Warner Bros. Animation Chief Sam Register Departing After 18 Years

Sam Register is leaving his post as president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe after 18 years running the division, the company confirmed Tuesday, closing out a run that reshaped the studio’s animation output across two decades.

Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group and Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. networks division, delivered the news in an internal memo to staff, describing the exit as a mutual decision not to renew Register’s contract, which expires next week.

“It’s with mixed emotions that I announce the studio and our head of animation, Sam Register, have mutually agreed not to renew his contract,” Dungey wrote, calling him “a great talent” and thanking him for his contributions. She acknowledged the move would catch employees off guard, telling staff, “I know this comes as a surprise and you have a lot to digest.”

Register struck a reflective tone in a statement shared alongside the memo, saying he was ready to begin a new chapter with Dungey’s backing and expressing gratitude to colleagues for what the team built together. He first joined Cartoon Network in 1994, moved to Warner Bros. as a producer in 2007 and took over the animation studio’s top job the following year. His portfolio grew over time: he absorbed oversight of Cartoon Network Studios in 2020 and became co-head of Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe in 2021.

No successor has been named, and the company has opened a search to fill the role. In the interim, Matt Matzkin will continue overseeing business operations while six creative department heads run their respective areas: Jay Bastian on current series, Jason DeMarco on anime and action programming, Audrey Diehl on kids and family content, Sarah Fell at the Hanna-Barbera studio in the U.K., Peter Girardi on alternative and adult programming, and Sammy Perlmutter on long-form projects and specials.

The departure lands amid Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending acquisition by Paramount, a company with its own established animation arm, though it remains unclear whether the timing of Register’s exit connects to that deal. Animation studios across the industry have faced consolidation and cutbacks this year as streaming economics squeeze original content budgets, making leadership turnover at a studio the size of Warner Bros. Animation a signal worth watching for the sector.