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An Open Letter To Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara (Contains: Ether)

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http://www.pajiba.com/think_pieces/...hara-about-layoffs-zack-snyder-and-donuts.php

A lot of fans might be angry (and rightfully so) because you keep completely whiffing at properties that they are desperate to love and enjoy, but this is a little more personal for me. See, I am a former Warner Bros employee. I have so much respect for your studio. I love every square inch of that magical backlot, from Stars Hollow to the fitness center I always meant to use. The people I worked with during my time with your company are now close friends. On my last day, I hugged them and I told them I loved them.

I was also there in 2014, when you made the decision to lay off 10 percent of your workforce. It was a terrible year. Let me catch you up: Every morning I woke up with a pit in my stomach, because I assumed that would be the day I lost my job. Every day I saw someone packing up their desk, or carrying a box to their car. I can not describe to you the relief I felt when my department was told we were safe, or the guilt I felt afterwards walking through the halls of my office with that relief.

That year we pursued the storytelling vision of Adam Sandler's Blended and Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys. Failures. We pursued a potentially great summer movie like Edge of Tomorrow and completely botched its release. Same with Man From UNCLE. We dug in our heels and hoped The Hobbit Trilogy would somehow stop being a mediocre case of diminishing returns. Talented, loyal people packed their boxes and went home while your story tellers dropped the ball.

And here we are. I got back from my screening and dusted this sucker off. You, your executive team, and the vision of your 'extraordinary storytellers' that resulted in the loss of around one thousand jobs seem intent on crashing the ship into as much shit as you can find in the ocean by making inane decisions over and over again.

Zack Snyder is not delivering. Is he being punished? Assistants who were doing fantastic work certainly were. People in finance and in marketing and in IT. They had no say in a movie called Batman V Superman only having 8 minutes of Batman fighting Superman in it, that ends because their moms have the same name. Snyder is a producer on every DC movie. He is still directing Justice League. He is being rewarded with more opportunity to get more people laid off. I'm assuming you yourself haven't been financially affected in any real way. You and your studio are the biggest lesson about life one can learn: The top screws up and the bottom suffers. Peter Jackson phones it in and a marketing supervisor has to figure out a plan B for house payments.

You just don't get it. And it's not just DC movies, it's your whole slate. Jupiter Ascending. Get Hard. Hot Pursuit. Max. Vacation. Pan. Point Break. Fucking PAN, you jerk. People lost their jobs and you decided Pan was a good idea. You think another Jungle Book is a good idea.

What are you even doing? I wish to God you were forced to live out of a car until you made a #1 movie of the year. Maybe Wonder Woman wouldn't be such a mess. Don't try to hide behind the great trailer. People inside are already confirming it's another mess. It is almost impressive how you keep rewarding the same producers and executives for making the same mistakes, over and over.
Can't tell if it's legit but the effect's the same either way.

Edit: Highlighted a key factor that might get people to actually, y'know, read it.

Edit 2: Redacted parts.
 

Scum

Junior Member
RoyPlease.png
 

Mariolee

Member
Some of these dorks need a serious hobby.

Is what I would have said too if I didn't read the letter.

The fact that she used to work at Warner Bros. definitely gives this more weight, as it's not just the layman expressing disappointment with the studio. It's someone from the inside who has personally seen the works of the studio destroy livelihoods in the name of producing mediocrity, and that is endlessly frustrating and well deserving of a letter like this if not much much more.
 
Was it previously known that insiders are reporting that Wonder Woman is a mess?

I remember quite a few letters being sent to the CEO of an old company I worked for that read something like this. WB better pray They don't find a way to fuck up Fantastic Beasts or Skull Island.
 
One problem I have with this letter is that he doesn't address the executive meddling happening at WB. He's blaming the creators, but not really bringing up that WB keeps cutting up their movies, panicking, and editing by committee.

It's what happened with BVS and with Suicide Squad
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
I mean, he's totally burning his bridge in Hollywood (who is gonna work with him again), but: He's completely right. How the fuck does Snyder still have a job on the DC universe after Batman vs Superman?
 

Boem

Member
Some of these dorks need a serious hobby.

I'm guessing you didn't read it. It's a former employee, mostly talking about the studio wasting talent, money and the people at the bottom losing their jobs because of mistakes at the top.

It's not a rant because the Joker has weird tattoos or something.
 

Gleethor

Member
One problem I have with this letter is that he doesn't address the executive meddling happening at WB. He's blaming the creators, but not really bringing up that WB keeps cutting up their movies, panicking, and editing by committee.

It's what happened with BVS and with Suicide Squad

He kind of does, but it comes off as more of an anti-Snyder thing than anything else. Why is it on Snyder to deliver with BvS but not on Ayer to deliver with SS?
 

Toxi

Banned
One problem I have with this letter is that he doesn't address the executive meddling happening at WB. He's blaming the creators, but not really bringing up that WB keeps cutting up their movies, panicking, and editing by committee.

It's what happened with BVS and with Suicide Squad
It's still the guys at the bottom taking the fall either way.
 

VeeP

Member
lol the CEO wont read a open letter by a angry nerd on the internet looking for attention.

Whether the CEO reads it or not, that angry nerd on the internet is right. So that CEO can keep on making shit movies, while the CEO at Disney keeps making great movies & making sure people aren't getting fired for his shit decisions.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
He kind of does, but it comes off as more of an anti-Snyder thing than anything else. Why is it on Snyder to deliver with BvS but not on Ayer to deliver with SS?

Because isn't Snyder in charge of the ENTIRE DC universe? Plus he's the starting firing shot of the salvo that is the DC universe. If his shot misses, do you think he'll kill the target (get the audience) for the others?
 

guek

Banned
Was it previously known that insiders are reporting that Wonder Woman is a mess?

