{"id":1336,"date":"2026-06-07T04:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1336"},"modified":"2026-06-07T04:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T04:07:27","slug":"emotions-spill-over-at-town-hall-of-industry-workers-opposed-to-paramount-wbd-merger-its-the-death-of-a-great-american-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1336","title":{"rendered":"Emotions Spill Over at Town Hall of Industry Workers Opposed to Paramount-WBD Merger: \u201cIt\u2019s the Death of a Great American Industry\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tEmotions spilled over at a gathering of Hollywood workers, union officials and a current FCC commissioner opposed to the planned Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger on Saturday, with some arguing that the mega-merger on top of other recent challenges in the business would mean the \u201cdeath of Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders\u2019 Review: An Engrossing if Incohesive Dive Into William Friedkin\u2019s Gay S&M Thriller and Its Surrounding Controversy<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWriters, actors, crew members and small business owners made dire predictions for the proposed $111 billion transaction at the \u201cMain St. vs. The Merger\u201d town hall at Beverly Hills\u2019 Lumiere Cinema. Some expressed feelings of powerlessness at the prospect of one historic studio swallowing another, a transaction Warner Bros. shareholders approved in late April. Others, including moderator and former FTC commissioner and current American Economic Liberties senior advisor Alvaro Bedoya, urged that the transaction isn\u2019t a done deal yet and called for hope.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Friday, Reuters reported that California, New York and other state attorneys general are preparing a lawsuit to block the merger after California attorney general Rob Bonta previously promised to look into the deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tNevertheless, many in the room didn\u2019t seem to be banking on that suit stopping the transaction. One person who identified as a producer, but like many speakers at the town hall didn\u2019t say her name, described a Paramount-Warner Bros. deal in existential terms. \u201cA domino fell during the pandemic. Another fell during the writers\u2019 strike. If Paramount merges with Warner Bros., it may be the final domino that knocks everything down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fear is that the Hollywood mega-merger would lead to thousands of layoffs, the removal of a key buyer in the marketplace for projects and less work for those already facing the downstream effects of an industry contraction and previous consolidation. One television writer who spoke at the meeting said that he had a project in development with CBS Studios that slowed down once the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger was announced. He has had to make a career pivot this year. \u201cIf this merger goes through, this will be the death of our industry, I believe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, a Paramount-Skydance spokesperson said, \u201cOpposing this deal means opposing expanded consumer choice, new opportunities for creators and workers, and greater competition throughout the creative ecosystem \u2014 the opposite of what antitrust law is meant to achieve. It also means giving entrenched incumbents like Netflix an advantage they do not deserve. We will continue to fight against any attempt to derail a deal that plainly benefits consumers, creators, and the industry as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe mood in the room was heavy as audience members questioned how they could make an impact. \u201cAs someone who tries really hard to keep people positive and motivated and inspired and empowered and, \u2018Let\u2019s keep going, let\u2019s keep doing it, I am starting to feel\u2026 do you know what I mean? The hard. And it\u2019s getting hard for me to keep others inspired. And I don\u2019t like that,\u201d a self-described actor and comic said, her voice cracking.<\/p>\n

\n\tSome expressed frustration that more elected officials and labor unions weren\u2019t stepping up to challenge the merger, with performers\u2019 union SAG-AFTRA especially coming under fire.<\/p>\n

\n\tA panel of speakers including Writers Guild of America West president Michele Mulroney and board member Adam Conover, as well as current FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and a representative of the International Documentary Association and Future Film Coalition, Marjan Safinia, didn\u2019t negate the pessimism. (\u201cIt\u2019s the death of a great American industry,\u201d said Conover in his opening remarks.) But they did suggest action items, like telling personal stories on social media, calling political representatives and joining larger groups to lobby for a stop to the deal.<\/p>\n

Read more Scott Pelley Shows Appreciation for Supporters Following \u201960 Minutes\u2019 Firing: \u201cDeeply Grateful\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tBedoya also maintained optimism about the potential attorneys general suit. \u201cThis merger can<\/em> be blocked,\u201d he said in his opening remarks. \u201cI have to say there is every reason not just to think that Attorney General Rob Bonta will step in along with other state attorneys general to block this merger, there is every reason to think they will win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, Bedoya said a challenge to the merger could come in the form of a lawsuit from a private citizen or labor union, legislation, a European Union review of the transaction or funding from Middle Eastern ventures falling through amid the war in Iran. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe town hall arrived just days after Ellison\u2019s Paramount Skydance became embroiled in a new scandal at CBS News. In an overhaul of 60 Minutes<\/em>, management fired executive producer Tanya Simon and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi and hired columnist-slash-filmmaker Nick Bilton to lead the storied newsmagazine. Longtime 60 Minutes<\/em> correspondent Scott Pelley subsequently was fired after laying into management at a meeting on Monday, claiming CBS News head Bari Weiss was \u201cmurdering\u00a060 Minutes<\/em>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tThough speculation swirled about whether other correspondents would follow Pelley out the door, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said on Friday they would stay because \u201cwe don\u2019t want to see\u00a060 Minutes<\/em>\u00a0die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBack at the Lumiere theater, Gomez, the sole Democrat left at the FCC, addressed the frustration in the room with a call to action. She argued the public backlash to ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air last year reinstated the late-night host in his role and demonstrated the power of everyday voices.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI know it\u2019s exhausting, I\u2019m exhausted,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery day I\u2019m speaking out about some new horror that this administration is doing, particularly on the First Amendment. I\u2019m exhausted. But it\u2019s not time to be tired. It\u2019s time to get inspired because your voices really do matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nJune 6, 7:51 p.m. <\/strong>Updated to correct Bedoya\u2019s work experience. He is a former FTC, not FCC, commissioner.<\/p>\n

Read more Victoria Pedretti Went Deep, Dark and \u201cDangerous\u201d for Her Biggest Film Role to Date<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emotions spilled over at a gathering of Hollywood workers opposed to the planned Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[115,1184,292,506],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-paramount","tag-paramount-skydance","tag-warner-bros","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"yoast_head":"\nEmotions Spill Over at Town Hall of Industry Workers Opposed to Paramount-WBD Merger: \u201cIt\u2019s the Death of a Great American Industry\u201d - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1336\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emotions Spill Over at Town Hall of Industry Workers Opposed to Paramount-WBD Merger: \u201cIt\u2019s the Death of a Great American Industry\u201d - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emotions spilled over at a gathering of Hollywood workers opposed to the planned Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. merger on Saturday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1336\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T04:07:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1336#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1336\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"Emotions Spill Over at Town Hall of Industry Workers Opposed to Paramount-WBD Merger: \u201cIt\u2019s the Death of a Great American Industry\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T04:07:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1336\"},\"wordCount\":1026,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=1336#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ea5e82022e2481ba7e0a269ae1b42148.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Paramount\",\"paramount skydance\",\"Warner Bros.\",\"Warner Bros. 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