A day after announcing the cut of two programs dedicated to maturing diverse talent into the TV industry, Warner Bros. Discovery has revived its long-running Warner Bros. TV Workshop and digital studio Stage 13, according to Deadline. The initial cuts were another casualty of budget crunching to appease the recent merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.

News of the programs being shuttered evoked immediate backlash and disapproval from across the industry. The Warner Bros. TV Workshop had been in operation for 40 years, responsible for grooming a mass supply of underrepresented voices behind the camera. Twitter erupted with posts from insiders and alums who benefited directly from the program that established both writers and directors.

I spent the last 5+ years dedicated to Stage 13, working alongside a passionate group with a shared mission of shepherding intersectional stories from emerging and often underrepresented creators. Sad to see our light extinguished in the blink of an eye. https://t.co/gWqRyJINqP

— Trevor (@trevorck) October 12, 2022

BIG news: Warner Bros. is shutting down its Writers/Directors Workshop and Stage 13 unit. Both are major paths for underrepresented voices in television. Big setback for Hollywood’s diversity movement.

— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) October 11, 2022

A huge loss for DEI efforts in Hollywood. Some amazing under represented talent came out of these programs. Prepare to see worse numbers when the industry demographic reports come out. https://t.co/JiUkLkow9M

— Tara Turk-Haynes 👩🏾‍💻 (@ttarahaynes) October 11, 2022

Context:

Every year, the Workshop selects up to 8 participants out of more than 2,500 submissions.

The program has been running for 40 (!) years.

Participants meet for 3 hours once/week. They don’t get paid. Costs must be minimal.#screenwritinghttps://t.co/cStV7cGIxy

— Lauri Donahue (@LauriDonahue) October 12, 2022

While many of the industry voiced their disappointment with the decision, the antidote may have been the Directors Guild of America echoing that they would not, per Deadline, “stand idly by while WB Discovery seeks to roll back decades of advancement for women and directors of color.” The program itself may have qualified as mandatory by the DGA to ensure more diverse talent is hired throughout studios.

According to Deadline, the two entities will now reside as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit. As a collaboration with Warner Bros. Television, VP of DEI Grace Moss will lead the programs. Karen Horne, the U.S. lead for WBD’s DEI will oversee the unit. Horne issued a statement about the benefit of keeping the programs alive.

“Including the Writers and Directors Workshop within the scope of our current DEI pipeline programs, which include development opportunities for music supervisors, comedic voices and showrunners among others, will allow for a broader and more intense DEI focus and yield an even larger pool of cohorts to benefit from the experience and exposure we provide. We are encouraged by this chance to house this long-standing WBTV effort to impact the industry with emerging talent within the DEI team,” Horne said via Deadline.

“By continuing this successful WBTV initiative through the DEI division, we ensure that Warner Bros Discovery’s continued commitment to training and development continues,” WBD’s chief global DEI officer, Asif Sadiq, stated via Deadline. “Additionally, this is a strong example of how DEI plans to leverage our recently announced Creative Council to best align with our internal partners in maintaining our commitment to infuse our pipeline with diverse storytellers. As we solidify the agenda and scope of the Council, we are excited to be able to expand this important initiative alongside our other efforts providing opportunities for underrepresented creatives.”