The Directors Guild of America and IATSE are urging California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle his antitrust lawsuit with Paramount, arguing that prolonged uncertainty over the Warner Bros. Discovery merger is bad for the industry.
The two unions to Bonta and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on Wednesday, urging the two sides to come to an agreement that would include conditions to address concerns over harms to competition.
“While we have been consistent in our view that mergers, such as this one, historically offer few benefits to workers, we are also particularly concerned about the negative impact a delay in the decision regarding the proposed merger will have on our members and the industry at large,” the two unions wrote.
The letter puts the two unions at odds with the Writers Guild of America, which filed its own antitrust suit to try to block the merger. The antitrust case has created other divisions within the industry, as both Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres have endorsed the merger, while the theater trade group — Cinema United — adamantly opposes it.
Bonta led a coalition of 12 states to sue to block the merger in July, arguing that the deal creates illegal consolidation in the basic cable and theatrical distribution markets. Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued a temporary retraining order to pause the deal, and last week set a March 2 trial date, four months later than Paramount’s preferred schedule.
Ellison has been working to rally support for the deal within the industry, while also trying to bring pressure on Bonta to come to the negotiating table. Bonta has repeatedly said that he is not interested in “behavioral” remedies — such as a pledge to release 30 movies a year with a 45-day window — but is focused on a structural solution, which Paramount has thus far been unwilling to entertain.
The letter was signed by Russell Hollander, national executive director of the DGA, and by Matthew Loeb, the international president of IATSE. The letter argues that the March 2 trial date is “damaging” to an “already struggling industry.”
“As our members struggle to find employment, the uncertainty surrounding the proposed merger is only making matters worse,” the letter states. “We are aware of productions that have been put on hold or canceled altogether, leading to further reductions in available work for our members and other industry workers.”
The letter urges the two sides to agree on conditions, many of which Paramount has already agreed to, such as the maintenance of the two studios as separate entities that will each produce at least 15 films a year. The unions also suggest that Paramount commit to continue licensing content from outside production companies at the same rate as before the merger.
If the states and Paramount cannot reach a deal, the unions urge them both to agree to an earlier trial date. However, while Paramount has been eager for an accelerated timeline, the states asked the judge for time to depose Paramount executives and obtain documents in order to bolster its case.