A day after a series of high-profile layoffs at Turner Classic Movies sparked outrage among the film community, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has installed new leadership at the beloved cable network.
IndieWire has confirmed that Warner Bros. Film Group co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will add oversight of TCM to their portfolio of responsibilities. De Luca and Adby are expected to oversee programming at TCM, taking over for longtime general manager Pola Changnon programming head Charles Tabesh, who were both laid off on Wednesday.
In addition to Changnon and Tabesh, the layoffs included VP of brand creative and marketing Dexter Fedor; VP of enterprises and strategic partnerships Genevieve McGillicuddy, who also served as the director of the annual TCM Film Festival; and VP of studio production Anne Wilson. Among their responsibilities were curating lineups, shooting intros and outros, and creating original shows, documentaries, and video essays.
While Zaslav had publicly expressed his support for TCM on multiple occasions, many feared that the company’s cost-cutting measures and focus on tentpole franchises would inevitably lead to the niche cable network being neglected. Many prominent voices were quick to defend the channel’s role in the larger film ecosystem after the news of layoffs broke.
“If TCM is neglected, or God forbid, shuttered, it would be a massive loss to cinema culture,” IndieWire’s Christian Blauvelt wrote. “It would devalue Warner Bros.’ own legacy — if they don’t care about this unique way of putting their history on display and in context, why should filmmakers believe that Warner Bros. values cinema beyond the bottom line?”
Shortly after the TCM layoffs were announced, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson met with Zaslav to discuss the network’s future. Afterwards, they released a statement expressing their continued support for TCM and optimism about its future.
“We have each spent time talking to David, separately and together, and it’s clear that TCM and classic cinema are very important to him. Our primary aim is to ensure that TCM’s programming is untouched and protected,” the three directors said in a statement. “We are heartened and encouraged by the conversations we’ve had thus far, and we are committed to working together to ensure the continuation of this cultural touchstone that we all treasure.”
