By Mary O’KEEFE

During a discussion on the film industry in Los Angeles, and nationwide, hosted by Senator Adam Schiff, the topic was brought up of the merger between Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. 

“Representative Laura Friedman and I both wrote to Paramount and Netflix last month, pressing concrete commitments to California workers. Paramount CEO David Ellison has since responded with a number of pledges, but many of them lack specificity and we intend to examine them carefully because what workers need and what we will continue to push for are enforceable, specific commitments, backed by actions that can be measured and held to account,” Schiff said. 

Rep. Friedman, as well as representatives Lou Correa and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, participated on the panel discussion. The invited participants included actor/producer/writer/director Noah Wyle, Matthew Loeb, international president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Jax Deluca, executive director of Future Film Coalition and research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Jim Acosta, host of “The Jim Acosta Show” and former CNN anchor and chief White House correspondent. 

Last summer, Skydance Media purchased, or merged with, Paramount Global. Skydance Media is a Santa Monica-based media company founded by David Ellison. This merger also makes Skydance the parent company of CBS. 

There have been several issues of concern surrounding the merger of Skydance and Paramount Global, including the control of “CBS News” and shows like “60 Minutes.” The merger resulted in several resignations at “CBS News” with many citing concerns over “new directions” the news agency appeared to be taking. Bill Owens, who was executive producer of “60 Minutes” for 26 years, and Anderson Cooper, correspondent for about 20 years, both resigned, saying they were concerned with the “new direction.”

Then, in a very public battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance, both companies tried to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. For many months shareholders and leaders of Warner Bros. Discovery voted against the merger with Paramount and instead were in favor of a merger with Netflix; however, in the end money talked and Paramount Skydance paid over $110 billion to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. This merger gives Paramount Skydance control over HBO and CNN. 

The concerns voiced at the panel discussion were not only that the merger would lessen competition, meaning fewer films would be produced, but also that control of news sources would be by one central company. 

This week more than 1,000 actors, writers, directors, producers and other creatives penned an open letter to Paramount Skydance, concerned about the pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The letter, which can be found at blockthemerger.com, expressed the group’s “unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.”

“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries – and the audiences we serve – can least afford it. The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major U.S. film studios to just four,” the letter stated in part. 

In addition, the letter stated the film industry is under a severe strain “in large part due to prior waves of consolidation.”

The decline in filming in the U.S. was also attributed to the merger.  

Paramount Skydance, in a statement following the release of the letter, stated the company understood the artists’ concerns but added it is creating a company that can green light (give the go ahead to) more projects. 

This is something that many in the industry doubt. 

Prior to the letter being released this week, the merger was a concern that Schiff’s panel and guest speakers voiced. 

Friedman said prior to her entering the political arena she worked behind the camera as an assistant director in the film industry. The industry is what brought her out to California. 

“It’s what brought so many people here,” she said. “Those jobs and that economic ecosystem that brought me into this community has been failing for years and this merger is seen by so many people as a harbinger of things to come, of a shrinking of this industry. … LA County lost more than 42,000 motion picture jobs from 2022 to 2024, production has declined over 13% – just in one year – and we have seen that year after year. And now Paramount Skydance’s $110 [+] billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is going to combine two of the five remaining Hollywood major studios. Paramount’s projecting $6 billion in synergies and we know what that word means … it means cuts, it means layoffs and LA workers are going to feel it first.”

“Here’s the breaking news: We may not be able to put the pieces back together again until the Paramount Warner Bros. Discovery merger goes through and puts my former home, CNN, under the control of the Ellison family,” said Acosta. 

One of the concerns regarding the Ellison family is its close ties to the Trump Administration. Having one family controlling so many of the news outlets is what Acosta was most concerned about. 

“As a former White House correspondent and anchor for CNN and a former correspondent for ‘CBS News,’ I can only report to you what I see with my own eyes: an assault on our freedom of speech and the free press in America,” he said.

He said what he sees is a path to state dominated, or state controlled, media in the U.S., owned by oligarchs. 

“The news does not belong to oligarchs, it belongs to us,” he said. 

The merger now needs approval from regulatory authorities in the U.S., the European Union and United Kingdom. Approval may be difficult to attain due to antitrust and competition regulations/laws. Congress may not have the power to stop the merger; however, state attorney generals, or a coalition of attorneys general, could sue to block the deal. That would put the merger in front of a judge. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is already investigating the issue. In a Instagram post by several of the stars who signed the recent letter, people were asked to contact their local attorneys general and let them know their concerns for the merger and ask for their support to block it. 

The website for California Attorney General Rob Bonta is https://oag.ca.gov. Regarding the merger, mail the Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, California 94244-2550 or call (916) 210-6276 or toll free (800) 952-5225. 

According to the AG’s office, “As part of the Attorney General’s commitment to enforce antitrust laws, the California Dept. of Justice launched an Antitrust Complaint Form. People can use the form found at https://oag.ca.gov/contact/antitrust-complaint-form to report anticompetitive conduct that potentially violates antitrust laws.”