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Sam Register to Leave as Head of Warner Bros. Animation

The surprise exit creates an immediate leadership vacuum that may affect animation oversight as Warner Bros. Discovery faces a pending acquisition by Paramount.

Overview

  • Channing Dungey told staff in a memo Tuesday that she and Sam Register have "mutually agreed not to renew his contract" and that he will depart next week when his contract expires.
  • Warner Bros. Television Group has opened a search for a permanent successor and named Matt Matzkin to continue leading business operations while creative department heads run their units.
  • Register served as president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe for 18 years after a decade at Cartoon Network and is leaving after roughly three decades with the company.
  • Reports stress there is no confirmed link between Register’s exit and Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending acquisition by Paramount, and any connection remains speculative.
  • Register is widely credited with shaping modern U.S. animation through initiatives such as Toonami and Adult Swim and by championing creator-driven series, and his departure may change how the studio works with creators and streaming partners.