{"id":6145,"date":"2026-08-18T19:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6145"},"modified":"2026-08-18T19:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:05:58","slug":"will-david-ellison-say-goodbye-to-hollywood-some-see-paramounts-potential-exit-from-california-as-strategically-unwise-but-others-say-its-just-smart-busi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6145","title":{"rendered":"Will David Ellison Say Goodbye to Hollywood? Some See Paramount\u2019s Potential Exit From California as \u2018Strategically Unwise\u2019 \u2014 but Others Say It\u2019s Just Smart Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nDavid Ellison, we have been told, loves Hollywood. He loves movies. In trying to rally industry support behind the Paramount-Warner Bros. megamerger, he has claimed the combined studios will release an unprecedented 30-plus films a year. Waving the banner for the entertainment industry in his home state, Ellison also has been lobbying for bipartisan federal film tax incentive legislation, having met with Republicans in D.C. on the issue as recently as mid-July.<\/p>\n

Read more Nominated TV Producers Shed Light on Network Notes and Industry Changes at Variety\u2019s Showrunners Breakfast; Ryan Murphy Emotionally Accepts Norman Lear Award<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAnd just a short time ago, Ellison was fully expecting to keep both Paramount and Warner Bros. in California. After outbidding Netflix in February to clinch the blockbuster deal, Ellison was queried by two prominent Democrats from the state \u2014 Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Laura Friedman \u2014 about his commitments to jobs in California.<\/p>\n

\n\tEllison wrote in his reply that \u201cmy promise to you is to build a stronger Hollywood, by keeping both of these legacy studios operating separately, thereby preserving and potentially increasing jobs.\u201d And this: \u201cParamount has deep roots in Southern California. My vision as a CEO is to stay true to our roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, that was then.<\/p>\n

\n\tEllison has since become deeply frustrated with California politics. So much so that he recently told his senior-level team that Paramount will begin the process of pulling up stakes from the Golden State as soon as Oct. 1 unless the Warner Bros. Discovery merger is closed by the end of September \u2014 a deal that is currently on hold pending a 12-state antitrust lawsuit seeking to block it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe message that Ellison intends to take his business elsewhere seemed pointed directly at California attorney general Rob Bonta, who is leading the states\u2019 lawsuit. Ellison wants the attorneys general to agree to hash out a settlement that would presumably let both sides save face \u2014 and close the deal before the case goes to trial in March 2027. At least publicly, Bonta has been unmoved. \u201cBlackmail,\u201d he called Ellison\u2019s threat to move.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, Paramount launched another bid to try to get the state AGs to the bargaining table, asking the judge overseeing the case to force the states and the WGA (which has also sued to block the Paramount-WB merger) to post a $1.88 billion bond. A rep for Bonta\u00a0said Paramount was seeking a \u201cdo-over\u201d\u00a0on its agreement to delay the Warner Bros. Discovery merger until the antitrust trial: \u201cThey are lying in a bed of their own making, and once again, trying to blackmail us to get us to back down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawsuits by the states and the WGA are the final obstacle to closing, after regulators in Mexico cleared the merger, leaving . Ellison said in a statement that \u201cwe have offered commitments and concessions and remain open to working constructively with the state AGs to find a path forward in the interest of our employees and the creative community in California and across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut if Bonta and the attorneys general don\u2019t engage, where will Ellison relocate? For now, the destination is unknown.<\/p>\n

\n\tStates shortlisted for Paramount\u2019s potential future home include Tennessee, Texas and Georgia. Note that Larry Ellison, who is backing his son\u2019s merger bid to the tune of nearly $47 billion, moved Oracle\u2019s HQ from California to Texas in 2020 and plans to move again to a massive new campus in Nashville. David Ellison owned a home in the Nashville area but sold it around the time the Skydance-Paramount merger closed in August 2025.<\/p>\n

Read more Round Hill Music Sues Suno, Anthropic for Copyright Infringement in Potentially $1 Billion Lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tParamount employees fervently hope Ellison\u2019s talk of a wholesale exit from Cali, including the studio operations, over a five-year time horizon is just saber rattling. One top exec, asked about the possible move, texted back a woozy-face emoji.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI hope this is saber rattling because I can\u2019t think of anything that would less engender you to the population of this industry than to say you\u2019re going to take Hollywood out of Hollywood,\u201d Noah Wyle told Variety<\/em>\u2018s Marc Malkin on Sunday. \u201cBut I\u2019m an Angeleno, so I have a vested interest in that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the same time, there\u2019s a resigned feeling among some L.A.-based entertainment veterans that Paramount will indeed flee the state \u2014 and even sell the famed Paramount and Warner Bros. lots. As much as they dislike the idea, they don\u2019t blame Ellison for what they characterize as an unsentimental but rational business decision. After all, if politicians in California are not going to step up with production incentives that are competitive with the likes of New York, New Jersey, the U.K. or Australia, why should production companies pay a premium to shoot in L.A.? That\u2019s particularly true since filmmakers and actors are accustomed to traveling outside of SoCal these days.<\/p>\n

\n\tEllison, at an Aug. 5 meeting with his senior team on the Paramount studio lot, claimed the company\u2019s relocation could save some $500 million in taxes and other costs. However, Paramount\u2019s income tax bill from California won\u2019t change if it leaves, because state corporation taxes are apportioned based on where customers are located. \u201cUnless you\u2019re going to get all your customers to move, you\u2019re not going to change how much gets sourced to California,\u201d says Robert Johnson, who teaches state and local taxes at Cal State Northridge.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to sources familiar with the plan, Paramount expects to land big tax incentives from a new host state. It also anticipates paying workers less in a place with a lower cost of living than California, which in turn would reduce its payroll taxes.<\/p>\n

\n\tAny cost savings, though, would be offset by the significant expense of moving thousands of employees, not to mention building production sound stages elsewhere. Moreover, it\u2019s likely many Paramount and WB workers would be unwilling to leave Southern California, if it came to that.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Paramount, decamping from L.A. would be \u201cstrategically unwise,\u201d says JD Connor, a professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts. He points to \u201cindustry clustering\u201d economic theory, which holds that industries like Silicon Valley and Hollywood are tied to their geographies because of the local talent pool.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou can continue to believe that the entertainment ecosystem can be disarticulated,\u201d says Connor. \u201cAnd yet it\u2019s never taken hold. It turns out, it\u2019s absolutely vital you go out to dinner with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Kevin Hart and Henry Cavill\u2019s Netflix Spy Comedy Adds Jason Isaacs, Justine Lupe and Aja Naomi King (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\nGene Maddaus contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will David Ellison really go through with his plan to leave California amid the standoff with states AGs in the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger? What the exit could mean for the company and the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[413,433,3253,1517],"class_list":["post-6145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-david-ellison","tag-paramount-skydance","tag-paramount-warner-bros","tag-paramount-3"],"yoast_head":"\nWill David Ellison Say Goodbye to Hollywood? 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