The Turner Classic Movies brand remains in flux after a busy week that saw a rare statement from three of Hollywood's top filmmakers in support of the Warner Bros. Discovery channel after the departure of network general manager Pola Changnon as well as the reported departures of several network executives, due in part to Warner Bros. Discovery layoffs. 

News of the executive departures led to a rare union of film icons Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, who said in a joint statement that they had recently spoken to WBD CEO David Zaslav about their concerns revolving around the network’s future.   

TCM, which has offered top vintage Hollywood films commercial-free since its inception in 1994, took a major executive hit this week as Changnon left the company, while recent WBD executive layoffs played a part in the departure of other senior executives including senior VP of programming and content strategy Charlie Tabesh, VP of marketing and creative Dexter Fedor, TCM Enterprises VP Genevieve McGillicuddy and VP of studio production executive Anne Wilson, according to published reports. 

“Turner Classic Movies has always been more than just a channel … it is truly a precious resource of cinema, open 24 hours a day seven days a week,” Anderson, Scorcese and Spielberg said in the statement. ”We have each spent time talking to David, separately and together, and it’s clear that TCM and classic cinema are very important to him. Our primary aim is to ensure that TCM’s programming is untouched and protected.”

Changnon was immediately replaced by former TCM head Michael Ouweleen. WBD chairman and chief content officer U.S. Networks Group Kathleen Finch said in a statement Tuesday that Ouweleen, who also runs Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family and Boomerang, would oversee a “seamless transition” at TCM and “shares our passion for classic films, and believes strongly in TCM’s essential role in preserving and spotlighting iconic movies.” 

Despite the outreach from Spielberg, Scorsese and Anderson, industry observers are not convinced that TCM will not change under the new regime. 

“I’m not sure that the comments from Spielberg, Scorsese and Anderson are as comforting as many are making it out to be,” Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University’s S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said. “From the news that we’ve gotten so far with all the major executive departures, it’s hard to have confidence because I’m not sure who's going to be left to do the important things that the network does well.” 

WBD’s TCM layoffs and the effects on the network’s brand drew social media backlash as entertainers and film executives rallied to its support. 

Thompson added that the TCM brand has a loyal and vocal fan base that will remain engaged in its future. “In many ways people are most worried about losing this channel because it’s a remnant from the early days of cable,” he said. “TCM as a cable service seems as old school as the old movies that they’re playing … it reminds us of when cable was the new technology.”

Smash, a decade-old musical drama that was on NBC, about a group of singers and dancers hustling to get a Marilyn Monroe musical on stage, is headed to Broadway. Steven Spielberg is producing and Robert Greenblatt, former chairman of NBC Entertainment, is developing. Theresa Rebeck created the show and Neil Meron, an executive producer on the TV series, is producing. 

Susan Stroman is the director. 

The Broadway show is scheduled for the 2024-2025 season. 

Smash lasted for two seasons on NBC, debuting in 2012. The first season saw the characters struggle to bring the Monroe musical, called Bombshell, to stage. In the second season, it was a show called Hit List. 

Smash has retained a cult following despite its cancellation a decade ago. 

Greenblatt told the New York Times the stage production is seen as “a comedy about a musical.” 

Meron has produced NBC’s live stage productions, including The Sound of Music, Peter Pan and Annie Live! ■

Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin Partners, has entered into an unlikely deal to distribute films through Netflix, the two companies announced Monday. 

It's not clear as to how many movies and TV shows will be provided to Netflix by Amblin, which also has an output deal with Comcast-owned Universal Pictures.

Three years ago, Spielberg was a vocal critic when Netflix sought--and achieved--Oscar consideration for motion picture Roma, lobbying the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to deem Netflix content as TV, not film. 

Earlier this year, however, Amblin film The Trial of the Chicago Seven was nominated by the Academy for Best Picture after debuting on Netflix. 

Also Read: Netflix Launches Its Own Store, Netflix.shop

“At Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the center of everything we do, and from the minute Ted and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways," Spielberg said in a statement. "This new avenue for our films, alongside the stories we continue to tell with our longtime family at Universal and our other partners, will be incredibly fulfilling for me personally since we get to embark on it together with Ted, and I can’t wait to get started with him, Scott, and the entire Netflix team.”

Netflix Co-CEO and chief content officer Sarandos called Spielberg “a creative visionary and leader and, like so many others around the world, my growing up was shaped by his memorable characters and stories that have been enduring, inspiring and awakening. We cannot wait to get to work with the Amblin team and we are honored and thrilled to be part of this chapter of Steven’s cinematic history.”

Apple TV+ Saturday continued its run of new series renewals in advance of their premieres with the greenlighting of a second season of comedy series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet.

The series, which debuts on Feb. 7, is set in a video game development studio and stars Rob McElhenney, F. Murray Abraham and Imani Hakim, said the streaming service during its Television Critics Association press winter press tour session. Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet is produced by David Hornsby.

In other Apple TV+ news, the service has set a March 6 date for the reboot of Steven Spielberg’s 1980s anthology series Amazing Stories. The service will also debut it's unscripted series Home on April 17; its drama/thriller series Defending Jacob -- starring Chris Evans -- on April 24; UK-based comedy series Trying on May 1; and docu-series Dear -- from producer R.J. Cutler that will chronicle the lives of such iconic celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder and Spike Lee -- on June 5. 

For more stories like this, visit our sister publication Next TV.

TNT has teamed with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television to develop a pilot for Lumen, the network said.

Lumen, which focuses on an exciting fantasy about a family locked in an alternate world, will be produced by TNT Original Productions in association with Full Fathom Five and ABC Signature Studios. The pilot is set to be directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger, Jumanji, The Rocketeer) from a script by Chris Black (Mad Men, Desperate Housewives), said network officials.