{"id":5829,"date":"2026-08-13T06:35:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5829"},"modified":"2026-08-13T06:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:35:34","slug":"dga-and-iatse-push-rob-bonta-to-allow-paramount-warner-bros-merger-with-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5829","title":{"rendered":"DGA and IATSE Push Rob Bonta to Allow Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger With Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tThe 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.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5828\">Hollywood\u2019s Top-Grossing Films of 2025 Show Limited Progress Toward Inclusion, Study Says: \u2018The Pace of Change Has Been Slow\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe 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.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhile 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,\u201d the two unions wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe 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 \u2014 Cinema United \u2014 adamantly opposes it.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBonta 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\u2019s preferred schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tEllison 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 \u201cbehavioral\u201d remedies \u2014 such as a pledge to release 30 movies a year with a 45-day window \u2014 but is focused on a structural solution, which Paramount has thus far been unwilling to entertain.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5826\">\u2018Far From the Trees\u2019 Director Meritxell Colell on Turning Exile and Endangered Languages Into a \u2018Body of Memory\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe 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 \u201cdamaging\u201d to an \u201calready struggling industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cAs our members struggle to find employment, the uncertainty surrounding the proposed merger is only making matters worse,\u201d the letter states. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe 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.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIf 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.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5824\">Indian Freedom Fighter Bhagat Singh Series in Development at Collective Studios\u2019 Historyverse (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Directors Guild of America and IATSE urged California Attorney General Rob Bonta to settle its antitrust case with Paramount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4546,433,3341,4547,434],"class_list":["post-5829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-dga-2","tag-paramount-skydance","tag-paramount-warner-bros-2","tag-rob-bonta-2","tag-warner-bros-discovery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>DGA and IATSE Push Rob Bonta to Allow Paramount-Warner Bros. 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