David Zaslav says studios paid too much to end WGA strike; Scribes deal worth $700 million

David Zaslav has a funny way of making friends.

In a week in which the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery pissed off almost everyone again by cutting the finished version Coyote vs. Acme Zaslav is now praising the Writers Guild of America, his nemesis for several months this year, for a tax write-off.

“You’re right about almost everything,” the director told the paper New York Times about the writers and the deal they made with studios after five bitter months of Hollywood lockout. “What if we pay too much? “I’ve never regretted overpaying for a great talent or asset,” Zaslav added, in what seems like a 180-degree shift and more than he, the AMPTP and others in the CEO gang of four im was spring.

After Zas, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley personally intervened in the final push, the AMPTP and WGA reached a tentative settlement at sundown on September 24. The strike officially ended a few days later, after 148 days. , writers went digitally to nearly 100% of the polls to approve the deal in a ratification vote that ended on October 9.

The WGA deal was valued by the guild at about $700 million over three years as it made major strides in AI guidance, residuals, staffing and working hours, data transparency and health and pension contributions. Although the SAG-AFTRA deal would be worth no more than $1 billion to the much larger guild (160,000 members versus the WGA’s 12,000 members), it’s a far cry from Iger’s Marie Antoinette comments in July that the famous writers about to strike The actors were “simply unrealistic” and “frankly very disruptive” in their demands.

Zaslav was criticized in the early weeks of the WGA strike for his salary ($40 million in 2022, $246 million in 2021 thanks to stock options and more) and his apparent ear for the writer’s concerns, which he has both internally and externally. the organization, direct insult plays a major role. Room for negotiation to bring the transaction to a successful conclusion. “He put on his lawyer hat and went to work while Iger and Sarandos worked out the bigger picture with the writers,” an industry insider noted of the WBD CEO’s role in the talks.

Interestingly, Zaslav with the elongated and rather sharp teeth has nothing to say NYT Profile on the SAG-AFTRA strike or November 8 resolution. But perhaps Jonathan Mahler, James B. Stewart, and Benjamin Mullins had already completed the thoroughly researched (and deadline-quoted) piece by then.

In fact, the official quote about the writers and their new three-year contract is Zas’ only direct comment on the Gray Lady’s plans. Sunday magazine Share. As the title “How David Zaslav Blowed Up Hollywood” makes clear, the article spends most of its time listing the director’s litany of missteps, transgressions and debt management, including many layoffs, cancellations of shows, films, and more.

The article is already online and appears in the November 19 issue of NYT Magazine.

Speaking of overpaid, nonprofit As You Sow’s annual list of the 25 most overpaid CEOs, released today, ranked Zaslav no. 1 arranged. Package in 2022 was “overpaid”.

The figure represents a CEO-to-employee pay ratio of 227/1.

According to As You Sow, about 64% of institutional shares and 49% of reported shares voted against Zaslav’s compensation for the year. The vote on the reward is advisory – or non-binding. But shareholders are growing increasingly restless and the numbers are at the center of labor disputes, including strikes by writers and actors.

Last year, Zaslav topped the list with a package worth a total of $246 million – $232 million of which the group said was considered an overpayment.

The figures refer to the year 2022, as the annual board salaries for companies with a calendar year end are not announced until the following spring. CEO compensation packages include stock options and awards that vest over time and may be undervalued.

Shareholder Advocacy measures compensation using three metrics: total shareholder return; the number of shares voted against a CEO’s remuneration package at the annual general meeting; and the ratio between CEO pay and average employee pay – a gap that continues to widen. To determine the ranking, the first two data points are each weighted with 40% and the compensation rate with 20%. In 2022, Netflix ranked 7th and Paramount Global 16th among overpaid CEOs.

WBD had no comment on the NYT story or Zas’ comments. The WGA did not respond to a request for comment on Zaslav’s statement on the Scrbes deal. We’ll update this post if that’s the case.

Jill Goldsmith contributed to this post