More layoffs at Warner Bros. Discovery were announced this week as reported by Deadline. The recently merged entity eliminated 26% of its workforce at Warner Bros. Television Group across scripted, unscripted, and animation departments. The company also shuttered its digital division, Stage 13, and the Warner Bros. Television Workshop, which had been in operation for more than 40 years.
Chairman Channing Dungey lamented how this major move was “incredibly difficult,” in a memo sent to staff acquired by Deadline. These latest cuts come at a time when the company has been forced to trim $3 billion dollars from its budget, which has seen massive changes at several of Warner Bros. Discovery properties across linear and streaming. Read an excerpt from Dungey’s memo below.
Today I write to you with sad news and a heavy heart. As many of you have already learned, some of our treasured colleagues will be leaving the company because of restructuring and realignment within our group. This was strictly a business decision, made as thoughtfully and compassionately as possible by studio leadership. But understanding that doesn’t make this moment any easier. These colleagues are more than just people with whom we’ve worked, they are part of our work family. We spend more time together than we do with most other people in our lives. Because of that, this loss is painful and difficult. For those impacted by the changes, I want you to know how grateful I am for your contributions – in some cases, spanning decades – and how deeply sorry I am.
According to Deadline, a total of 125 positions were lost, with 82 employees laid off. Another 43 open positions will remain vacant. With the trimming of the workforce, changes will merge the unscripted and animation departments, with scripted being the less affected at the executive level.
The company saw the departure of Brooke Krazen as head of Warner Horizon Unscripted Television after 20 years, via Deadline. The studio behind series such as The Voice and The Bachelor will now be co-chaired by Bridgette Theriault and Dan Sacks. A second studio, Telepictures, will be led by David McGuire. The two studios will work in tandem with each other as the third unscripted arm Shed Media will remain working as a separate entity. Shed Media handles series such as the Real Housewives franchises and Below Deck Adventures at Bravo.
According to Deadline, Brett Paul, President of Warner Bros. TV, will continue to lead the scripted division. While there weren’t many changes on the executive level, lower positions were severely affected by the closing of Stage 13 and the company’s long-lasting TV workshop.
For more than 40 years, Warners Bros. Television Workshop served as an incubator for new and diverse talent. According to Deadline, some of the program’s illustrious alumni in both writing and directing included Charmaine Degrate (House of the Dragon), Pamela Romanowsky (Gossip Girl), Regina King (One Night in Miami…), Justin Doble (The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power), Etan Frankel (Animal Kingdom), Jonathan I. Kidd (Lovecraft Country), and Sonya Winton-Odamtten (Wicked City). The 2022-23 class will be the company’s final workshop which ends in April.
Stage 13 served as a digital studio for original short-form programming to be developed. Deadline reports the division was created in 2017 and was part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks. Since 2020, Warner Bros. Television has managed this existing division which was responsible for series such as Netflix’s Special and Two Sentence Horror Stories for the CW. Ongoing projects will be overseen by WB TV.
The animated division remains largely unphased as Deadline reports the production and creative teams of two studios – Warner Animation and Cartoon Network Studios – will merge. The third entity – Hanna-Barbera Europe Studios – will operate the same. Sam Register will continue to lead all three divisions.
Since the merger’s completion this past April, CEO David Zaslav has administered drastic changes across Warner Bros. Discovery. These new layoffs join the recent restructuring at HBO Max, the selling of the CW to Nexstar, and the elimination of original scripted series at TBS and TNT. Viewers can expect more changes as the company’s two streaming platforms – HBO Max and Discovery+ – plan to merge as one service next summer.