RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Hollywood's largest union has gone public with its opposition to the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
In the wake of 12 state attorneys suing to block the $111 billion transaction, the national board for the performers' union adopted a resolution on Saturday to formally resist the merger and support the regulators' action. The union says it will oppose the deal unless "enforceable safeguards" are established against a drop in productions from the combined company with "guarantees of increases" in the percentage of films and television shows produced in the U.S. Related Stories Business QVC Hosts Vote to Unionize Amid Concerns Over Generative AI Business SAG-AFTRA Chief Sean Astin Pushes Gavin Newsom to Fund Postproduction Tax Incentive (Exclusive)
"Our members have every right to expect that the government will do thorough regulatory oversight when a deal of this magnitude takes place," SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin said in a statement. "The workers in this industry should not have to rely on promises and aspirational statements. These companies have the ability to commit to making more films and shows in this country and they should. This isn't a conversation about shareholder value, it's about the survival of the entertainment business in America."
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Paramount Skydance for comment.
SAG-AFTRA is the third major entertainment union to go public with its resistance to the deal, with the Writers Guild of America long being vociferously opposed and on July 14 filing a lawsuit to block the merger. Earlier this year the Teamsters also slammed the deal , urging the Department of Justice to block the transaction (which the department of course did not, ultimately, do ) unless worker protections were put in place.
Added SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, "This consolidation must not go forward absent binding assurances that production won't be reduced or be outsourced to cut costs, and that any trends in that direction will be reversed. A handshake, a smile and the promise of good intentions are simply not enough. Paramount's assertions that this merger is good for competition, good for creators and good for consumers are contradicted by past experience and the reality on the ground."
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has previously promised that Warner Bros. and Paramount, operating as separate studios, would collectively release at least 30 movies a year . Merger opponents, meanwhile, have cast doubts on that vow.
Ellison has also been a champion of the federal film and television tax credit initiative , a push to pass legislation that would incentivize production to remain in the U.S. But, while that initiative now has bipartisan support, its future remains unclear. In the meantime, production work opportunities have narrowed in the U.S. amid a ramp-up in film and television tax incentives overseas.
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