Warner Bros. Discovery Under Fire For Report That Hollywood Strikes Saved Them Millions
Warner Bros. Discovery isn't exactly the poster child for saving money in Hollywood, losing $3.4 billion in its first post-merger quarter. However, the studio seems to have finally cracked the code for saving some money: just don't work.
Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels heralded that the work stoppage caused by the dual WGA and SAG-AFRTRA strikes has saved the studio over $100 million as writers and actors nationwide continue to fight for adequate pay and better working conditions. According to Variety, the statement came during the company's second-quarter earnings results call, with Warner Bros. Discovery expecting Hollywood to be back up and running by September.
During the call, CEO David Zaslav stated that Warner Bros. Discovery is at its best when telling entertaining and inspiring stories across TV and theatrical releases. "We cannot do any of that without the entirety of the creative community, the great creative community. Without the writers, directors, editors, producers, actors, the whole below-the-line crew. Our job is to enable and empower them to do their best work," he said, despite the fact the studios had yet to restart negotiations with both of the unions as of the time of writing.
Naturally, the earnings news from WBD didn't sit well with many on social media, like @AcunaAndrews, who wrote, "I wish David Zaslav and all the other greedy corrupt CEOs a very Go Bankrupt." Unfortunately for the studio, that seems to be a popular sentiment on social media.
Social media had a lot to say about Warner Bros. Discovery's earnings
David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery aren't the most popular people on Twitter today, as folks react to the statements from their earnings call. @FIVESCORNER wasn't surprised by the company's sentiment, saying, "A corporation being greedy and bragging about it?? Color me shocked." Meanwhile, @ValerieComplex wondered, "Do they ever think about the bigger picture?"
For many, like @DarkPendulum and @sapphicjopper, the studio's boasting was the last straw, with the former deciding to end their Max subscription, while the latter expressed displeasure at the idea of ever financially supporting a Warner Bros. project again. @MarshAvali pointed out that Warner Bros. Discovery is likely just riding a temporary wave, saying, "Yeah but they're gonna lose more than that over the next year the moment movies aren't coming out if the strikes last for too long."
For @Leighlew3, a big issue was what they perceived to be hypocrisy in Zaslav's comments about wanting the strike to be resolved fairly. They wrote, "WGA and SAG-AFTRA have both proposed the way it'll be fair and he and the AMPTP said 'noPe'. These gaslighting dudes are somethin' else." And @Cinematt added sarcastically, "Imagine how much money you could save if they just stopped making stuff forever!"
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. To learn more about why writers and actors are currently on strike, click here for an up-to-date explainer from our Looper team.