Congress fears the loss of jobs in Hollywood amid Warner Bros. acquisition

California lawmakers are expressing interest astir however the aboriginal of Warner Bros. Discovery could impact Hollywood’s workforce.

In an unfastened missive addressed to Netflix Chief Executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters and Paramount Skydance Corporation CEO David Ellison, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) telephone for the manufacture giants to marque “concrete commitments to Californian and American workers.”

Late past year, Netflix won the highly anticipated bidding warfare for Warner Bros, which would springiness the streamer power implicit Warner Bros.’ storied Burbank movie and TV studios, HBO and HBO Max. The pending $72-billion woody would greatly reshape the Hollywood landscape. Separately, Paramount has continually thrown successful counter-bids and has been consistently rejected.

With each of these moving pieces, there’s a bipartisan fearfulness among the nation’s lawmakers astir however the acquisition could impact jobs successful the U.S. amusement manufacture . As stated successful the letter, the manufacture “supports much than 680,000 jobs and contributes implicit $115 cardinal annually to the determination economy.”

Given the slowdown the manufacture has seen post-COVID and the increasing fig of planetary productions, Los Angeles accumulation was down 13.2% from July done September 2025 erstwhile compared with the aforesaid play past year. This downward inclination continues to physique connected the nonaccomplishment of 42,000 jobs successful L.A. betwixt 2022 and 2024.

Ellison and Sarandos person made arguments for wherefore they judge their respective companies are champion positioned to instrumentality implicit Warner Bros. But each woody comes with large cuts. Paramount is projected to chopped $6 cardinal successful expenses implicit 3 years, and Netflix is projecting to chopped $2 cardinal to $3 billion. Some analysts judge these cuts volition person a important effect connected the workforce.

Previously, Ellison said, “We judge that what we are offering is amended for Hollywood. It’s amended for the customers and it’s pro-competitive.”

Sarandos is besides quoted successful the missive saying: “We deliberation it’s large for consumers. We deliberation it’s a large mode to make and support jobs successful the amusement industry.”

Earlier this week during a Senate subcommittee hearing, Sarandos said Netflix plans to summation its movie and tv accumulation spending to $26 cardinal this year, with a bulk of that happening successful the U.S.

The lawmakers’ missive asks a bid of questions surrounding the livelihood of creators, the usage of AI and “concrete steps” astir preserving jobs successful L.A. Schiff and Friedman besides connection the CEOs an accidental to conscionable with them to sermon their answers.

In an effort to guarantee “America continues to pb the satellite successful the originative economy,” the missive revealed that Congress is presently moving connected bipartisan authorities that would found a national movie taxation incentive. It volition beryllium modeled aft authorities programs successful California, Louisiana and Georgia.

“We presumption this arsenic a instrumentality to not conscionable support but promote much home filming and sustainable occupation instauration connected American soil,” wrote the lawmakers.