Hollywood workers rally against Paramount-Skydance merger as regulators weigh approval

Hundreds of entertainment workers, writers, actors and small business owners gathered outside Lumiere Music Hall in Los Angeles to warn that the Paramount-Skydance deal could mean fewer jobs, weaker bargaining power and a thinner local production economy. The June 6 rally drew about 100 people and marked the first stop on a three-city Main Street vs. The Merger campaign aimed at regulators and lawmakers.

Stand-up comedian Adam Conover told the crowd the fight was about more than corporate strategy. It was about an industry that has long powered Hollywood’s status as a production hub and, by extension, the restaurants, vendors and service businesses that depend on film and television work. Organizers from the Writers Guild of America and allied advocacy groups framed the merger as part of a broader wave of consolidation that has already left crews and independent producers operating under intense cost-cutting pressure.

The central fear is that a larger Paramount-Skydance would concentrate decision-making in fewer hands and leave workers with less leverage when contracts come up for negotiation. Critics say a $110 billion transaction of this scale could squeeze out smaller studios and reduce opportunities for independent producers, below-the-line crews and the local businesses that feed off regular production spending. More than 5,500 filmmakers, actors and other Hollywood professionals have already signed an open letter opposing the deal, and House Democrats have urged California Attorney General Rob Bonta to scrutinize it closely.

That pressure is colliding with a regulatory process that appears to be moving toward approval. California and New York are among the states preparing a lawsuit to block the merger, with filing expected in the coming weeks, while Bonta is conducting what his office has called a "vigorous" review alongside at least one other state attorney general, including New York’s Letitia James. Paramount, for its part, says the combination would not hurt studios or creative talent and argues it would bring "new competitive energy" to the entertainment ecosystem. David Ellison has said the combined company would release at least 30 films a year.

The company also says it cleared U.S. Justice Department antitrust review after the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period expired following compliance with a second request. Paramount’s top lawyer, Makan Delrahim, has dismissed opponents as fear-mongering. But the size of the turnout in Los Angeles, and the widening coalition behind it, show that the fight over Paramount-Skydance is no longer just a Wall Street transaction. It has become a test of whether Hollywood’s next era will be defined by consolidation or by a labor-heavy production base that still sustains the industry’s broader economy.