The media world has become frustratingly infected with businessmen who continue to display their greed for profits over creative voices. Warner Bros. Pictures has made another move that will more than likely lose them even more profits and make everyone angry. Naturally, Twitter is already ablaze with the news.
The baffling decisions of David Zaslav keep on coming. Many are calling for his termination as CEO. He continues to recklessly dismantle the profitable aspects of WB and HBO Max simultaneously. Why he continues to alienate and harm the creative sphere is as baffling as it is evil. Animation creatives have been robbed of their residuals after HBO culled their syndicated series’. Which means that the leaders of those projects will no longer receive profits from repeated viewing; as repeated viewing has now been made impossible.
Dismantling Writers/Directors Workshop and Stage 13 feels like a deliberate step to keep marginalized voices out of media platforms. In a time when diverse voices and themes in media should be at its peak, this is a contemptible action. At this point, Zaslav isn’t even being subtle about his intentions for WB/HBO. Scrub it of anything original. If it’s not riding on the shoulders of a popular IP, it isn’t worth it. Shelve it, if it seems like it might make a statement. If there’s even a risk it won’t turn a profit, cancel it.
What we’re witnessing is the transformation of a creative giant into a media slaughterhouse. And it’s heartbreaking for every creative mind out there with a message to share. The silver lining is that other streaming platforms are still out there ready to scoop up new ideas.
