According to Brian Cox, Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t “understand the value” of Turner Classic Movies and is willing to defend the channel “to the death.”
The actor from HBO’s series Succession wrote an essay for Variety speaking to TCM’s lasting legacy and preservation of classic films. He also called out WBD for not understanding the value the channel has.
“TCM has been under threat lately, particularly by the guy who runs Warner Bros. Discovery now; they don’t understand the value of it,” Cox wrote. “But TCM is always illuminating, revealing, and invaluable as an actor. It’s like mother’s milk to me. I’ll defend it to the death.”
TCM switched up its leadership during rounds of layoffs in June. WBD considered shelving the network altogether until Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson held an emergency meeting with CEO David Zaslav to negotiate to save the channel. The group agreed to step in voluntarily to develop TCM’s programming and curation in a unique agreement initiated by Zaslav to show his “commitment to honoring the TCM legacy.”
TCM network is one of the few remaining tribute channels to classic films that shaped the world of cinema. Cox said he was “horrified” when WBD approached TCM in an interview with Above The Line.
“The head of Warner Brothers, once they get rid of Turner Classic Movies, which I think is one of the most vital resources…. I just love that sense of who we are, where we’ve come from, and our history,” said Cox. “The way that TCM presents it are incredible resources because they really make me understand how far we’ve traveled. But also how far we haven’t traveled… we’ve traveled technically, but in terms of the truth of acting, there are no more true players than Spencer Tracy or Katherine Hepburn. And you see them together in what they create, so the cinema has always been vital to me. Absolutely vital.”