David Zaslav Sends Farewell Video on His Last Day Before Skydance Acquisition of Warner Bros.

As the clock counts down towards Skydance’s official acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Zaslav sent out one more company-wide email.

This one came with a three-minute video, insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter. This was, in effect, Zaslav’s farewell address.

Greeting employees in the nine o’clock hour was a video with Zaslav sitting in in a director’s chair in the Loft warehouse at Warner Bros. Studios’ Ranch facility in Burbank, California, extolling the virtues of the creative class, while clips of decades worth of movies and shows the Warners labels have produced fly by.

“You start with an idea, and through talent, expertise and an enormous amount of hard work, turn it into something real,” Zaslav says in the video. “Something that connects with people, stays with them and becomes part of their lives. Over the years, you’ve created countless moments just like that. Stories and characters, games and experiences, that became part of our culture.”

He later adds that it has been a “a great honor to be alongside all of you. I hope you take pride in what you’ve built, what you’ve created and the role you’ve played in shaping an extraordinary history.”

And he wraps up the message by, again, praising his employees, saying, “I can’t wait to see what you do in the years ahead. I’m so grateful for all these years at Warner Bros. Discovery, for the wonderful experiences creating content, telling stories and getting to know so many of you. Thank you so much.”

The video was not being kindly met inside the Burbank lot. The executive is set to walk away with a pay package potentially worth upwards of $800 million. And the sale he orchestrated sets up the imminent layoffs of thousands upon thousands.

The mood on the lot, depending on who you talk to, is one of anxiety, fear, anger, and survival mode. An exec adds of Zaslav’s parting message: “So tone deaf.”