Damon Lindelof has done a lot of business with Warner Bros over the years, and on Monday the Watchmen creator put the business of the pending Paramount-Warner Bros Discover merger in stark bottom-line perspective.
“Hollywood, believe it or not, is a blue-collar town,” the Lanterns executive producer posted this morning, explaining why he joined Lost colleague JJ Abrams PThe Pitt star Noah Wylie, The Sopranos kingpin David Chase, Emma Thompson, Don Cheadle Jane Fonda and more in signing an open letter opposing the David Ellison-owned Paramount’s pending $111 billion takeover of WBD.
“It’s thousands and thousands of Grips and Gaffers. Drivers and Decorators. Builders and Boom operators. Camera teams and Caterers,” wrote Lindelof, a frequent contributor to progressive candidates and causes.
“And they’re all about to get f*cked.”
“Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs,”
“When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive — one becomes a Ghost Town,” Emmy winner Lindelof added. “I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost. And a fight is already lost if it’s never fought. So I signed. Proudly.”
As Ellison’s “good friend” Donald Trump‘s administration fast-tracks the merger, several blue state attorneys general have put Ellison and Paramount on notice that they want to take a deeper look at the deal and its consequences, antitrust and otherwise. California Sen. Adam Schiff held a mock hearing of sorts on the proposed deal last month in Burbank with Wylie, IATSE boss Matt Loeb, former CNN anchor Jim Acosta and CA AG Rob Bonta in attendance and offering critiques.
Although the GOP holds the power in DC, Democratic senators like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and wild man Chris “We are going to break up these anti-democratic information conglomerates” Murphy (D-CT) are raising hell over the Paramount-WBD meld.
Those raised voices could translate into much more if the Dems do well in the midterms.
Lanterns — penned by Lindelof, Chris Mundy and Tom King and starring Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, Kelly Macdonald and Nathan Fillion — premieres in August. Lindelof is also on board as showrunner for HBO’s The Chain.
As the powerful Lantern Corps oath says: “In brightest day, in blackest night, / No evil shall escape my sight. / Let those who worship evil’s might, / Beware my power: Green Lantern’s light!”
