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WBTV Workshop Alumni Respond to Warner Bros. Discovery Closing Program

There were rumblings late Monday night that Warner Bros. Discovery would be unleashing another round of layoffs & restructuring on Tuesday, and that turned into a harsh reality yesterday. Along with Warner Bros. Television seeing a 26% cut in personnel across scripted, unscripted & animation (and restructuring within the latter two), the digital short-form programming division Stage 13 and the 40-plus-year-old Warner Bros. Television Workshop were also shuttered. Regarding the WBTV Workshop, the current 2022-2023 class will be the last for both its Writers' Workshop and the Directors' Workshop. What's truly heartbreaking about the decision is how successful the program has been in training & mentoring future writers and directors. In addition, the program was also an excellent opportunity to mentor the next generation of diverse writers & directors. Some of the influential names that have come through the program include actress/director Regina King (One Night in Miami), Jonathan I. Kidd & Sonya Winton-Odamtten (Lovecraft Country), Etan Frankel (Animal Kingdom EP), Charmaine Degrate (House of the Dragon), Bola Ogun (The Witcher), Stacey Muhammad (Queen Sugar), Pamela Romanowsky (Gossip Girl), Zak Schwartz (Wu-Tang: An American Saga, TNT's Snowpiercer), Jim Campolongo (The Sandman, Station 19), and Jude Weng (Only Murders in the Building, Finding 'Ohana). Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, a number of familiar names are speaking out about the decision and what that means on the creative front moving forward.

Reactions to Warner Bros. Discovery Closing WB Television Workshop

Akela Cooper (M3GAN) via Twitter: "I got my first staff writing gig b/c of the WB Writers Workshop. The reason I can celebrate the release of a trailer for my movie today ties back to this workshop. It helped kickstart so many careers. To see it scrapped in the name of capitalism is infuriating and heartbreaking."

LaToya Morgan (Shameless, Duster): "It is the gold standard. I am still friends with many of the people who were in my class. We call each other for advice, we help promote each other's shows, we're a family. That's an opportunity that some future amazing storyteller won't get now, to come up with your crew of folks who are going to have your back because you came up together."

Justin Doble (EP, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power): "Absolutely gutting. Hundreds of careers were launched through this program – including mine. What a loss for the industry and for those trying to catch their first break. Terrible."

Michelle Paradise (Showrunner, Star Trek: Discovery): "This is really disappointing. Thinking of all the unique and important voices that have been discovered through this program… and those we may now miss out on. Hopefully, other programs of this kind don't follow suit."

Danneel Ackles (on utilizing the program to diversify "The Winchesters" creative team): "It's up to each show if they're going to utilize that program or not – we have chosen to do that, so we'll be bringing in new voices who are getting started in the writing room and as directors."

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