David Zaslav On Possible WGA Strike: “Assuming The Worst From A Business Perspective”; WBD Boss “Optimistic” Deal Will Be Made

“We’re optimistic that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties,” Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Wednesday about contract negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios and the risk of a strike by the scribes.

“We’re assuming the worst from a business perspective,” Zaslav added today at the Max streaming launch on the Warner Bros lot. “We’ve got ourselves ready. We’ve had a lot of content that’s been produced and we are launching a product on May 23. So, we are ready to go guns blazing in terms of our product and our platforms around the world.”

Warner Bros is one of the studios and streamers that make up the Carol Lombardini-led Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which last month started formal talks with the WGA on a new three-year contract. Compensation is one of the top priorities for the guild, who have been putting a spotlight on the vast sums that executives like Zaslav pull in ($39 million in 2022, $247 million in 2021 with options, bonuses, etc) and the declining earning power of writers in the streaming age.

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“We’re negotiating with people that we highly respect,” a noticeably conciliatory Zaslav said from the stage today, surrounded by core corporate players U.S. networks boss Kathleen Finch, HBO chief Casey Bloys and global streaming and games CEO JB Perrette. “We all play an important role in creating great stories.”

On a spring break of sorts from talks with the studios, the WGA’s strike authorization vote began Tuesday night and will continue until April 17. Expected to deliver a huge mandate to the writers’ Ellen Stutzman-led negotiating committee, the strike vote puts the 11,000-scribe strong guild in a green light position to shut down Hollywood if an agreement with the AMPTP is not in the cards by the end of the month. While few expect a 100-day walkout like what occurred in 2007, the current contract expires May 1 and some picketing, even if short lived, is widely anticipated.

Zaslav’s labor remarks came as the CEO and other Warner Bros Discovery brass rolled out their newly revamped Max streaming service with all the bells and whistles. The presentation of programming, product and pricing represents a significant expansion for WBD one year after the combined company was officially formed. Zaslav’s comments on the WGA also come after several months of cuts, contradictions, tax write-offs and belt-tightening at WBD to service debt, streamline production and control costs. Those actions saw some backlash from the town but have been welcomed on Wall Street.

Although the stock is still down around 30% from where it was in April 2022, WBD shares are up nearly 60% this year.