More than 1,000 of Hollywood’s biggest names issued an open letter on Monday morning, expressing “unequivocal opposition” to Paramount’s blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros. Entertainment. Discovery.
The letter, issued by a range of groups, including Norm Eisen’s Defenders of Democracy Fund and the Jane Fonda-led First Amendment Committee, has a number of signatories, including actors such as Bryan Cranston, Glenn Close, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Jason Bateman, and Ted Danson, directors such as JJ Abrams, Denis Villeneuve, and Yorgos Lanthimos, and producers such as Ted. Hope and Mark Duplass, and the multi-hyphenates that include Lin-Manuel Miranda and David Chase.
You can see the full list of locations here.
“This deal will strengthen an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a time when our industries — and the audiences we serve — cannot afford it,” the letter said. “The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and fewer choices for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major film studios in the United States to just four.”
The letter continues: “We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good.” “The integrity, independence and diversity of our industry will be seriously compromised.”
The letter is notable not only for its star power, but also for the fact that many of the people who signed it work or have worked at one or both of the studios seeking inclusion. Abrams, for example, has an active deal with Warners through Bad Robot, and Villeneuve will release Sand dunes 3 Through Warners later this year. Chase has a new project in the works at HBO, while Bateman stars in the HBO series DTF St. Petersburg. Louis.
The letter concludes by calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other regulators to block the deal.
The full text of the message is below.
As filmmakers, documentarians, and film and television industry professionals, we are writing to express our unequivocal opposition to the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
This deal would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a time when our industries – and the audiences we serve – cannot afford it. The result will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and fewer choices for audiences in the United States and around the world. Alarmingly, this merger would reduce the number of major film studios in the United States to just four.
Our industry is already under intense pressure, largely due to previous waves of consolidation. We have seen a sharp decline in the number of films produced and released, along with a narrowing of the types of stories that are financed and distributed. Increasingly, a small number of powerful entities determine what gets made — and on what terms — leaving creatives and independent companies with less viable paths to sustaining their work.
Media consolidation has hastened the disappearance of mid-budget films, eroded independent distribution, collapsed the international sales market, eliminated profit sharing, and weakened the integrity of screen credit.
Together, these factors threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community. This includes jeopardizing the careers of tens of thousands of workers who help shape this society in small, often independent businesses embedded in economies and communities nationwide.
We are deeply concerned by signs of support for this merger that prioritize the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders over the broader public good. The integrity, independence and diversity of our industry will be seriously compromised.
Competition is essential to a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. The same applies to organization and thoughtful implementation. Media consolidation has already weakened one of America’s most vital global industries—an industry that has long shaped culture and connected people around the world.
Fortunately, someone is doing something about all this. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his colleagues in other states are reportedly scrutinizing the merger and considering legal action to block it. We are grateful for their leadership, and stand ready to support all efforts to remain competitive, protect jobs, and ensure a vibrant future for our industry, American culture, and our most important exports.
