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Tag: Pam Abdy

  • IBC2023 announces Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group to receive International Honour for Excellence as it unveils Special Awards

    IBC2023 announces Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group to receive International Honour for Excellence as it unveils Special Awards

    Mumbai: IBC has announced the IBC2023 International Honour for Excellence (IHFE), its most prestigious award, will be presented to Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group on the 100th anniversary of its founding by Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack L. Warner. The IHFE is one of a series of special IBC awards celebrating the very best in innovation and change in media and entertainment. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group and the other special IBC award honourees are being announced in advance of the IBC Innovation Awards and IBC Social Impact Awards events, where the awards will be presented along with the full slate of winners yet to be revealed. The IBC Innovation Awards take place in IBC’s Premier Lounge at 18.00 CEST on Sunday, 17 September, while the Social Impact Awards will be held the same day at 16.30 CEST in The Forum as part of the Changemakers Programme.

    “These special awards exemplify the spirit of IBC2023, starting with our aim to showcase and inspire transformative innovations and other advances driving change in the industry,” said IBC CEO Michael Crimp. “IBC and the judges involved in the selection of our award winners wanted to spotlight in advance a number of organisations and individuals that have best demonstrated how the industry is rapidly evolving to meet new trends, demands and expectations.”

    Special Recognition of Lasting and Transformative Innovation

    As the IHFE honouree, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group epitomises the ability to continually adapt to media and entertainment market changes. Beginning as a pioneer in cinema, the company has since emerged as a leader in every aspect of the entertainment industry – from feature film, television and direct-to-consumer production to animation, comic books, video games, consumer products, themed entertainment, studio tours and brand licensing. Warner Bros.’ vast library, one of the most prestigious and valuable in the world, consists of more than 145,000 hours of programming. The studio is also home to one of the most diverse portfolios of adored franchises in the world, including Looney Tunes, Wizarding World, DC, Friends, Game of Thrones, Hanna-Barbera and many more.

    “Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has been a leading creative force in media and entertainment since its inception 100 years ago and remains an industry trailblazer,” said Crimp. “Warner Bros.’ work has had a profound impact on our industry and society over the last century and continues to do so today, shaping our culture and our understanding of the world around us through its films, television programming and other productions.”

    Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy said in a statement, “We are delighted to accept IBC’s International Honour for Excellence award in the studio’s 100th year. Warner Bros. has always been at the forefront of the industry because of its commitment to innovative storytelling and we want nothing more than to continue that legacy. The success of Barbie is a fantastic example of this because not only is it a great story, but it means something to people and has an impact on societies and cultures globally. We look forward to another hundred years of best-in-class movies told by incredible storytellers, who have created countless stories that have inspired a century, as well as a new generation of visionaries who we are excited to see take Warner Bros. to new heights.”

    The jury for the Innovation Awards has announced the winner of the 2023 Special Award for Innovation, the German DVB-I Pilot – an initiative bringing together multiple stakeholders from the German media industry, including broadcasters, device manufacturers, software providers and research institutions. The project aims to advance the DVB-I standard to enable the ongoing use of linear TV programming. The organisations involved included: ARD (Association of Public Broadcasting Corporations in the Federal Republic of Germany), Bayerische Medien Technik GmbH, Dolby Laboratories, DVB Project, European Broadcasting Union, Fraunhofer FOKUS, LG, Media Broadcast, MIT-xperts, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, OnScreen Publishing, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), RTL Deutschland, SES, Sofia Digital, Sony Corporation, TARA Systems, TP Vision, Vestel, WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) and ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen).

    For another honour being presented at the Innovation Awards event, experts from the IBC Technical Papers Committee and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have chosen the paper they feel, on peer review, represents the most impressive piece of work being presented at this year’s IBC Conference (15 and 16 September). For their work on deploying a 5G standalone non-public network at the coronation of King Charles III, Mark Waddell, Ian Wagdin, David Butler (BBC), Sam Yoffe, Kenny Barlee, Douglas Allan, Malcolm Brew, and Robert Stewart (University of Strathclyde and Neutral Wireless) will receive the Best Technical Paper Award. The committee and IET found the paper to be exceptionally well-written and materially relevant to the media industry, sharing valuable technical insight. This year’s other Technical Papers will also be presented at the conference.

