Discovery Awarded CEO David Zaslav Stock Options Valued At $190 Million As Part Of Extended Contract, WarnerMedia Deal

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are celebrating the Los Angeles Rams’ win!

“We know that you’re a homosexual, we’ve been following you.”Trigger Warning: This story has details of suicidal ideation and might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.This is what Yvonne Sillett,  a former Australian soldier and cipher operator, was told during a 1988 interrogation into her sexuality in relation to her security clearance. The royal commission is gathering evidence from ADF members who have had suicidal ideation or from surviving family members of those who have died.  Describing her interrogation, Sillett said that “after several hours of this questioning they said they would be taking the matter further and that, based on my sexuality, I could no longer be in Signal Corps as I’d be open to blackmail, and that they were downgrading my security clearance which was needed to do that job. They told me I’d never instruct women again.”According to The Guardian, during her interrogation, she was asked to give up the names of other homosexual military personnel but she refused to do so.With the help of a partner at the time, Sillett was able to “pull through.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentZDF Enterprises, a key production-distribution component of one of Europe’s biggest public broadcaster powerhouses, Germany’s ZDF, is set to operate under the new name of ZDF Studios.Effective from April 1, the title, announced by ZDF Enterprises President and CEO Fred Burcksen on Monday in Mainz, captures much better ZDFE’s current business reach, scale and ambitions.“We are a studio, we cover all elements of our industry, from early development to longtail sales. The new name fits our business model much better and reflects our production and distribution expertise,” Burcksen said.ZDF Enterprises was launched in 1993 to handle worldwide program distribution as new content-avid private TV networks sprang up in Europe and beyond and also to deal with the business affairs of the acquisition of programs from around the world.

Naman Ramachandran Acclaimed Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar has cast Indian actor Tannishtha Chatterjee as one of the leads in his upcoming feature “The Sky Is Mine.”Chatterjee’s credits include “Brick Lane” (2007), for which she scored a best actress nomination at the British Independent Film Awards, “Parched” (2015) and “Lion” (2016). She won the Asia Star Award for best Asian filmmaker at Busan for her directorial debut, “Roam Rome Mein” (2019).Rauniyar’s latest work, short film “Four Nights,” is playing at Berlinale Shorts. The filmmaker’s first feature, “Highway,” premiered at the 2012 Berlinale and played Locarno, while his sophomore feature “White Sun” (2016) won awards at the Venice, Palm Springs, Fribourg and Singapore festivals.

Miley Cyrus went all out for her set at this year’s Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, performing 20 songs including mashups, covers, and a live debut of a ‘Plastic Hearts’ deep cut.The former Disney star opened up the show with her 2013 hit ‘We Can’t Stop’, with a brief interpolation of the Pixies’ 1988 classic ‘Where Is My Mind?’. Later in the set, she blends ‘Wrecking Ball’ with elements of Sinead O’Connor’s Prince-written ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.A sextet of covers punctuated the setlist, first with ‘Heart Of Glass’ by Blondie, then ‘23’ by Mike WiLL Made-It and ‘Maybe’ by Janis Joplin, with the live debut of her own ‘Plastic Hearts’ track ‘Never Be Me’ sandwiched in-between.

Sam Page, the actor who stars in Kia‘s new commercial with Robo Dog, has welcomed the adorable robot to his family!

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, renowned for his epic cinematic vision, now trains his sights on women’s empowerment tale “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” playing as a Berlinale Special Gala on Feb. 16.Starring Alia Bhatt (2019 Berlinale selection “Gully Boy”) in the titular role, the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

It was a HUGE night for Van Jefferson!

the Super Bowl LVI Pepsi Halftime Show, and delivered a jaw-dropping spectacle that took a lot of work to make happen.ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with Jesse Collins, executive producer of this year's halftime show, and he reflected on what it was like to make such a memorable event really come to life.«We've been in development of this since last September, just talking every week, every single moment, and we've been in hard rehearsals probably for the last three weeks,» Collins reflected. «I think the hardest part of it was getting it [down] to 13 minutes.»«I mean, you've got monster catalogues and trying to figure out how to make this work... I mean I could think of 10 records that I wish they would've done,» he added.

