Warner Bros. Discovery Kids, Young Adults and Classics Marketing Execs Tricia Melton and Jill King Will Depart

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Amazon Prime Video has scored a pair of deals with Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony to bolster its programming in France with premium titles. The agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery gives Prime Video the first-window rights to exclusive TV series from Warner Bros. Discovery in France, including “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” the first two seasons of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Ava DuVernay’s miniseries “DMZ” and “Peacemaker” Season 1. Also part of the pact are library TV titles, on a non-exclusive basis. These include “Legacies” (Seasons 1 through 3), “Pretty Little Liars,” “Fringe,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Originals” and “Shameless.”

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is behind a TV show telling real life stories of people overcoming severe medical conditions to show human bravery, with Netflix’s Amazing on the Inside producer Future Studios and distributor TVF International shopping Unbelievable Me at Mipcom Cannes this week.

One of the biggest stories out of Hollywood this summer was Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s cancellation of the HBO Max film “Batgirl” following the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger.

Does the world need a reimagining of the 1990 comedy “House Party“? It’s not like that movie is terrible, and it’s an early role for Martin Lawrence, but who remembers it nowadays? And what kind of audience is there today for a remake? Well, LeBron James thinks the comedy needs a revamp three decades later whether anyone asked for it or not. He, Maverick Carter, and Warner Bros.  Continue reading ‘House Party’ Red Band Trailer: LeBron James & Warner Bros.

Variety. “Leslie Grace was fantastic.

Tricia Melton, Chief Marketing Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics, and company veteran Jill King, SVP, Marketing and Partnerships, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, will be leaving at the end of the year; the latest senior executives to depart Warner Bros. Discovery following the completion of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger. News of the duo’s exit comes during a week that brought upon a new round of layoffs across WBD.

Brendan Fraser is speaking up about the decision to cancel Batgirl.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to end its long-running writers and directors training program, which the conglom announced Tuesday as part of a series of layoffs and budget cuts at Warner Bros. TV Group, drew a strong rebuke from different parts of the industry, including a stinging statement on Wednesday by the Directors Guild of America. But what Warner Bros. Discovery hadn’t followed up to explain — and quickly revealed on Wednesday — is that its Writers Workshop and Directors Workshop will live on (albeit it, in a somewhat different form, details TBD) but now move from Warner Bros. Television and be housed inside the conglom’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit.

Warner Bros. Discovery has performed a quick U-turn on its decision to close its Writers and Directors Workshops.

The Warner Bros. Discovery layoffs continue.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Former Warner Bros. Discovery and OSN executives are teaming up to form a new content studio serving the Middle East and North Africa, Variety can reveal. Rise Studios is being set up by industry veterans Emad Morcos, former OSN chief content and commercial officer; Amanda Turnbull, former general manager at Warner Bros. Discovery Middle East, Africa and Turkey; and Amel Farag, former head of content commercial strategy at OSN. Rise will invest in local content and talent in order to launch homegrown film and TV productions on both regional and global broadcasters and streaming platforms.

EXCLUSIVE: Parul Agrawal, a longtime drama executive at Warner Brothers Television, has been promoted to SVP and head of drama development. Reporting to Clancy Collins White, EVP and Head Of Development, she succeeds Leigh London Redman, who left in July to become President of Berlanti Productions.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Warner Bros. Television has promoted Parul Agrawal to the role of senior vice president and head of drama development, Variety has confirmed. Agrawal previously served as vice president of drama development. She tales over the role from Leigh London Redman, who exited the studio in July to join Berlanti Productions. Agrawal will report to Clancy Collins White, executive vice president and head of development. Agrawal originally joined WBTV in 2010, rising to vice president of drama development in 2019. During her tenure with the studio, she has helped develop shows like “Lovecraft Country” at HBO, “All American” and “All American: Homecoming” at The CW as well as “Batwoman,” “Black Lightning,” “Kung Fu” “Supergirl,” and the upcoming “Gotham Knights” at the broadcaster. Others include “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “Maid” at Netflix as well as “Castle Rock” at Hulu and many more.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Both Brendan Fraser and Darren Aronofsky have had some high-profile setbacks when it comes to the comic book genre. The two men, who are collaborating on the acclaimed indie drama “The Whale,” opened up about their struggles during recent interviews with Variety. Fraser spent months in Glasgow, Scotland portraying Firefly, a pyromaniac who faces off against Leslie Grace’s costumed heroine in “Batgirl.” That film was supposed to debut on HBO Max, but it was scrapped, a victim of the merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia, the streaming service’s parent company. “It’s tragic,” Fraser told Variety as part of a cover story on “The Whale.” “It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer. Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing. They ran firetrucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”   

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Television Group handed out pink slips to 82 staffers on Tuesday, representing 19% of the studio’s workforce, across its scripted, unscripted and animation divisions. Additionally, it has opted not to fill 43 additional vacant positions — making for a total elimination of 125 jobs (or 26% of an approximately 481 headcount). Warner Bros. TV Group declined comment, but it’s understood that chairman Channing Dungey detailed to staff a series of changes that included various levels of consolidation in unscripted and animation. Also, as reported Tuesday afternoon, the company has closed Stage 13, a shingle focused on diverse shortform programming (leading to the exit of Stage 13 head Diana Mogollón), and will end the Warner Bros. Television Workshop, which had existed for decades as a training ground for new creative talent in both writing and directing.

Warner Bros Television is cutting more than a quarter of its workforce as part of its parent company’s drive to cut costs.

Layoffs are underway at Warner Bros. Television Group. The cuts include the closing of digital shortform programming division Stage 13 and of the famous Warner Bros. Television Workshop, which has been around for more than 40 years.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As Warner Bros. Discovery continues its belt tightening (with more layoffs expected imminently at Warner Bros. TV Group), the company has shuttered Stage 13, a shingle focused on diverse short-form programming, and will also pull the plug on the Warner Bros. Television Workshop, which had aimed to train new creative talent in both writing and directing. Stage 13 was founded in 2017 under the former Warner Bros. Digital Networks division as a studio for original digital short-form programming. Past shows include Netflix’s “Special” and “It’s Bruno,” and The CW’s “Two Sentence Horror Stories.” Warner Bros. Television has already been supervising Stage 13 development and programming since 2020; existing Stage 13 projects in development will be absorbed within the studio. The shut down comes as the popularity of producing short-form programming itself appears to be on the wane; this year, the TV Academy merged several short-form categories as the pool of programming shrunk.

BreAnna Bell Production is moving forward for Jensen and Danneel Ackles. With their latest endeavor, “The Winchesters” slated to premiere on The CW on Oct. 11, the couple recently renewed their first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television for two more years and teases there’s a few more stories they’re looking to share in the future through their production company, Chaos Machine. “We are excited to continue our relationship with Warner Bros. as it’s been our home for a long time. It feels only natural that The Winchesters would stay within the Warner Bros. family and continue on the Supernatural legacy,” said the couple in a joint statement.