    Honouring Those Driving Social Advances in Media

    As part of its Social Impact Awards programme, IBC has launched a new Special Award, the 2023 Changemaker Award, which this year honours the Eurovision Song Contest for its contribution to society and culture – celebrating a brand that continues to stay relevant and fresh on a huge scale. The award recognises the multifaceted cultural phenomenon and the global production network involved in delivering the event. IBC will be welcoming Martin Österdahl, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest to the stage at the Changemakers programme to accept the award and talk about the live broadcasting event. The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the BBC and the EBU on behalf of Ukraine’s UA:PBC, was watched on five continents, with 162 million viewers tuning in to watch the competition over the three live shows.

    IBC has also announced that the 2023 Special Award for Social Impact, selected by the Social Impact Awards jury, will be presented to the Women in Streaming Media Mentorship Programme, which focuses on career development and personal growth goals that support business objectives. Women in Streaming Media has grown from 50 members to 1,200 in the last five years to establish a significant presence in the industry. Its free, six-month mentorship programme has played a part in the appointment of six board director seats and eleven C-suite roles, among forty-five promotions and placements.

  • James Gunn & Peter Safran to run DC Studios for Warner Bros. Discovery as co-heads

    James Gunn & Peter Safran to run DC Studios for Warner Bros. Discovery as co-heads

    Mumbai: Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that Hollywood industry veterans James Gunn and Peter Safran have been appointed to the new roles of DC Studios co-chairmen and CEOs, overseeing the overall creative direction of the DC Universe across film, TV, and animation under a single banner. Gunn and Safran will report to Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav. They will work closely with Warner Bros. Film Group co-chairpersons and CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. The appointments will be effective on 1 November 2022.

    In their new roles, Gunn and Safran will spearhead the development and execution of a long-term plan for the many properties licenced from DC Comics, focused on continuing the tradition of high-quality storytelling for the DC Universe across audio-visual media, while building a sustainable growth business out of the iconic franchise. In addition to their executive responsibilities, Gunn and Safran will develop, direct, and produce projects. In their new roles, they will also work collaboratively with Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Channing Dungey; HBO and HBO Max Content chairman & CEO Casey Bloys; US Networks Group chairman & chief content officer Kathleen Finch; Warner Bros. Discovery Consumer Products president Pam Lifford and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad.

    Both Gunn and Safran have extensive experience with the superhero genre, having brought some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe’s most popular characters to life in hit films and series that include: Marvel’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, and DC’s highest grossing movie, Aquaman; Shazam!; The Suicide Squad; and the HBO Max original, live-action series Peacemaker.

    Zaslav commented, “DC has among the most entertaining, powerful, and iconic characters in the world, and I am thrilled to have the singular and complementary talents of James and Peter joining our world-class team and overseeing the creative direction of the storied DC Universe. Their decades of experience in filmmaking, close ties to the creative community, and proven track record of thrilling superhero fans around the globe make them uniquely qualified to develop a long-term strategy across film, TV, and animation, and take this iconic franchise to the next level of creative storytelling.”

    Gunn and Safran commented, “We’re honoured to be the stewards of these DC characters we’ve loved since we were children. We look forward to collaborating with the most talented writers, directors, and actors in the world to create an integrated, multilayered universe that still allows for the individual expression of the artists involved. Our commitment to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Harley Quinn, and the rest of the DC stable of characters is only equaled by our commitment to the wonder of human possibility these characters represent. We’re excited to invigorate the theatrical experience around the world as we tell some of the biggest, most beautiful, and grandest stories ever told. We’re especially enthusiastic about doing all of this with Mike, Pam, Casey, Channing, and the whole Warner Bros. Discovery team, and are grateful to David Zaslav, whose bold vision for the future of the franchise we share and which allows for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Most of all, we can’t wait to bring you all into the story of the DCU.”

    De Luca and Abdy said, “We could not be more excited to have James Gunn and Peter Safran join the team and assume the leadership of the DC Universe. James is a brilliant filmmaker and storyteller and Peter is a tremendously successful and prolific producer and to have them both committing to work together to forge this new era for DC is a literal dream come true. We all share a very similar sensibility and passion for this universe, and the stars couldn’t have aligned any better. We can’t wait to get started, dig in, and collaborate with these unmatched creative minds.”