JD Linville There are few places on Earth more visually striking than the Black Sands of Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland, where tourists flock to take pictures and stand a fool’s chance to be smashed against the rocks by sneaker waves, then drowned at sea. These dangerous and beautiful beaches serve as backdrop for Icelandic showrunner Baldvin Z’s crime thriller series “Black Sands,” which will play at Berlinale Series. Written by Baldvin Z, Ragnar Jónsson, Andri Óttarsson and Aldís Hamilton, the limited series follows disgraced detective Anita (played by Hamilton) as she investigates a series of deaths at the beach while balancing the familial shadows of her past.The series, produced by Baldvin Z’s own Glassriver, brings a warmth to Nordic Noir not often seen, with scenes of Anita reconnecting and rekindling her hometown connections after expulsion from Reykjavik.

Tim Dams Since its launch in 2015, the Berlinale Series section has emerged as a kind of a boutique scripted TV fest set within a major film festival.The Berlinale was famously the first A-list festival to embrace changing viewer habits and to officially incorporate television drama into its lineup — and this head-start is reflected in the growing stature of Berlinale Series.Taking place over a concentrated three-day period (Feb. 14-16), Berlinale Series offers up seven world and international premieres from around 200 entries, giving each of them the red-carpet treatment at the Zoo Palast cinema.Running parallel, the Berlinale Series Market — part of the European Film Market — offers up an online conference program, showcases and screenings.

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentImage Nation Abu Dhabi and low-budget Australian genre label Spooky Pictures have announced “Late Night With the Devil,” the second title under their multi-picture deal following Chloe Okuno’s  “Watcher,” which made a splash at Sundance.“Late Night With the Devil” will be helmed by writing/directing duo Colin and Cameron Cairns (“100 Bloody Acres,” “Scare Campaign”) and is set to start shooting in Australia later this year.Cinetic is handling the U.S./North American rights to the film. Stuart Ford’s AGC Intl.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, whose position was destabilized last week after Discovery and AT&T announced plans for a merger, says he will remain as CEO for the next 12 months.

negotiating his exit, and had hired a legal team, after only a year leading the company. Kilar did not know about the merger until a few days before it was announced.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav, a week after announcing a $43 billion deal to merge with WarnerMedia in a spinoff from AT&T, sees validation in today’s news that Amazon is swallowing MGM.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery’s CEO feels a combination of WarnerMedia and his company will create a new media company that is “uniquely competitive with Netflix and Disney,” and articulated the need to have a global footprint in the future in order to compete in the entertainment industry’s streaming wars.Discovery last week stuck a pact with AT&T to take over WarnerMedia operations in a deal that executives hope will pass regulatory muster by mid 2022.

AT&T will pay Discovery a $1.77 billion breakup fee if it backs out of its deal to sell off its WarnerMedia segment, according to a Plan of Merger filed on Thursday.If Discovery backs out of the deal, it will owe AT&T a breakup fee of $720 million. The terms were disclosed in a filing on Thursday.

One day prior to its massive merger with WarnerMedia, Discovery gave its CEO David Zaslav nearly 15 million stock options, which are valued at $190 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.A representative for Discovery did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.The Journal said the 14.8 million in stock options were part of Zaslav’s new contract, which was announced on Tuesday, one day after the merger announcement. The deal runs through 2027.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIt pays to pull off a massive media merger.Discovery chief David Zaslav is certainly being handsomely rewarded for his role in pulling off the merger agreement between his company and WarnerMedia. A day before AT&T announced it was spinning off WarnerMedia and combining it with Discovery, Zaslav received 14.8 million stock options on Sunday as part of a contract extension, which the Wall Street Journal reports are worth $190 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAs soon as news broke May 16 about AT&T’s proposed deal to combine WarnerMedia with Discovery, the guessing game began about what the megadeal would mean for top executives at the company.The initial takeaways: It’s a good sign for CNN boss Jeff Zucker and a bad omen for Jason Kilar, who in his one year in the job as CEO of WarnerMedia might have ruffled too many feathers as he tried to refashion the company for the streaming wars.Discovery CEO David Zaslav is set to run the new combined entity, and Kilar was not party to the deal talks, suggesting that AT&T CEO John Stankey had lost confidence in the ex-Hulu chief ’s approach and strategy after hiring him last year.

