Paramount CEO David Ellison made his first public appearance before a Warner Bros. Discovery crowd Tuesday, where he spoke about his company’s impending acquisition of the Burbank-based studio.
Ellison, dressed in sweatpants and a dark polo shirt, spoke for about 45 minutes in person to senior leadership (about 150 employees) at the Stephen J. Ross Theater. Attendees included motion picture presidents Pamela Abdi and Mike De Luca, Warner Bros. Television Group president Channing Dungey, HBO’s Casey Bloys, streaming president JB Perrett, and DC Studios co-president Peter Safran, among others. More than 300 executives watched the conference via webcast from the United States and internationally.
Ellison’s lieutenant, Andy Gordon, chief operating officer, was also present, according to sources who were in the room where the incident occurred. Hollywood Reporter.
Ellison and Zaslav had lunch at Warners headquarters on March 5 at the executive commissary, but Tuesday’s meeting served as a more formal introduction to the team they will acquire in their $111 billion deal combining Warner Bros. Paramount Pictures, HBO, CBS, CNN and many other major brands.
Many in the room were hoping to hear a plan moving forward or clarity on timelines or layoffs. Many left feeling like their hopes had been dashed. There was a lot of talk about storytelling and coming together, and Ellison dismissed reports of massive layoffs. But one person who attended the session adds: “We don’t believe him.”
Another executive says Ellison seemed passionate and very into films. The CEO says he envisions the combined companies spending more on content creation than any other media company. Ellison reiterated that the combined company would release at least 30 theatrical films per year from the combined studios. He talked about having one streaming platform and one company, while also saying the plan was to keep both studios. He was confident and well-spoken, according to sources.
A third official says THR Ellison acknowledged the “troubled” deal process to get where he is today. But that may not have been enough for some in the room. “There is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty here,” notes this executive. “We were hoping for more.”
Ellison certainly hasn’t officially closed the deal yet, so he can’t say many details. Paramount expects to complete acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by the third quarter of this year. It is incentivized to do so by Sept. 30 or will have to pay WBD shareholders a “recording fee” of an additional 25 cents per share for each quarter in which the deal is not closed.
An insider who was present at this session notes that the event, which included remarks by David Zaslav and a 30-minute question-and-answer session, with questions submitted beforehand, led by chief communications officer Robert Gibbs, was a stark contrast to a similar meeting Netflix held in December. At that time, the co-CEOs, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, came to speak to the leadership class. “It seemed more festive and there was a plan,” the executive says. “Here it was like… I don’t know. Just tell us what’s going on.”
One source believes the Sarandos and Ellison comparison is unfair. Sarandos had to allay staff concerns about one major question — whether or not the films would be released in theaters — and Ellison had several hot topics to deal with. This person says that in the case of Ellison’s visit, people are still shocked and shaken by the deal. “He was fine,” says this insider.
One question asked during the Q&A concerned CNN, to which Ellison responded that it was essential for the new divisions to maintain editorial independence. He also noted that CBS News has editorial independence under which it is being restructured Free press Editor Barry Weiss and TV veteran Tom Cebrowski.
After the meeting, Ellison went to lunch at the scene with HBO president Blues, multiple sources said.
