Lare'l Johnson's List: Barry Meyer Presentation

• Under Meyer’s leadership, Warner Bros. consistently ranked as one of the strongest, most profitable and best-positioned studios in the industry. In 2012, the Warner Bros. Pictures Group grossed $4.3 billion at the worldwide box office ($1.66 billion domestic, $2.67 international) with both its domestic and international divisions crossing the billion-dollar mark for a 12th consecutive year, a feat unmatched by any other studio. The Pictures Group has exceeded $4 billion globally for four consecutive years, also a milestone no other studio has ever achieved.
• Meyer led the company’s efforts to create new business models to fit emerging consumer demands. Warner Bros. holds an industry-leading position in these new markets and works vigorously with other Time Warner companies to leverage the companies’ combined strength to help shape the digital future of the entertainment industry.
• The Studio has the largest, fastest-growing film and television library in the world, some 61,000 hours of programming, consisting of more than 6,500 films
• Meyer joined the Company in 1971 as Director, Business Affairs for Warner Bros. Television, following two and a half years in both the legal and business affairs departments of the ABC Television Network. In 1972, Meyer was named Vice President, Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Television. In 1978, he became Executive Vice President for the television division and in 1984, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. Inc., taking charge of all of the Studio’s television operations.
• In 1994, Meyer took on added responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer, which included oversight of the Company’s general operations (including studio facilities, legal and business affairs, general administration, human resources, labor relations, strategic planning, real estate development and government affairs), as well as all of the Studio’s television production and distribution operations (including Warner Bros. Television, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Animation and the domestic and international television distribution divisions).
• played a similar role in the founding of The CW.
• Meyer often serves as a key advisor on industry-wide production, labor and regulatory issues.
• member of the Board of Councilors of the USC School of Cinematic Arts; a member of the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture Association of America; a member of the Board of the Museum of Television & Radio; a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; a member and former Governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; and a member and past member of the Board of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society. He also is involved in numerous charitable and civic activities, including serving on the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch and on the Advisory Board of the National Museum of American History.
• In January 2010, Meyer was honored with the Directors Guild of America’s Honorary Life Member Award. Meyer was also recognized with the American Jewish Committee’s 2006 Dorothy and Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award for his many humanitarian efforts. Also in 2006, Meyer, along with Alan Horn, then-President & Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros., was presented with the Motion Picture Showmanship Award at the 43rd Annual ICG Publicists Awards.

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• Carrying the title of executive vice president and chief operating officer at Warner Bros., Mr. Meyer is the ranking corporate executive at the studio, behind only chairmen and co-CEOs Robert Daly and Terry Semel.

    

  But where Mr. Meyer really makes his presence known is in television, where he has oversight duties for all the studio's production and distribution operations, including Warner Bros. Television, Witt-Thomas-Harris Productions, Warner Bros. Animation, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and The WB Television Network.

• The key to keeping it all running smoothly? According to Mr. Meyer: Surround yourself with good people, take good care of them, provide a solid vision and step in from time to time to make sure everybody is still on the same track.

    

  "My job is communication," Mr. Meyer says. "Communication between people and between divisions. I try to put some perspective and some long-term vision to it."

    

  In other words, in the vertically integrated TV conglomerate that is Warner Bros., Barry Meyer provides the points of integration. But what about those times when the needs of Warner Bros.' various divisions collide?

    

  "He's a good listener," says Tony Jonas, president of Warner Bros. TV. "Sometimes he has to step in between some difficult divisions within the company, and he's very fair."

• Barry Meyer was presented the Dorothy and Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award by the American Jewish Committee on October 19, 2006. The evening raised a record $1.5 million for the organization. After a keynote address by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, Meyer was awarded.

• Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp., and Meyer, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, began hammering out a deal in top secret that hit the entertainment industry like a bomb when it was unveiled Jan. 24 at a news conference in Manhattan (HR 1/25).
• Dubbed the CW ("C" is for CBS and "W" is for Warner Bros.), the network slated for launch in the fall will comprise programming and executive talent from both of its predecessors. Tribune Co., WB's station partner, and CBS Corp.'s UPN-affliated O&Os have signed 10-year affiliation agreements with the CW. Moonves, Meyer and others stressed that the catalyst for the joint venture largely was because UPN was coming to the end of its affiliation deal with News Corp.-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and six other major markets in August, while Tribune and WE had been in protracted negotiations over a new long-term affiliation pact.
• The CW will be overseen by a board comprising an equal number of CBS-appointed members and Warner Bros.-appointed members

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• he recently joined the board of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. He’s advising the museum on the curation of an exhibit on the influences that shape pop culture — something he’s had a front-row seat to for more than 40 years.

• Time Warner chief executive Jeffrey Bewkes recently asked Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Barry Meyer to remain on the job beyond his scheduled December 2013 departure date. The veteran executive declined to extend his tenure, a knowledgeable source tells THR.

• Mr Meyer’s first job at ABC involved reading sales contracts. He jumped from sales to programme acquisitions and licensing, quickly learning that in a fast-growing business the key is to keep moving.
• ABC sent him to California in 1970; where he was poached by Warner Bros, which was in a state of flux.
• Mr Meyer’s energy and meticulousness helped the TV business grow.

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