Warner Bros. Goes Outside Hollywood for Its New Chief -- WSJ
June 25 2019 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint and Erich Schwartzel
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 25, 2019).
WarnerMedia named BBC Studios-Americas President Ann Sarnoff as
head of Warner Bros., choosing an experienced but low-profile
executive to steer the iconic Hollywood studio through profound
industry changes including consolidation and the rise of
streaming.
Ms. Sarnoff will be the first woman to lead Warner Bros. in its
centurylong history. Her appointment as chairwoman and chief
executive is unusual in an industry where familiar faces within the
Hollywood studio business are often tapped for the biggest
jobs.
Ms. Sarnoff replaces Kevin Tsujihara, who resigned in March amid
an investigation into an extramarital relationship he had with an
actress in 2013. Mr. Tsujihara had sent text messages promising to
inquire about roles for the woman at Warner. He apologized to
employees for his conduct and said his leadership had become a
distraction to the company.
Ms. Sarnoff, 57 years old, will oversee business operations at
one of the entertainment industry's most prolific and powerful
content producers, and will report to WarnerMedia Chief Executive
John Stankey.
She has held several senior positions in media and sports. Prior
to joining the BBC, where she has worked for nearly a decade, her
titles included executive vice president at Viacom Inc.'s
Nickelodeon and chief operating officer of the Women's National
Basketball Association. She also was a top executive at Wall Street
Journal parent Dow Jones & Co.
WarnerMedia is betting her mix of experience will help it
navigate in TV and movie industries increasingly dominated by
streaming media. The company, which became part of AT&T Inc.
this year, plans to launch a streaming-video service late this year
to compete against Netflix Inc. Developing original Warner shows
and movies for that service, as well as stocking it with older hits
from the Warner library, is a priority. Determining how much to
invest in that venture and which properties should be featured on
the service will be tricky terrain.
In a statement, Mr. Stankey said Ms. Sarnoff "brings a
consistent and proven track record of innovation, creativity and
business results to lead an incredibly successful studio to its
next chapter of growth."
Ms. Sarnoff is inheriting a film and TV operation that is
competing against the Hollywood colossus formed when Walt Disney
Co. acquired 21st Century Fox entertainment assets in a $71.3
billion deal earlier this year. The deal included the Twentieth
Century Fox studio.
Warner Bros.' TV operation develops shows for all major
networks, including the CBS hits "Mom" and "Young Sheldon" and the
recently completed "The Big Bang Theory," as well as reality shows
like "The Bachelor."
On the film side, whereas Disney is focused on family-friendly
films, Warner Bros. is more of a traditional movie studio,
producing features that appeal to several demographics. It was No.
2 among major studios in box-office market share from 2016 to 2018.
Releasing more films than any of its competitors has helped its
ranking.
Though last year included the hits "A Star Is Born" and "Crazy
Rich Asians," the studio hasn't had a break-out success since its
executive drama spilled into public view earlier this year.
It has had only modest performers like "Pokemon Detective
Pikachu" and "Shazam!" Recent misses have included "Godzilla: King
of the Monsters," a reboot of "Shaft" and "The Sun Is Also a
Star."
Warner Bros. does have some of Hollywood's most promising
franchises, including Harry Potter and DC Comics, top commodities
that can generate revenue far beyond the theater in toys and
theme-park attractions. Its Harry Potter property has waned in
recent years, with recent installments of the "Fantastic Beasts"
spinoff underperforming at the box office.
The DC Comics cinematic universe of characters like Batman and
Superman allows Warner Bros. to compete with Disney's Marvel
Studios. So far, the DC franchise has yielded hits like "The Dark
Knight" and "Wonder Woman," but overall its releases have failed to
match Marvel at the box office or in critical acclaim.
Ms. Sarnoff's appointment comes after some employees at
WarnerMedia raised concerns internally that the top executives Mr.
Stankey selected following AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner
Inc. were all men. (AT&T closed its purchase in 2018 and began
integrating Time Warner this spring after prevailing in an
antitrust lawsuit brought by the government.) WarnerMedia recently
hired a chief of enterprise inclusion to ensure its workforce is
diverse, and named Molly Battin chief corporate marketing and
branding officer, among other appointments.
Rival studios have often looked to established Hollywood names
when they had openings. When the top studio job was open at
Viacom's Paramount Pictures in 2017, the studio ended up tapping
Jim Gianopulos, who had run Fox's film studio for 16 years before
he was replaced by Stacey Snider, who had previously run Universal
Pictures.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com and Erich Schwartzel at
erich.schwartzel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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