Discovery announced Tuesday that it’s extended the employment contract of president and CEO David Zaslav through December 31, 2027. His previous agreement ran through 2023.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery said it had extended the contract of its CEO, David Zaslav, through 2027, ensuring the executive would be in place well after the proposed merger of the company and WarnerMedia is expected to be completed in the middle of next year. Zaslav’s previous contract ran through 2023.The company, which operates Food Network , HGTV and TLC among other outlets, said Zaslav’s contract was extended as part of the agreement between AT&T and Discovery to combine WarnerMedia with the latter.Now most of Wall Street and Hollywood wants to know which executives will form the merged company’s executive team.

Discovery, a day after announcing a landmark, $43 billion merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, delivered its first upfront presentation in two years to tout 2021-22 programming.

As the news sank in about AT&T winding down its Hollywood foray via a $43 billion merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, one word summed up the film industry’s prevailing reaction.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorThe first swing in the talks that led to the union of Discovery and WarnerMedia was an email sent by David Zaslav to John Stankey on Feb. 13.That was around the time that the Discovery CEO and his AT&T counterpart had planned to meet for a golf date at the storied Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in central California that is sponsored by the telecom giant, as they did last year.

Discovery chief David Zaslav, whose sizable corner of the media business is getting a lot bigger, said he had previously looked at the idea of creating a “global HBO,” but all the best series were taken.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorShares of Discovery and AT&T moved in different directions in the wake of the proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.Discovery shares opened up 10% Monday — before the stock tumbled into negative territory. The stock was down 0.3% as of 11:01 a.m.

On Friday, people left work, came home and sat down with their friends and/or family, and watched something on TV. But John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T, and David Zaslav, the Discovery CEO, were holed up in the latter’s house hammering out a multi-billion dollar deal that would forever change the face of Hollywood.

Discovery combine into a single media juggernaut was hatched during a series of meetings and calls in the Greenwich Village townhouse of Discovery chief David Zaslav.But it might never have come about were it not for Zaslav and AT&T chief John Stankey’s shared passion for golf. The two men were commiserating via text message about how, due to COVID restrictions, they weren’t going to be able to see each other in person at last winter’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

calling the network “the elephant in the room” in the administration’s opposition. The deal won approval and was ultimately completed in June 2018.AT&T announced Monday that it was spinning off WarnerMedia into an independent company that will merge with Discovery Inc.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDavid Zaslav will lead a new combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery, the latest example of consolidation in the media and entertainment industry as the rise of video streaming continues to upend the entire sector.Zaslav was named CEO of the new company Monday, part of a surprising move by AT&T and Discovery to pool their media resources and make a bid to compete more directly with large rivals like Netflix, Walt Disney and NBCUniversal. Under terms of the deal, AT&T shareholders will control 71% of the new company, while Discovery shareholders would own 29%.

AT&T and Discovery Monday announced a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s  premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s leading nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a premier, standalone global entertainment company led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDiscovery CEO David Zaslav is, by his own definition, a “fighter.”He’s poised to record quite a knockout if he pulls off a merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit in a pact that will leave him as the ultimate keeper of the keys to HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., Turner channels and a growing global suite of direct to consumer streaming businesses.News of Discovery’s pursuit of a union with the erstwhile Time Warner assets came on so fast that executives and recent alumni of HBO, Warner Bros. et al were dizzy with surprise as word spread Sunday morning.

Like many media executives, Discovery CEO David Zaslav is not happy with Nielsen, which admitted Tuesday that it may have undercounted viewers during the pandemic.During a conversation Wednesday at MoffetNathanson’s annual media and communications summit, Zaslav blasted Nielsen’s “antiquated system of measurement,” arguing that its ratings were inaccurate even before this latest snafu.“It’s really unfortunate. We thought that maybe they were gonna get their act together, and then we found out that they think they undercounted for a year,” Zaslav said.