Warner Bros. Discovery’s Post

Inclusion at our core at WBD

As a young boy, I remember recording myself speaking english. Except it wasn't actually english. It "sounded" like english, so I thought. Let me explain. In Romania when I was seven, and later in France, I was fascinated with cartoons and movies. I would watch them constantly and then recorded myself speaking some of the parts. Except, I didn't know how to speak english so I recorded gibberish that I thought sounded right. If only I could find those tapes! So you can imagine that working at Warner Bros. Discovery is truly like a dream. So many of the movies and cartoons I ultimately learned english from were from this storied organization. It changed my life. So how did I get here? The short story is that I joined You.i TV in Ottawa after leaving my own app startup and part of the deal was that the company would move me and my family to Los Angeles. We made it happen and ultimately the startup was acquired by Warner Media ahead of the Warner/Discovery merger a year later. A few months after the merger, I was presented with a stellar opportunity to take on the role of a lifetime as Director, Product Management - Technical (PM-T) for the Video Player SDK at Warner Bros. Discovery. As soon as I met with the leaders of the org, I knew I had finally found my people and the perfect role. It is a deeply technical role that also leverages my love of people and building bridges and relationships across orgs and external partners. A few months in, I was also given the green light to split my time between the player team and the ad tech team to help build a strong partnership between the orgs and also help usher in new advanced ads, a passion of mine when I was at You.i. I've been so busy, I forgot to post a role update but the recent Barbie launch on Max was so beautifully done, I was reminded how fortunate I truly am to work here. It has been a wild year. We launched Max in May, followed up with TNT Sports in Europe (as part of Discovery+) then added live news and sports to Max (CNN and Bleacher Report Sports) while also prepping for LATAM and EMEA launches in 2024 which includes a lot of sports and streaming of the summer Paris Olympics! I've always loved hard problems! Maybe another young child who loves movies and cartoons will be inspired to pursue his or her dreams because of the work we do. Many thanks to Jason Flick for believing in me at You.i (mostly people don't hire entrepreneurs) and Mark Ramberg Alan Ramaley Sudheer Sirivara Robyn Peterson Avi Saxena and all my colleagues across the org for trusting me and my team with the important role of doing our part to deliver moving pictures on screens globally. Happy Holidays everyone!

Very good insight! I agree, the landscape is shifting. Adapt or die. As a TV and movie production company we can align with the streaming platforms, and with half a dozen companies reach HALF of the entire world's population. By doing so we can also control our own destiny and costs. That is alluring. The media distribution marketplace will dramatically change in the next 36 months. Is there a place for cinema, theatres, streaming, and other alternative delivery methods to co-exist? Time will tell, we all adapt, we all evolve, that is the nature of business. Here is a prelude of things to come...

Did you know that Walt Disney's first company went bankrupt, even though he pioneered mixing live action and animation in the 1920s? And that Universal Pictures claimed the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt's first comeback character after bankruptcy? That might be enough to make a person quit. I recently toured the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It focuses on the life of Walt himself, as opposed to the Disney company. Aside from perseverance, the museum also showed me a lesson in scaling. Eventually, Disney got on his feet with Mickey Mouse. In the 1920s and 1930s, Disney ran a profitable business producing animated short films for a cost of about $30,000 each. That was a lot of money during The Great Depression. But Walt had bigger ambitions for animation. He wanted to create full-length animated movies, which presented several new technical challenges. He used his short movies, like "Steamboat Willie" and the Silly Symphonies series, to figure out how to synchronize sound and action, something that hadn't been done in animation. Sound was still new even in live action: "Steamboat Willie" came out just a year after "The Jazz Singer," considered the first full-length movie with synchronized sound. Technical challenges aside, producing a full-length animated movie would also cost a whole lot more. Initially, Disney estimated that "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" would cost 10x a short film, or approximately $300,000. The final budget was close to $1.5 million or 50x the cost of a short. What would a 50x project look like for your organization? What intermediate steps could you take from where you are now toward 50x? In the 1950s, Walt would go all-in again, this time on creating Disney Land. At the time, he displayed his big-bet mentality when he said, "Why should we let a few little dollars jeopardize our chances. I think this is Old Man Opportunity rapping at our door. Let's don't let the jingle of a few pennies drown out his knock. So slap as big mortgage on everything we got and let's go after this thing in the right manner." #Disney #Scaling

What a great article with lots of valuable advice in the telling of Joe's story. I quote: "The best thing I have learned is to always assume good intentions from your co-workers. " Sound advice!😃

