Home Original page

Warner Bros. Entertainment

Page semi-protected

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Logo used since 2023[1]

Warner Bros.'s offices in Burbank, California

Warner Bros.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
Predecessors
FoundedApril 4, 1923; 102 years ago (earliest predecessor)
December 3, 2002; 23 years ago (current incorporated entity)
Founders
Headquarters4000 Warner Boulevard,

Burbank, California

,

US

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Products
Brands
RevenueDecrease US$12.15 billion (2020)
Decrease US$2.07 billion (2020)

Number of employees

est. 8,000 (2014)
Parent
Divisions
Subsidiaries
Websitewarnerbros.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4][5]

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI)[a] is an American multinational film and entertainment corporation currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California. The modern Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. entity was formed on December 3, 2002,[8] at which time it was part of AOL Time Warner.

Warner Bros. Entertainment is best known for its film studio division of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios and is the third oldest film studio in the United States still in operation, after Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, both founded in 1912. It also includes Warner Bros. Television Group which includes the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios, which includes a 50% ownership interest in the CW broadcast television network co-owned with Paramount Skydance and the Nexstar Media Group.

It is commonly referred to as simply "Warner Bros.", although some Warner Bros. branded entities are not part of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences is a separate division of Warner Bros. Discovery that includes Warner Bros. Games as well as theme park operations. Warner Music Group has been an independent company since being spun off from Time Warner in 2004.

The company's official mascot is Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Ben Hardaway, Cal Dalton, Charles Thorson, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens, and Robert McKimson as part of the Looney Tunes film series.

History

Predecessors

The company is indirectly derived from the original Warner Bros. Pictures, which was founded in 1923 by four brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack L. Warner. The company established itself as a leader in the American film industry, before diversifying into animation, television, and video games.

Prior to 1992, the film and television production units derived from the original Warner Bros. Pictures were part of the Warner Bros. Inc. subsidiary of what was then Time Warner. That year, Time Warner transferred most of its film, television production, and cable businesses, including the Warner Bros. assets, into Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P. (TWEC), a new limited partnership with Toshiba and C. Itoh & Co. where each invested US$500 million for a 6.25% share. The deal was intended to relieve debt pressure from the then-recent merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications.[9][10]

In 1993, US West joined the partnership with a US$2.5 billion investment for a 25% share.[11] By 1996, TWEC was owned 74.49% by Time Warner and the remainder by US West.[12]

Current entity

In March 2003, AOL Time Warner regained full control of the Warner Bros. film and television production assets from TWEC and placed them in the newly formed Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. wholly-owned subsidiary, which had been formed on December 3, 2002. (TWEC retained only Time Warner Cable, which was eventually spun off.)[8][13]

Warner Bros. Entertainment eventually gained new assets that had been derived from acquisitions. Several were derived from the 1996 acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System by Time Warner: Castle Rock Entertainment was moved into Warner Bros. Entertainment in 1997,[14] Turner Entertainment Co. by 2006,[15] New Line Cinema in 2008,[16] and Turner Classic Movies in 2019.[17][16][18][19] Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe became part of Warner Bros. Entertainment as a result of the 2022 merger with Discovery, Inc.[20]

Organization

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group

Warner Bros. Television Group

Executive management

Notes

  1. ^ Pronounced "Warner Brothers".[6] The abbreviated form is always used in writing, except when referring to the four Warner brothers themselves.[7] It is never read out loud as "Warner Bros" (-⁠BROHZ or similarly); the opening voiceover of The Lego Batman Movie (2017) alludes to this common mistake.

References

  1. ^ a b Burgos, Matthew (May 4, 2023). "warner bros. logo gets a thicker, bolder, and sharper look from chermayeff & geismar & haviv". Designboom. Archived from the original on May 4, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "2020 Financial and Operational Trends" (PDF). AT&T. January 27, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Company history". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  4. ^ Patten, Dominic; Yamato, Jen. "Warner Bros Layoffs Long Planned But "Accelerated" By Failed Fox Bid". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Warner Archive Collection podcast". Warnerbros.com. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  6. ^ Thomson, David (2017). Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780300197600. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  7. ^ Gomery, Douglas; Pafort-Overduin, Clara (2011). Movie History: A Survey (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 9781136835254. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b Kobrin, Janet A. (2007-02-26). "Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. The Kaplan Trust: Declaration of Janet A. Kobrin" (PDF). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 2026-01-01.
  9. ^ "Japanese partners close Time Warner deal". UPI. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  10. ^ Willman, David (1992-07-01). "Time Warner Completes Deal With Japanese". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  11. ^ "Time Warner closes U S West deal". UPI. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  12. ^ "TIME WARNER COMPANIES INC (Form: 10-Q)". Edgar Online. 1996-11-14. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  13. ^ "Time Warner Inc.: Annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003 (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  14. ^ Cox, Dan (December 7, 1997). "Castle Rock near split-rights deal". Variety.
  15. ^ "EX-21 SUBSIDIARIES OF THE REGISTRANT". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  16. ^ a b "Dial 'D' for disaster: The fall of New Line Cinema". The Independent. London. April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022.
  17. ^ Lauren Feiner (March 4, 2019). "WarnerMedia reorganizes its leadership team after AT&T acquisition". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  18. ^ Michael Schneider (March 12, 2019). "What the End of the Turner Brand Could Mean for Its Channels". Variety. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  19. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (March 4, 2019). "Warner Bros. Wants to Rev Up Kid's Content With Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera". Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  20. ^ Schneider, Michael (2022-10-12). "Warner Bros. TV Group Lays Off 82 Staffers, Consolidates Some Unscripted and Animation Departments in Belt-Tightening Restructure". Variety. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  21. ^ "Warner Bros. forms digital networks division". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  22. ^ "Home Entertainment". www.warnerbros.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  23. ^ "WarnerBros.com | Warner Bros. Entertainment Forms Industry's First Dedicated Worldwide Anti-Piracy Unit | Press Releases". www.warnerbros.com.
  24. ^ Maas, Jennifer (2022-08-15). "Nexstar to Acquire 75% Stake in the CW Network From Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery". Variety. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  25. ^ Hayes, Dade (2022-08-15). "The CW Will Be A Profitable Network By 2025, With Broader And Cheaper Programming, New Owners At Nexstar Signal". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-08-15.