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Quick, hide the silverware!
Word from our compatriots over at the ever-lovin’ Hollywood Reporter has it that the after-shocks of the epic merger between the two towering juggernauts known ‘round the globe as Warner Bros. and Discovery (now referred to – until the next corporate takeover – as simply Warner Bros. Discovery) are still very much being felt. The latest bit of industry news has it that in these economically challenging times Warner Bros. Discovery has opted to sell off its lone office complex in Knoxville, Tennessee, an office that has only been in existence since 2018.
Company restructures are nothing new in the world of mergers; it’s pretty much a safe bet that changes will be-a coming down the pike anytime the new overseers from the purchasing party assume control (see select episodes of Mad Men, Thirtysomething or The Office for reference, Dear and Constant Reader). Throw in a loudly whispered round of gossip regarding a recession and the inevitable becomes even more so. The official line for the Knoxville office closing is that this is a cost-saving endeavor by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
In a press release regarding the sell-off of the offices in question, Big Wheel for Warner Bros. Discovery Gunnar Wiedenfels chortled in his best Hans Gruber voice that “Following a detailed evaluation, we have made the decision to sell our office building in Knoxville. The employee population in Knoxville is much smaller than the current space accommodates and with the addition of hybrid working options, we can reap the benefits of selling a building which we do not fully utilize.”
Where’s John McClane when you need him?
Wiedenfels went on to explain that the company had plans “to relocate our Knoxville operations and employees to a new leased office space, with an anticipated move date of June 2023. We expect that there will be a variety of working arrangements as a result of this change – some roles may be hybrid, and some may be fully remote.”
The behemoth entertainment corporation is supposedly looking to cut out an estimated $3 billion in cost-savings.
This one’s a little personal for ye olde scribbler of pop culture words: I literally grew up in the Knoxville area, spending many summers on my grandparent’s farm as a young boy. Knoxville is a beautiful town and we here at Vents wish them all of the best as a big source of revenue for them disappears almost overnight. That’s Big Corporations for you though and, to borrow a famous line from a classic movie, “It’s China Town, Jake.” It most certainly is.
