The only people holding out during the strikes – apart from Stephen Amell – are the ones at the very top, with the eye-wateringly rich bosses of multi-billion dollar companies and corporations happy to wait it out and see whether the actors or writers manning the picket lines will blink first, with David Zaslav going full Bob Iger and patting himself on the back at the most inopportune moment.
With the industry having come to a near-total standstill with neither scribes nor stars willing to work until the situation has resolved itself, Warner Bros. Discovery thought it would be a good idea to note that by not paying talent, it managed to accrue a saving “in the low $100 million range,” which sums up the situation in a nutshell when earnings calls are touting monetary values not spent by refusing to pay people what they’re worth.
What makes things even more eye-opening is that streaming service Max – and WBD in general – is falling down a financial black hole. As noted by IndieWire, the outfit lost $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2023, with millions of subscribers shedding their accounts in the midst of the rebrand nobody asked for, wanted, needed, or even particularly cared for.
A $100 million saving in the face of a loss over 10 times higher is barely a drop in the ocean; just don’t let Zaslav get any ideas that by not paying people, he’s in a better position to shave those pennies off the budget that’s effectively been his number one driving force since he first assumed the position.