What I’m Hearing: Zaslav’s Winners & Losers

Welcome back to What I’m Hearing...

Happy Thursday, and a reminder that your Puck membership gives you access to all of our fantastic authors—Dylan Byers, Julia Ioffe, Baratunde Thurston, Bill Cohan, Eriq Gardner and many more. I recommend Teddy Schleifer’s look at billionaire Tom Steyer’s recent moves in politics. And if you’re not a member yet, you really should fix that. Honestly, it’s embarrassing at this point. Just click here.

Thursday Thoughts…

Pressure is building among Academy members for a major statement at its fast-tracked board of governors meeting tomorrow over Will Smith. One scenario on the table, I’m told, could be an indefinite ban from Oscar ceremonies and nominations, despite Smith having already resigned from the group. That punishment would allow the board to send a tougher message than simply barring him for a year or two—while also leaving the door open for welcoming Smith back at some point, should he properly atone.
Given the Florida flap and the fact that Disney C.E.O. Bob Chapek’s chief of staff and chief corporate officer are both George W. Bush alums, it’s no coincidence that the company’s new top communications executive, Kristina Schake, comes from the Biden administration (as well as stints with Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Instagram). Good luck to her; I can only imagine how many Fox News superfans will be sending her awful pedophile emails and tweets.
Weekend over/under: Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is tracking at about $55 million, which is below the first film’s $58 million three-day haul, so I’ll take the over because I think parents are ready to return to movies with their kids. Better question: Will Michael Bay’s Ambulance (Sorry, Universal, I refuse to capitalize the LA) break double digits? If not, Bay might be officially over as a bankable director outside of Transformers.
Yes, that was Heir Holiness, the controversial personal guru who caused trouble for Daniel Kaluuya on the Nope set, following Tiffany Haddish around at Oscar weekend parties.
Job listing of the week: “Hiring a VP/DoD level executive for Meghan McCain, who has a new first look deal for both non-scripted and scripted with Teton Ridge Entertainment, Thomas Tull’s new entity. Responsibilities include originating and managing development for TV, film, and podcasts primarily in the non-scripted Americana lifestyle and cultural space. Ideal candidates are organized and entrepreneurial. Podcast experience a plus. Executive will be able to work remotely. Please send resumes to [REDACTED].”

The David Zaslav Honeymoon Is Already Over

The goodwill tour has finished, and the executive purge has begun. Here’s who’s up, and who’s out, as Team Zaz assumes full control of the combined (and debt-ridden) Warner Bros. Discovery.

MATTHEW BELLONI

Anyone who’s sat with David Zaslav over the past 11 months—and that includes me—has received one message above all: Tell me what I need to know. Despite being a successful media executive for decades, the incoming Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. has executed a listening tour for the ages, chatting with everyone from Steven Spielberg to labor experts to lower-level agents. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zaslav interviewed the Polo Lounge custodial crew to determine the Hollywood community’s preferred fragrance of urinal cakes.

A lot of that has been for show, of course. Regardless of whether Zaslav actually takes anyone’s advice for HBO Max, Warner Bros., or CNN, he needs people in the creative community to think he’s been listening to them. Maybe he’ll spend more on content, like he says he will, or maybe he’ll spend less, or maybe he’ll decide that the Game of Thrones spinoff should be a jukebox musical in black and white—but at least he listened. How else would the notoriously frugal proprietor of 90-Day Fiance—someone who’s never really dealt with entertainment unions or top-tier talent, and who actually dared ask producers to take out loans to front their own production costs—be taken seriously? AT&T C.E.O. John Stankey and the phone company functionaries never did that basic ingratiation, and, during its four years of ownership, AT&T was greeted not as enlightened digital colonists but as an invading army of suits...