    Throughout his decades-long career, writer/director/producer James Gunn has been responsible for films and series, including: Warner Bros. live-action movies, Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2; a remake of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead; the horror comedy Slither; the dark superhero comedy Super; the hugely successful Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; DC’s The Suicide Squad; and the spin-off series for HBO Max, Peacemaker. With the release of The Suicide Squad in 2021, Gunn became the first filmmaker to direct a movie for both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe.

    Peter Safran has produced films for Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, and other film studios, including: DC’s highest grossing movie, Aquaman and its upcoming sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; Shazam and its upcoming sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods; The Suicide Squad; Annabelle; and the entire Conjuring universe, the most successful horror franchise of all time at $2B+ in worldwide box office and counting. Safran’s production company, The Safran Company, recently re-upped its long-term production deal with Warner Bros. Discovery and has four theatrical releases scheduled for 2023, including The Nun 2, which is the sequel to the highest grossing title in the Conjuring universe, The Nun. Prior to forming his own company, Safran was Brillstein-Grey Management’s president, which represented some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

  • Michael De Luca, Pam Abdy to head Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Toby Emmerich steps down

    Michael De Luca, Pam Abdy to head Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Toby Emmerich steps down

    Mumbai: Former MGM film executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have been appointed co-chairpersons and CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. They replaced longtime studio executive Toby Emmerich who has announced that he is stepping down as Warner Bros. head.

    Each of the divisions including Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-Based Film Production, and Warner Bros. Feature Animation will break into three distinct segments – Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Feature Animation, and DC-Based Film Production. Each will have its own separate leadership. 

    The decision is part of the company’s new long-term strategy. In the meanwhile, the segments are still managed by the film group, with De Luca and Abdy in charge of day-to-day operations. De Luca and Abdy were MGM Studios’ motion picture group chairman and president, respectively. They decided to leave after Amazon acquired MGM.

    Simultaneously, Toby Emmerich will launch his own production company at Warner Bros. studio, focused on film, television and streaming. Warner Bros. Discovery will finance Emmerich’s ventures and hold distribution rights to films & series as part of an exclusive five-year deal.

    Screenwriter and producer Emmerich has been president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group since 2017. Previously, he served as president and chief operating officer of New Line Cinema. He joined Warner Bros. in 1992 as a dual development and music executive and has worked there for the past 30 years.

    In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said, “I have known Toby for many years and have tremendous respect for his vision and ability to create extraordinary cinematic experiences. He has led a best-in-class studio team and was the driving force behind an incredible, diverse collection of films and series. Toby is also an exceptional person and longtime friend to me and to many and I am personally very happy to continue our working relationship. I am thrilled that he’s chosen to remain a part of our Warner Bros. Discovery family with this long-term production deal and look forward to seeing the fantastic stories that he and his team will create for us in the years ahead.” 

    Speaking about his venture, Emmerich said, “It has been an honour and a pleasure to be part of this storied company these last three decades and to lead the world-class Warner Bros. film studio team, and I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish together. This seemed like the perfect time to transition to something new and I am excited to be pursuing my passion for storytelling in a more hands-on way with my own production company.” 

    Further, on the newly appointed co-chairpersons and CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Zaslav said, “Michael and Pam are supremely talented creative leaders with a proven track record of success. We are thrilled to welcome them both to our Warner Bros. Discovery family, and look forward to seeing them take this nearly century-old iconic studio to even greater heights of excellence in film.”

    With a global box office collection of $5.57 billion in 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures Group achieved its most successful year ever under Emmerich’s leadership.

    Films such as “Aquaman” – the most popular DC Superhero film ever and Warner Bros’. second-biggest title of all time – “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Ready Player One,” “The Meg,” “Rampage,” “A Star is Born,” “The Nun,” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” helped Emmerich fuel this success. Also, the studio in 2019 delivered the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, DC’s “Joker,” which grossed $1.08 billion worldwide and won two Academy Awards, as well as the horror sequel “IT Chapter Two.”