David Zaslav loves classic Turner movies, but is that enough to save them? (Column)

Last week, the National Society of Film Critics awarded "TÁR" the award for best film of the year, but it also presented an award that was also a call for corporate investment. As the winner of this year's 'Film Heritage Awards', Turner Classic Movies received a citation for its 'rich range of programming that spans deep and wide in film history, a service too easily taken for granted by the public and worthy of the greatest care. and the attention of its business owners."

As a member of the NSFC, I was happy to vote for this award. Few curatorial entities preserve film history while presenting it to mass audiences; of these, only TCM has the backing of a major media company. That's why I fear we'll lose it - and why broader efforts to preserve film history are also at risk.

The economy, a fragile box office and a gloomier valuation of streaming have forced every media company to re-examine its costs and strategies. I don't know TCM's numbers, but it's definitely not set up to be a profit center like HBO Max or Warner Bros. Pictures. Instead, TCM has survived for nearly 30 years as a modest outlet that carries everything from Golden Age Hollywood staples to international art house sensations, and has allowed generations of moviegoers to maintain a relationship with the medium's past.

During the company's previous corporate era, AT&T executive John Stankey decided that TCM's future lay in a streaming presence on HBO Max. Under the current WarnerBros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav HBO Max and Discovery+ will become a single streaming service this spring – and TCM will fit into it in some way. But even the people who work there don't have much to do.

"It's a bigger corporate calendar for spring, but that's all we know," TCM general manager Pola Changnon told me this week. "The big question is, 'What's the future of a network brand?' What we're looking to do in the platforms available in this business is leverage our curation, regardless of its format."

Like almost every other part of WBD, TCM had to deal with layoffs last year. A representative for WBD declined to provide details, but said its cuts were commensurate with those across the company. During our conversation, Changnon projected confidence in support for TCM coming from the top. She was on a lunch break after a retreat Zaslav hosted this week for the company's new organizational leadership and said the executive expressed enthusiasm for TCM at the start of the merger.

"When he first met me, right after the deal was done in April, he said he had TCM in his office all the time," she said. declared. "I thought it over, of course, but his assistant said, 'No, really. "Now I know it's true because everyone is talking about it."

She got used to the need to justify TCM, which originally grew out of Ted Turner's acquisition of the MGM library. Now, much of TCM programming comes from licensed material from other sources. "TCM is a unique brand within the portfolio," Changnon said. “Sometimes it can be tricky. We can be lost in the shuffle. Everyone deals with the sale of commercials and new programming. We feel lucky that in this new world at the top, someone cares about us. »

Of course, empathy won't get you far. Previous leadership killed the TCM-Criterion FilmStruck joint venture. Under the new regime, the TCM hub on HBO Max is hosted by HBO Max staff, not TCM. Internal support stems from the lingering impression of a "reputational asset" that also serves as a platform for Warner Bros.' vast library of classic films.

In April, the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood will host the 13th annual TCM Classic Film Festival, a popular event that usually sells out. This year it's also celebrating the studio's centennial, which kind of means the event turns into a marketing spend. "The capital-C company is excited, looking into it, and looking forward to developing this experience," Changnon said.

She added that Zaslav was so moved by TCM's "In Memoriam" tribute to the classic movie personalities who died last year that he insisted it be aired on all of their other networks. What happens when TCM isn't a network, because networks don't exist?

We say goodbye to the artists we lost this year. Although they are no longer with us, their contributions to film and storytelling will continue to inspire us, take us to new places and inspire generations to come.

"The night we...