Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos
Photo: Monica Schipper/WireImage
So you don’t want Millie Bobby Brown to star in a Casablanca remake? Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal won’t get through the Trump administration until it contends with Hollywood about industry impacts. The Writers Guild of America came out forcefully against the deal on December 5, citing potential wage decreases and lost job opportunities. “The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the guild said in a statement. “The outcome would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers. Industry workers along with the public are already impacted by only a few powerful companies maintaining tight control over what consumers can watch on television, on streaming, and in theaters. This merger must be blocked.”
The Teamsters backed up the WGA in opposing the deal. “Teamsters have been clear on our position that greed-fueled consolidation of corporate power, no matter what industry, is a direct threat to good union jobs, the livelihood of our members and the very existence of our industry,” Lindsay Dougherty, the principal officer of Local 399, said to Variety. “Teamsters will continue to challenge and call for the opposition across all levels of government and that antitrust enforcers reject this deal and any other deal seeking the consolidation of power and market.”
The Directors Guild of America, however, did not condemn the deal outright. “We believe that a vibrant, competitive industry — one that fosters creativity and encourages genuine competition for talent — is essential to safeguarding the careers and creative rights of directors and their teams,” a DGA spokesperson told Deadline. “We will be meeting with Netflix to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company.”
Similarly, the Producers Guild of America said in a statement, though producers are “rightfully concerned about Netflix’s intended acquisition of one our industry’s most storied and meaningful studios,” they’re open to collaboration. “As we navigate dynamic times of economic and technological change, our industry, together with policymakers, must find a way forward that protects producers’ livelihoods and real theatrical distribution, and that fosters creativity, promotes opportunities for workers and artists, empowers consumers with choices, and upholds freedom of speech,” the statement reads in part. “This is the test that the Netflix deal must pass.”
Beyond the unions, politicians like Bernie Sanders have also raised antitrust concerns, while working industry members reportedly fear retaliation. A group of anonymous filmmakers sent a letter to members of Congress on December 4, per Variety, saying Netflix would “effectively hold a noose around the theatrical marketplace.” Former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar put it as bluntly as possible on X: “If I was tasked with doing so, I could not think of a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix.”
