On Tuesday Warner Bros. Discovery announced a series of layoffs and budget cuts at Warner Bros. Television Group as CEO David Zaslav continues efforts to find $3 billion in post-merger cost savings.
The division has been forced to reduce its workforce by 26% with 125 positions eliminated across business affairs, production and all forms of creative at the studio.
At the same time, Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to end its long-running writers and directors training programs which are seen as a key entry way for diverse talent to receive important industry opportunities in the directing and writing space.
The latter action has drawn a major backlash from the industry however, including a brutal statement this morning by the Directors Guild of America, saying they will “not stand idly by while WB/Discovery seeks to roll back decades of advancement for women and directors of color.”
The condemnation has been bad enough the studio has now revealed that its Writers Workshop and Directors Workshop will live on – albeit in a different form – at the group’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit as opposed to the Warner Bros. Television unit.
The shift will reportedly happen in April, after the current 2022–23 WBTV Writers Workshop class winds down. New chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer Asif Sadiq will take over the workshop programs which aim to “expand it across the entire WBD content portfolio”.
Source: THR
