David Zaslav Is the Good Guy? Why He Might Have Saved Turner Classic Movies

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We’ve made no secret of our quibbles with David Zaslav’s oversight of Turner Classic Movies. In June 2023, I wrote a critical op-ed (“Dear David Zaslav: Gutting TCM Will Not Help You Win Filmmakers Back to Warner Bros.”) right after the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO presided over layoffs amounting to 80 percent of the staff.

So it might come as some surprise that I’m now feeling bullish about the news that Zaslav and Warner Bros. co-heads Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy will retain creative control over TCM as Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to split into two companies. (This arrangement was first reported by Variety and confirmed by IndieWire.) One will be the Studios and Streaming group, a business that oversees film and TV production, with Zaslav retained as CEO. The other is the Global Networks group, home to the present company’s entire suite of linear TV channels, with new CEO Gunnar Wiedenfels, currently WBD’s CFO, in charge. This group carries most of WBD’s $38 billion in debt. CNN, TNT, and the entire portfolio of networks owned by WBD will go here.

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Except for Turner Classic Movies.

TCM will serve as a kind of bridge between the two new companies, with distribution and operations handled by Global Networks, while creative direction will be steered by DeLuca and Abdy at Studios and Streaming, as they are doing now.

It’s the only network to have such an arrangement. Not only does that make sense, it’s good news. If Zaslav spun off TCM along with all the other channels, it could destroy the equilibrium the network achieved over the past couple years. Further, a source at WBD confirms to IndieWire that TCM will continue to have its operations based in Atlanta and that “things at TCM are basically staying exactly as they are today.”

The TCM layoffs were regrettable but not unusual: Many media companies are finding them necessary to survive. And Zaslav appears to be not only invested in the brand’s future but may be willing to correct some mistakes. Longtime head of programming Charlie Tabesh, beloved by the network’s fans for his thoughtful and eclectic lineups at the core of the brand’s identity, was hired back in that role almost immediately in the summer of 2023. Some months later, longtime VP of enterprises and strategic partnerships Genevieve McGillicuddy returned to oversee the TCM Classic Film Festival, an event which she started and grew into one of Hollywood’s most beloved annual gatherings.

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Zaslav listened, probably with help from DeLuca and Abdy. And almost certainly because Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson beseeched him to recognize the network’s value and offered to come onboard as creative advisors.

Today, TCM is an essential platform for today’s leading filmmakers to share, on camera, their favorite films from the network’s lineup. Beyond Spielberg, Scorsese, and Anderson, there was Guillermo del Toro (who waxed rhapsodic about Alfred Hitchcock’s “Suspicion” and John Ford’s “The Quiet Man”), Francis Ford Coppola (talking about “The Magnificent Ambersons”), and Ron Howard (sharing how much his small-screen father Andy Griffith’s heel turn in “A Face in the Crowd” means to him). These have been vital ways to connect the dots between cinema past and present.

Most TCM initiatives continue under Zaslav’s leadership: The wine program, the publishing line (of which this writer was once an author), the cheeky intros by hosts Ben Mankiewicz, Alicia Malone, Dave Karger, Jacqueline Stewart, and noir czar Eddie Muller. The bespoke montages, assembled to promote the monthly lineup, continue with flair.

Now there’s also an expanded presence for TCM on the once-again-renamed HBO Max. Earlier this year, New York City hosted a day-long pop-up version of the TCM Classic Film Festival. The flagship festival continues unabated with extraordinary opening-night galas the past two years headlined by talent from “Pulp Fiction” and “The Empire Strikes Back” — showcasing that the idea of classic film encompasses more than black-and-white gems.

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There have been hiccups. Being short-staffed undoubtedly resulted in a few instances of the network airing different titles than were listed, most notably the 1932 Kay Francis vehicle “Jewel Robbery” when the Barbara Stanwyck Western “40 Guns” was supposed to air instead.

Still, that’s nitpicking. Just two weekends ago, I found myself so compelled by their lineup that I watched an entire evening of TCM: “Double Indemnity” and “Chinatown” introduced by Mankiewicz in conversation with Nathan Lane at New York City’s United Palace theater, followed by “Sorry, Wrong Number” and Eddie Muller giving a rich, appreciative take that pinpointed that film’s unique Lynchian mood.

Zaslav’s interest in TCM may not be entirely altruistic: After the day-and-date release strategy disaster of the Jason Kilar regime, the new Warner Bros. Discovery needed to telegraph that its leadership was invested in filmmaking and filmmakers. Bringing in filmmakers to be part of TCM was a savvy move. TCM is also great brand-burnishing, with the network built heavily off of the Warner Bros. library and classics like “The Maltese Falcon” and “Casablanca.” TCM is a shrine to Warner Bros.’ glorious past and an ongoing snapshot of the rich history that Warners filmmakers could join today.

The funny thing is, by all accounts, Zaslav is also genuinely sentimental about the network and said to even have it on at his office quite often.

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