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Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts WBTV Personnel By 26%; Restructure Plans

Warner Bros. Discovery is making some dramatic cuts to Warner Bros. Television (WBTV), cutting 26% of its personnel (125 positions, 82 staff individuals being laid off & 43 vacant positions not being filled) across scripted, unscripted, and animation. In a full memo to the staff (see below), WBTV Chairman Channing Dungey also laid out some structural changes that will be in place moving forward. Here are some of the highlights:

Unscripted: Mike Darnell, President of Warner Bros. Unscripted and Alternative Television, will see some changes across its three divisions: Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures, and Shed Media. Warner Horizon Unscripted Television (The Voice, The Bachelor) and Telepictures (The Jennifer Hudson Show) will combine their respective creative development and programming roles. Bridgette Theriault & Dan Sacks will run Warner Horizon, with David McGuire running Telepictures. Lisa Shannon and Dan Peirson will still run Shed Media ("The Real Housewives" franchise) as a stand-alone unit. Based on the ways the shows are produced, Warner Horizon Unscripted Television & Telepictures will not fully merge.

Scripted: Warner Bros Television will not see any structural changes after the 2020 merging of Warner Bros Television and cable/streaming unit Warner Horizon Scripted Television (with Brett Paul remaining as President of Warner Bros Television). Clancy Collins White will run development, and Vicki Dummer will supervise current programming, while Adrienne Turner will continue to run comedy development as well as oversee the comedy team. Adam Glick will serve as head of business affairs, with Sue Palladino as head of production &  Mele Nagler as head of casting (with cuts at the division's lower levels expected).

Animation: WBTV will bring together creative & programming teams into two of its three animation studios (Invincible Fight Girl, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake), Warner Bros Animation & Cartoon Network Studios (with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe as the third). All three banners will still be run by Sam Register, with kids & family series development team led by Audrey Diehl; adult animation development led by Peter Girardi, and animated long-form series development led by Sammy Perlmutter. Bobbie Page will lead main production, with Ed Adams continuing as EVP & GM.

As for how this will impact programming, Warner Bros. Discovery says that a number of projects remain "in active production and development" and that production output is "relatively unchanged" despite restructuring.

Warner Bros. Discovery: WBTV Chairman Channing Dungey's Staff Note

Thanks to Deadline Hollywood, we have a look at Dungey's note to the staff from earlier today:

Team,

Today I write to you with sad news and a heavy heart. As many of you have already learned, some of our treasured colleagues will be leaving the company because of restructuring and realignment within our group. This was strictly a business decision, made as thoughtfully and compassionately as possible by studio leadership. But understanding that doesn't make this moment any easier. These colleagues are more than just people with whom we've worked, they are part of our work family. We spend more time together than we do with most other people in our lives. Because of that, this loss is painful and difficult. For those impacted by the changes, I want you to know how grateful I am for your contributions – in some cases, spanning decades – and how deeply sorry I am.

There are a few changes happening within WBTVG that I would like to make specific note of here:

As part of the strategic realignment on the unscripted side, run by Mike Darnell, President, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, we are making some changes aimed at finding synergies within the group, which includes Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures, and Shed Media.

As you may have read yesterday, Brooke Karzen, head of Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, informed us in the last few weeks that she would like to try something new with her career after a highly successful 22-year run at the company. Brooke has been synonymous with The Bachelor brand for more than 20 years, overseeing the original show and developing The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and many other extensions that have propelled The Bachelor into a global hit franchise. Her other successes include Emmy winner The Voice, Ellen's Game of Games, and the Friends and Harry Potter reunion specials, to name just a few. Please join me in saluting Brooke for her tremendous accomplishments and wishing her the best in the future.

As a result of Brooke's departure, Bridgette Theriault and Dan Sacks will now be leading Warner Horizon. We are combining some creative development and programming roles to work across both Warner Horizon and Telepictures, with David McGuire continuing to lead Telepictures. Lisa Shannon and Dan Peirson will continue to run Shed Media.

Working across all three unscripted divisions, Kevin Fortson continues to lead all aspects of physical production (including budgeting, scheduling, staffing, and more), and Matt Matzkinmaintains oversight of all business affairs, legal, and finance for unscripted series.

In Animation, run by Sam Register, President, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, we are implementing a new streamlined structure in which the development and main production teams will now work across both Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. The kids and family series development team will be led by Audrey Diehl, adult animation development will be led by Peter Girardi, and animated longform series development will be led by Sammy Perlmutter, with Bobbie Page leading main production. This is an extension of the cross-studio teams that have already been in place for current programming, casting, legal and business affairs, and artist relations. Ed Adams will continue as Executive Vice President and General Manager.

On the scripted side, run by Brett Paul, President, Warner Bros. Television, our senior creative leadership team remains in place. Clancy Collins White continues to head up development, with Vicki Dummer as head of current programming. Adam Glick continues to serve as head of business affairs, Sue Palladino as head of production, and Mele Nagler as head of casting.

We will be closing Stage 13, which was founded in 2017 under the former Warner Bros. Digital Networks division as a studio for original digital shortform programming and has produced past series such as Special and It's Bruno! for Netflix, Two Sentence Horror Stories for The CW/Netflix, and more. WBTV has already been supervising Stage 13 development and programming since 2020. Any existing Stage 13 projects in development will be absorbed within WBTV, which continues to be committed to finding new voices and providing opportunities for its richly diverse creative collaborators to tell authentic stories. I want to thank Diana Mogollón for her passionate leadership of Stage 13 and for the groundbreaking series that she and her team produced.

Also, following the conclusion of the current 2022–23 edition of the Warner Bros. Writers' Workshop in April, we will be closing the Warner Bros. Television Workshop program, which includes both the Writers' Workshop and the Directors' Workshop. Both workshops have been instrumental in training the next generation of creative talent in the industry. While we will no longer have these formalized programs in place, we remain committed to developing and mentoring emerging talent and preparing them for careers in television.

As of this writing, all the impact conversations for WBTVG are complete. Out of respect to our colleagues, we will not be distributing a list of those impacted. Your direct managers will provide you with information about roles changing within specific groups. Your P&C partner will be available as well to address any questions or concerns. During this period of transition, please support each other, and be gentle with one another.

These are challenging times in the world at large, and a tumultuous time in our industry. For this kind of change to hit so close to home is incredibly difficult. But my hope is that these changes, made with an eye to a more focused business strategy, will strengthen and stabilize our company, maintain our great creative output, and better position us for continued future success.

Yet today we are losing members of our work family that we love, whose hard work has helped make our success possible, and for that I am truly sorry. I want everyone who is leaving to know that your contributions mattered, and the shows that you helped bring to life will always be part of the Warner Bros. Television Group legacy. Thank you for being part of our story.

With the deepest gratitude,

Channing

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