On a Q1 earnings name at the moment, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav confirmed that former Dreamworks government Invoice Damschke is formally the brand new head of Warner Animation Group.
Damaschke’s appointment is hardly a shock; it was extensively reported again in February that he was in closing talks to tackle the position. It’s unusual although that the affirmation of that appointment solely got here in at the moment’s name, and that it got here with no fanfare in any respect.
Whereas addressing the corporate’s traders, Zaslav introduced that WBD is at present growing a brand new characteristic animation slate and that Damaschke is main these efforts. Mentioned Zaslav:
One of many actual strengths of our firm is the range of our storytelling. And on this centennial yr, we’re particularly excited to be reinvigorating our characteristic animation enterprise, which has an extended historical past and a wealth of nice IP. Invoice Damaschke, the previous Head of Dreamworks Animation, has taken the helm of our movie animation group and is tough at work along with Mike [De Luca] and Pam [Abdy] growing a brand new slate.
WBD’s characteristic animation division wants reinvigorating. The corporate’s earlier management embraced a streaming-first mannequin to assist bolster its fledgling HBO Max platform, and WB animated movies virtually disappeared from cinemas.
Final yr, the corporate launched only one theatrical animated movie, DC League of Tremendous-Pets. The yr earlier than that, it was simply Area Jam: A New Legacy and Tom and Jerry, each of which underperformed. Its upcoming slate doesn’t encourage a lot confidence both, with solely Coyote vs. Acme scheduled for 2023.
Zaslav didn’t sugarcoat that truth, explaining:
Now we have obtained some companies that aren’t doing nicely. Warner Bros. turns 100, they usually have had two of the worst years of – in case you look again at Warner Bros., it was actually simply very tough. Very tough on each degree by way of what was turned out. And so we predict we’ve turned the nook on that.
It was in that context that he elaborated on the corporate’s plans for animation. In the course of the Q&A portion of the decision, the CEO lamented WBD’s incapability to higher make the most of its animation sources and thinks it must be a a lot greater participant than it’s proper now.
We haven’t carried out a lot with animation at this firm. We personal Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes. When you check out animation… we’ve three animation studios and we don’t have a variety of manufacturing by way of – it’s not productive by way of free money stream. It’s not productive by way of market share. It’s not productive by way of progress. And so driving that, and we now have a extremely sturdy chief. Our management workforce is in place.
Cartoon Brew’s View: Whereas Zaslav is bullish on the corporate’s future characteristic animation ambitions below new boss Damaschke, he appears to have a really completely different perspective on the corporate’s broader animation pipeline. Warner Bros. Animation (WBA), which handles television and direct-to-video efforts, has had one of many largest animation manufacturing slates for years, so to listen to him say a yr into his reign that it’s nonetheless not productive and doesn’t draw a proportionate market share is alarming. We don’t have inner knowledge for a way WBA’s television efforts have carried out, however Zaslav’s dour stance seemingly means there’s an even bigger, yet-untold story concerning the unit’s output.
