Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson really are saving TCM
All it took was a round of layoffs and the three most powerful directors in Hollywood to save a cultural institution
The crisis at TCM appears over—for now. After last week’s surprise round of layoffs at the beloved classic movie channel, capped off by a meeting between three of Hollywood’s most influential directors, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, things were looking bleak. However, all it took was Hollywood’s biggest names to “volunteer” their time to shepherd the station so it could remain an entity.
Per IndieWire, Spielberg, Scorsese, and Anderson are taking non-salary positions at TCM, providing guidance on programming and, we presume, playing the role of human shield against Zaslav’s habitual cost-cutting. They’ll also offer expertise as advisors on host segments, curation, and programming. Though, as some have pointed out on Twitter, requiring three of Hollywood’s most powerful to protect a single entity after a round of layoffs is not a good sign for the industry at large. Essentially, WBD got the three best interns on Earth to protect one of the most beloved cultural institutions on television.
