The hello tour for the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger is set to begin as early as Monday, Deadline hears, with multiple meet and greets planned across the country that will culminate with a town hall later in the week. CEO David Zaslav is expected to press the flesh in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Seattle ahead of one big employee town hall on either Wednesday or Thursday, said an insider. Before the in-persons can happen, however, there are still two final steps in the $43B merger: the Discovery shareholder meeting tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET and formal close of the deal tomorrow afternoon.
Details emerged earlier today about the new management structure, with HBO/HBO Max topper Casey Bloys, Warner Bros. Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich and Warner Bros. TV Group chief Channing Dungey staying put while J-B Perrette will oversee streaming and unscripted programming exec Kathleen Finch will top linear networks. Bruce Campbell, a distribution exec at Discovery will assume a similar role at the new company.
Investigating Accident On OSHA – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into Monday’s accident on the Georgia set of Tales of the Walking Dead, where a crew member was injured when she fell from the top deck of a riverboat, struck a railing on the lower level and fell into the lake at Stone Mountain Park east of Atlanta. “OSHA initiated an investigation into this incident, and therefore we are unable to share anything further at this time,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Dept. of Labor told Deadline.
The injured woman, who is a member of Atlanta’s IATSE Local 479, recently underwent surgery. So far, neither the production company, the union nor OSHA has provided her identity or an update on her condition.
Norman Reedus: “Getting Better” After ‘Walking Dead’ Set Accident; Back at Work on March 22
Production on the show was suspended Tuesday but resumed on Wednesday in the wake of the accident, which was first reported by Deadline. The boat and dock involved in the accident are commonly used as the casino boat setting for Netflix’s Ozark.