It’s official: Film studio veteran Alan Horn is helping out the new team at Warner Bros. Discovery.
The newly minted company — born when Discovery bought Warners from AT&T — has brought aboard Horn as a consultant during the transition period. Among other duties, he’ll assist Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who have been tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to run the movie studio (the duo replace Toby Emmerich).
Zaslvav has been in talk with Horn for more months, according to a staff memo circulated by Zazlav on Thursday. The high-profile hire is a reunion of sorts for Horn, who did a long stint as co-chairman of Warner Bros. prior to joining Disney. He left the Disney gig at the end of last year.
Here is Zaslav’s memo to staff in full:
All,
I am thrilled to share with you that Alan Horn, one of the most respected studio executives in the industry, has agreed to assist me in a consultant role during this transition period, starting August 1.
No one knows this business better than Alan does. He has had an extraordinary career spanning nearly half a century. Most recently, he served as chairman and later co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, where for a period of nearly 10 years, he oversaw the production of all motion pictures and the integration of Lucasfilm and the Fox film studios, as well as the expansion into producing content for Disney’s streaming services.
Over the past six months, I have been fortunate to spend time with Alan. He has been generous and hugely helpful to me, and I’ve learned a ton about the business from our conversations. I could not be more excited to be able to continue to tap into his thinking, expertise and stellar instincts as we transition our film business and hone our motion picture strategy for the future. And I know Mike and Pam are equally excited to have Alan’s ear and to be able to benefit from his wealth of experience gained from such an illustrious track record.
In many ways this is a homecoming. Alan began his career with the legendary Norman Lear and partners Jerry Perenchio and Bud Yorkin, and later co-founded and led Castle Rock Entertainment before serving as president and COO of Warner Bros. for 12 years. He knows the ins and outs of this studio and helped build it into the powerhouse it is today. He also has wide-spread talent relations and great respect and appreciation for our unparalleled collection of IP, and will be able to provide a unique and valued perspective to the overall creative process. We’re so glad to have him join us.
David
Source: Hollywood
