Famous Directors Try to Save Classic Movie Channel From Modern Revisions

(Left) Paul Thomas Anderson attends the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on April 13, 2023. (Gregg DeGuire/Stringer via Getty Images); (Center) Director Martin Scorsese attends the "Killers of The Flower Moon" photocall at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on May 21, 2023. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images); (Right) Steven Spielberg attends the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny U.S. Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on June 14, 2023. (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

The once popular Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel, which recently suffered lay-offs at the hands of its parent company and has in the past been accused of censoring films from its library, may be set for a revamp.

That’s according to a recent report by entertainment publication Deadline detailing a meeting between directors Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Thomas Anderson with David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), about the classic film channel’s future. Zaslav had reached out to the Hollywood heavyweights about the restructuring of the long-running pay-TV network.

WBD owns TCM and recently announced a set of layoffs, which prompted speculation that TCM’s future was in question.

According to reports, WBD cut TCM’s staff from 90 people to 20. Among the execs laid off were Executive Vice President and General Manager Pola Changnon, Senior Vice President of Programming and Content Strategy Charles Tabesh, Vice President of Brand Creative and Marketing Dexter Fedor, Vice President of Enterprises and Strategic Partnerships Genevieve McGillicuddy, and Vice President of Studio Production Anne Wilson.

Weighty Directors Stepping Up for Classic Movies

But then Scorsese, Spielberg, and Anderson stepped in. All are advocates of film preservation and the importance of linking film lovers with the history of movie-making. Both Anderson and Spielberg are on the board of the Film Foundation, which is a film restoration and preservation organization founded by Scorsese.

The meeting led the trio to issue the following statement: “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. And while it has never been a financial juggernaut, it has always been a profitable endeavor since its inception.”

“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,” the statement continued. “We are heartened and encouraged by the conversations we’ve had thus far, and we are committed to working together to ensure the continuation of this cultural touchstone that we all treasure.”

On stage during the 14th TCM Classic Film Festival in April, Zaslav himself spoke out in April about the importance of restoring and preserving Warner Bros.’ classic films as the studio headed into its 100th anniversary year.

“I’m a fan just like you. If I wasn’t here, I would be sitting with you,” he told the crowd. “I watch Turner Classic Movies all the time. It’s the history of our country, the motion pictures.”

Channel Once Served Lovers of Hollywood’s Golden Era

That’s as for 29 years, TCM served as a Hollywood museum and vault of sorts, full of unequaled motion pictures from Tinsel Town’s Golden era. Classic films like 1940’s Pride and Prejudice and 1953’s Calamity Jane to 1955’s East of Eden and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo made in 1958 have been among those shown by the channel.

Viewers could look forward to the stylish and informative way they were introduced by host Robert Osborne, who consistently provided appropriate context behind the film. That’s as they were also assured the movies themselves were unedited, uncut, and commercial-free. Movie watchers were then set up and free to interpret the aesthetics and meaning of the film themselves.

More recently, however, that has changed, leaving some to question if the network could ever be what it once was in the wake of some of its films being censored like The French Connection recently was. There have also been prologues made by TCM explaining to viewers how they might interpret a film like Gone With the Wind.

The channel’s “woke” bent began during the summer of 2020 when the Black Lives Matter protests broke out. That’s when the channel’s hosts and programmers presented “Reframed Classics.” The series provided discussions about 18 culturally notable films from the 1920s through the 1960s, which included Gone With the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Swing Time, which included Fred Astaire in blackface.