut might be WB deciding "Ok, if you're a director who doesn't toe the line, here's your last paycheck, there's the door." It definitely breeds a corporate mindset instead of an artisanal one, and I think that's the vibe they want to go for. They might lose a few people but at the end of the day, WB might be the place you go to get your foot in the door, learn the ropes, and then go on to become something creative elsewhere. I imagine we'll one day see a rash of young talent that starts at WB because they're 'safer' projects and then they branch out. If you can cut it at WB, you can then stretch your legs elsewhere.

[AlizsahTheBard]

So here's the thing. Hollywood is notorious for doing really, really shady stuff for money, to the point that even a movie that comes in on time and under budget and make 10 times what it cost at the box office might still be counted as a 'loss' to the studio in order to fix their taxes. This has been going on for a long, long time and this doesn't surprise me. A lot of actors and such take on projects with an expectation that they get either a flat fee or a percentage of the overall profits, which is one reason the company might choose to deliberately cook their books so they can screw over actors. It's all a shell game of shifting money around so no one entirely knows what's going on.

WB doing things like this, purging movies and such, it happens from time to time in a lot of industries. Where Hollywood is different is because there's still a semblance that it might still be art, even if the industry itself is just that: an industry. How many projects have directors been called in because they will toe the corporate line while the one just fired didn't portray the movie that the studios wanted? Kathleen Kennedy over at Lucas Film basically has a revolving door when it comes to creative teams because she wants a very, very specific message, or look at how quick they dropped James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy because of tweets over a decade old.

Hollywood is very focused on brand, and I can only imagine that WB is basically looking at what they have and tossing anything they feel won't work. They might burn a few bridges but they're still one of the major studios out there, and they're not just into movies. Discovery is the biggest brand in the world with all their TV stations, and with the new CEO coming in I believe the mentality is "Shape up or ship out". This could very well just be a case of the new CEO being hired because he's tough and no-nonsense, and the Snyder cut might be WB deciding "Ok, if you're a director who doesn't toe the line, here's your last paycheck, there's the door." It definitely breeds a corporate mindset instead of an artisanal one, and I think that's the vibe they want to go for. They might lose a few people but at the end of the day, WB might be the place you go to get your foot in the door, learn the ropes, and then go on to become something creative elsewhere. I imagine we'll one day see a rash of young talent that starts at WB because they're 'safer' projects and then they branch out. If you can cut it at WB, you can then stretch your legs elsewhere.

Solid points here and don't disagree. But there is actual evidence to my point. I just think that this is far too large for WB to worm way out of.

https://consequence.net/2022/08/warner-bros-discovery-market-cap-cut-costs/

[Vekseid]

The collapse in stock price means some investors don't believe reducing future revenue potential and generating this sort of fundamental ill will on top of it will put them in a better position to address their debts. To say nothing of lawsuit exposure or potential loss of licensing from failure to produce.

Being an investor and thus human reaction, it isn't guaranteed to be rational. That said I pretty much see the same thing. This sort of action doesn't seem to improve their ability to pay down their debts.