Did you know that Walt Disney's first company went bankrupt? And that Universal Pictures claimed the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt's first comeback character after bankruptcy? That might be enough to make a person quit. I recently toured the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It focuses on the life of Walt himself, as opposed to the Disney company. Aside from perseverance, the museum also showed me a lesson in scaling. Eventually, Disney got on his feet with Mickey Mouse. In the 1920s and 1930s, Disney ran a profitable business producing animated short films for a cost of about $30,000 each. That was a lot of money during The Great Depression. But Walt had bigger ambitions for animation. He wanted to create full-length animated movies, which presented several new technical challenges. He used his short movies, like "Steamboat Willie" and the Silly Symphonies series, to figure out how to synchronize sound and action, something that hadn't been done in animation. Sound was still new even in live action: "Steamboat Willie" came out just a year after "The Jazz Singer," considered the first full-length movie with synchronized sound. Technical challenges aside, producing a full-length animated movie would also cost a whole lot more. Initially, Disney estimated that "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" would cost 10x a short film, or approximately $300,000. The final budget was close to $1.5 million or 50x the cost of a short. What would a 50x project look like for your organization? What intermediate steps could you take from where you are now toward 50x? In the 1950s, Walt would go all-in again, this time on creating Disney Land. At the time, he displayed his big-bet mentality when he said, "Why should we let a few little dollars jeopardize our chances. I think this is Old Man Opportunity rapping at our door. Let's don't let the jingle of a few pennies drown out his knock. So slap as big mortgage on everything we got and let's go after this thing in the right manner." #Disney #Scaling

I had the pleasure of working with CJ Bargamian back in our Turner days and agree with his sentiment 100%. Hearing his message stirs up a few emotions in me: a bit of nostalgia, some sadness in realizing that something wonderful I had a part in building continues to be diminished and dismantled, and some anger that the head honchos doing all the damage continue to benefit from their ineptitude while the ground level folks I know and love have to scramble to provide for themselves and their families. Every week, I get a new message on LinkedIn from a former Turner/WBD colleague who has just been sent packing. These are some of the brightest, most creative and—if their ability to survive as long as they have in such a toxic environment is any indicator—most adaptable people I’ve ever met. To know the layoffs that cost me my position in 2017 are still happening seven years later and that the company still hasn’t figured out how to be profitable with so many resources and so much talent at hand is mind boggling. I was never angry or bitter about my own layoff. I remember the HR rep saying, “I’m kind of surprised you’re taking this so well.” I was sad to leave my work family and step away from something to which I’d given two decades of my life but I knew the change was coming and could see the reason behind it. I can’t say I feel the same about the seven years of layoffs that have occurred since then. There’s only so much talent a company can lose before their product suffers greatly. And leadership that can’t make things work after seven years of trying is leadership who should be scheduled for the same sad meeting with HR that so many of their hard-working employees have had to face. Seems fair to me. When I was let go, I thought the company was restructuring for effectiveness. Now it looks like they’re constantly rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Not to stretch a metaphor, but to any WBD folks looking to jump ship or already in the water: let me know if I can help get you onto a life raft. 🤦🏻🚢 Seriously, though, I don’t know if you would be interested in joining me in the Fintech space, but I’d be happy to chat about it over a cup of coffee. Hit me up if you want to reconnect.

What about you? Statistics shows that the product selling success is conected on a 60% to the way we display it. #Redstring.es has #Paladone s assortment and different themed displays to boost your sales. I guess the only thing missing now is to email me at rsalgado@redstring.es and take advantage of our field expertise. #wearebettertogether

Deadpool & Wolverine has officially released today and we're thrilled to unmask the major sponsors on this epic blockbuster. Stayz, AAMI, Ladbrokes, and Chartered Accountants are all nationwide on-screen sponsors, and QUT, Hyundai, Subaru, Samsung, Nandos, and Red Rooster are other notable sponsors on the film. "Cinema continues to be the most powerful medium for brands to engage with audiences during major Hollywood releases," says Guy Burbidge, Managing Director of Val Morgan Cinema. "We're excited to partner with these brands for the highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine. This strategic collaboration offers them an unmatched opportunity to engage with passionate moviegoers across the country, as the film gears up to be one of the biggest cultural moments of 2024." The hype around Deadpool & Wolverine has sparked a box office frenzy with pre-sales already smashing expectations with pre-sales 2.5x higher than the original movie and 1.5x greater than Deadpool 2 at the same point in time.* So, grab your best bubs and head to the nearest cinema—you don’t want to miss this year's biggest cultural moment. Read more in the press release here: https://lnkd.in/gdjNWN9n *HOYTS pre-sale data. #ValMorgan #PressRelease #DeadpoolandWolverine

🔍 GT Index: Daniel Radcliffe vs. Tom Felton 🔍 Two stars from the Harry Potter universe, Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton, have grown from their magical beginnings into influential figures in the entertainment world. The GT Index illustrates their unique journeys from child actors to industry icons. 🌟 👉 #DanielRadcliffe #TomFelton #GTIndex #HarryPotter #Entertainment #SuccessStories #Inspiration #ActingLegends