Hollywood Is Fighting Back Against Paramount’s Warner Buyout With Open Letter
Pedro Pascal, Florence Pugh, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, and many more big names in Hollywood are fighting back against Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company that owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN, TBS, Food Network, and the Warner Bros TV and film studios.
Over 2,000 industry professionals have now signed an open letter protesting the acquisition. The letter was published this week on BlocktheMerger.com.
“We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritise the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good,” the letter reads.
“The integrity, independence and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised. Competition is essential for a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. So is thoughtful regulation and enforcement.”
“Media consolidation has already weakened one of America’s most vital global industries – one that has long shaped culture and connected people around the world,” the letter says.
Jane Fonda, Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lily Gladstone were among other signatories. Directors who also signed include Denis Villeneuve, Boots Riley, Mimi Leder, and Nicole Holofcener, according to the Guardian.
The deal itself is worth around $111 billion, and is currently awaiting approval from regulators. If it is to be approved, it would consolidate two of Hollywood’s biggest studios, which the letter emphasizes could result in diminishing quality, as well as lead to major job losses.
David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount, beat Netflix to become the main bidder for Warner Bros. He said that the deal would be good for the creative community and guaranteed his investment in both studios. He also pledged to release 30 movies to theaters every year, which has also been met with skepticism.
Additionally, there are concerns over Ellison and his father’s close ties to Donald Trump, which could lead to fewer films being made that engage with politics.
“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths,” a statement from Paramount reads.
“To create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale—while strengthening competition by ensuring multiple scaled players are investing in creative talent.”
The highly signed letter expresses major concern:
“As film-makers, documentarians and professionals across the movie and television industry, we write to express our 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 US film studios to just four.
Our industry is already under severe strain, in large part due to prior waves of consolidation. We have witnessed a steep decline in the number of films produced and released, alongside a narrowing of the kinds of stories that are financed and distributed. Increasingly, a small number of powerful entities determine what gets made – and on what terms – leaving creators and independent businesses with fewer viable paths to sustain their work.
Media consolidation has accelerated the disappearance of the mid-budget film, the erosion of independent distribution, the collapse of the international sales market, the elimination of meaningful profit participation and the weakening of screen credit integrity.
Together, these factors threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community. That includes endangering the professional lives of the tens of thousands of workers who help make up that community in predominantly small businesses and independent companies embedded in local economies and communities nationwide.
Fortunately, someone is doing something about all this. California attorney general Rob Bonta and his colleagues in other states are reportedly scrutinising the merger and considering legal action to block it. We are grateful for their leadership, and stand ready to support all efforts to preserve competition, protect jobs and ensure a vibrant future for our industry, for American culture, and for our single most significant export.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
