Future Film Coalition Joins 1,000+ Industry Leaders Urging Action on Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
As reported in the NY Times this morning, over 1,000 professionals across the film and television industry released an open letter declaring their opposition to the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The signatories include actors, filmmakers, documentarians, writers, and other professionals. They call out the economic, creative, and societal damage this merger would cause and declare support for action by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, fellow state attorneys general, and others to investigate and block this transaction.
“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 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.”
The open letter details the threat this merger and the long trend of consolidation within the media landscape pose to the “sustainability of the entire creative community.” The negative impacts of a Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger would be expansive and severe – reducing jobs, threatening the viability of independent businesses within the industry, and severely reducing both competition and creative diversity across the landscape.
The Future Film Coalition has been at the forefront of this effort along with Democracy Defenders Fund and the Committee for the First Amendment. It is heartening to see that in just over a year of formation, our organization, the FFC, is having such a strong strategic role in our industry making sure that independent voices are heard and that we use the power of the independent film ecosystem to affect change. Our executive director Jax Deluca has worked tirelessly to make this happen.
“This merger is part of a broader pattern of cumulative concentration that is reshaping the industry and has consequences far beyond Hollywood,” said Jax Deluca, Executive Director of the Future Film Coalition. “The film industry is a national ecosystem made up of independent businesses, freelancers, theaters, and creative workers in every state whose livelihoods depend on a healthy, competitive marketplace. Continued consolidation reduces competition, limits access to financing and distribution, and constrains opportunity across the entire film and media supply chain.”
Future Film Coalition’s involvement reflects its broader national strategy to ensure that policymakers fully understand the structural role independent film plays in the U.S. economy and cultural life.
Future Film Coalition is coordinating alongside a broad alliance of partners, including Democracy Defenders Fund, the Committee for the First Amendment, the Writers Guild of America, Free Press, and the International Documentary Association, among others, to build momentum for regulatory scrutiny and potential legal challenge.
“The future of free media and a strong entertainment industry in America is at stake here,” said Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “This proposed merger would not only harm competition and creativity, it would erode the very bedrock of our democracy. But this is not a done deal – this is a moment to fight. With a groundswell of public opposition at our back, key challenges in our courts, and the action of courageous state attorneys general, we can block this merger.”
Stories Needed
Stories from industry professionals and audiences on how media consolidation has affected them adversely is an essential component of this campaign. You are able to submit these stories anonymously.
“A Warner Bros. Discovery–Paramount merger would be one of the most destructive threats to free speech and creative expression in our history,” said Jane Fonda, founder of the modern Committee for the First Amendment. “This deal would place unprecedented power in the hands of a single corporation that already appears to have proven itself willing to sacrifice integrity for political favor. The Committee refuses to stand by, as big media corporations serve their own interests at the expense of industry workers and American consumers. We will use every tool available to block this merger.”
The Costs Of Media Consolodation
“This merger threatens documentary filmmakers on every front,” said Dominic Asmall Willsdon, Executive Director of the International Documentary Association. “It would absorb HBO Max — one of the most vital platforms for nonfiction film — into a corporation with little incentive to protect it, consolidate the broadcast archives that documentary makers depend on to tell accurate stories of the past, and concentrate editorial power in ways that will determine which American stories get told.”
“Consolidation in Hollywood has been a disaster and has led to the weak state of the industry. If we want to continue to even have a TV or film industry, this merger needs to be blocked,” said Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project.
“Not only would this merger result in higher costs, job losses, and fewer entertainment choices for Americans, it would gravely threaten the freedom of the press by putting CNN and CBS News under the control of Donald Trump’s allies, said Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress. “A single corporation with so much control over the media that is also at the beck and call of the Trump administration is a danger to our democracy.”https://jonreiss.substack.com/p/joining-forces-to-block-the-merger
Jon Reiss
Co-Founder/Board Chair
Future Film Coalition