That jumped out at me too. It's the first I've heard of it but this woman has connections if her story is legit so I'm prone to believe her.

As for the rest of the letter, it's on point. WB is going down the shitter and they need to find a new direction fast.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Some of these dorks need a serious hobby.
No way in hell you bothered to read the OP, you replied less than a minute after the thread was posted. It is insane how they keep dropping the ball with their films. Like even if some DC fans like these films, which is to be expected, they just aren't good films from a critical perspective.
 

- J - D -

Member
I mean, one producer was scapego...uh "shifted' after the slate of DCEU disasters. Charles Roven was thrown to the wolves. Snyder is being phased out after JL.

I'm not sure this is really Tsujihara's fault, and the bottom rungs of the company seeing the brunt of damage in terms of job loss is not a new concept in the world of mega corporations.
 

Ahasverus

Member
Because isn't Snyder in charge of the ENTIRE DC universe? Plus he's the starting firing shot of the salvo that is the DC universe. If his shot misses, do you think he'll kill the target (get the audience) for the others?
No? Johns is, starting with WW.
 

Toxi

Banned
The point here isn't so much that Warner Bros is making shitty movies.

It's that they're making shitty movies and employees like this woman are getting punished for it when they have little actual input in those decisions. And despite all this, it doesn't look like they're doing anything that will actually change their output for the better.
 

iammeiam

Member
And Wonder Woman is another mess? I hope this turns out to be fake but that wouldn't be surprising unfortunately.

Based on what they did to Suicide Squad, it seems likely if WW isn't rock-solid they're going to totally fuck it up trying to cut it into something more appealing.

The letter is interesting because it treats the DC failure not as comic book fan rage, but as actually fucking over people's lives by repeatedly mishandling what should have been a sure thing. And the decision makers can insulate themselves from a lot of the fallout; even assuming Tsujihara is eventually forced out I assume he has a nice exit package prearranged.
 

Gleethor

Member
Because isn't Snyder in charge of the ENTIRE DC universe? Plus he's the starting firing shot of the salvo that is the DC universe. If his shot misses, do you think he'll kill the target (get the audience) for the others?

If he didn't get final cut on his own movie he sure as hell doesn't get it on Ayer's, and editing is like half the battle for these films right now.
 
Is what I would have said too if I didn't read the letter.

The fact that he used to work at Warner Bros. definitely gives this more weight, as it's not just the layman expressing disappointment with the studio. It's someone from the inside who has personally seen the works of the studio destroy livelihoods in the name of producing mediocrity, and that is endlessly frustrating and well deserving of a letter like this if not much much more.

Former employees of a thousand companies always post shit like this. Some call to arms to rally the troop, change leadership and to save the company he or she dearly loves. It's a former employee.

Says Neo GAF poster

you're not clever, my point stands. Find something better than shit posting.

I'm guessing you didn't read it. It's a former employee, mostly talking about the studio wasting talent, money and the people at the bottom losing their jobs because of mistakes at the top.

It's not a rant because the Joker has weird tattoos or something.

You didn't read the letter did you?

I did read the letter, seeing as it's against TOS not to read a thread OP.
It's a former employee doing the usual "fire the CEO he's destroying company X"
 

Matsukaze

Member
Goddamn, that was a great read.

Was it previously known that insiders are reporting that Wonder Woman is a mess?
That's what I'm wondering. I must not have been paying attention because I don't recall reading this anywhere before now (I can totally believe it, though).
 
That was pretty brutal.
And Wonder Woman is another mess? I hope this turns out to be fake but that wouldn't be surprising unfortunately.

Yeah, at this point they have to earn the benefit of the doubt. And it's (deservedly) going to take more than good trailers to do that.

Going into WW, or especially JL with Snyder working on it, expecting good after how they've handled everything else is a mistake.
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Wonder how that leaker will feel when some wild-eyed, eight foot tall maniac grabs her neck, taps the back of her favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks her crooked in the eye and he asks her if she's paid her dues.
 

guek

Banned
Former employees of a thousand companies always post shit like this. Some call to arms to rally the troop, change leadership and to save the company he or she dearly loves. It's a former employee.



you're not clever, my point stands. Find something better than shit posting.





I did read the letter, seeing as it's against TOS not to read a thread OP.
It's a former employee doing the usual "fire the CEO he's destroying company X"

You're not actually addressing any of the points of concern in the letter though. You're handwaving it away like there's no problem at WB.
 

Monocle

Member
Some of these dorks need a serious hobby.
lol the CEO wont read a open letter by a angry nerd on the internet looking for attention.
That's some dismissive bullshit. The author made reasonable points. Not "Your movies suck because they don't pander to my nostalgic longings." More like "You're an irresponsible asshole who wrecks people's livelihoods with your boneheaded decisions." Shame on you both.
 

collige

Banned
Former employees of a thousand companies always post shit like this. Some call to arms to rally the troop, change leadership and to save the company he or she dearly loves. It's a former employee. It's a former employee doing the usual "fire the CEO he's destroying company X"
Well yeah, but that has no bearing on whether the "destroying the company" complaint has any validity. Considering both the layoffs and massive string of L's that is the DC cinematic universe I think the criticism is pretty deserved.



Yeah, but considering the OP copied the entire letter (and it's clear that they did from the fact that there's no redacted text), I don't see why most posters would go to the source for this thread.
 

Scum

Junior Member
Wonder how that leaker will feel when some wild-eyed, eight foot tall maniac grabs her neck, taps the back of her favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks her crooked in the eye and he asks her if she's paid her dues.

She could always send the cheque in the mail...
 
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