Jason Kilar Leaving WarnerMedia Ahead of Discovery Merger

The head of WarnerMedia, Jason Kilar announced his departure from the company on Tuesday. The departure comes days before WarnerMedia is set to complete a merger with Discovery and a new team assumes leadership. 

Kilar was hired by the CEO of WarnerMedia's parent company AT&T, John Stankey in April 2020, just weeks after the pandemic and a month before the launch of its streaming service, HBO Max.

Mr Kilar was focused on getting the company’s streaming service onto the steady ground. He also set about an electing plan called Project Popcorn. In December 2020, he posted on Medium that the Warner Bros 2021 film slate would be released simultaneously in theatres and on HBO Max, a decision.

Streaming analysts praised this decision, and HBO Max did have a strong year. According to AT&T, HBO and HBO Max had more than 20 million subscribers, beating internal expectations.

But the decision landed like a thud for the creative circles in Hollywood. It faced criticism from multiple filmmakers, including Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan and David Chase.