As Netflix and Paramount circle Warner Bros. Discovery, Hollywood unions voice alarm

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The sale of Warner Bros.— whether in pieces to Netflix or in its entirety to Paramount — is stirring mounting worries among Hollywood union leaders about the possible fallout for their members.Unions representing writers, directors, actors and crew workers have voiced growing concerns that further consolidation in the media industry will reduce competition, potentially causing studios to pay less for content, and make it more difficult for people to find work.“We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends,” said Michele Mulroney, president of the Writers Guild of America West.

“There are lots of promises made that one plus one is going to equal three.But it’s very hard to envision how two behemoths, for example, Warner Bros.

and Netflix ...can keep up the level of output they currently have.” Hollywood Inc.

Hollywood has faced a difficult last few years, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the dual strikes.A merger between two major players could mean even more job cuts, experts said.Last week, Netflix announced it agreed to buy Warner Bros.

Discovery’s film and TV studio, Burbank lot, HBO and HBO Max for $27.75 a share, or $72 billion.It also agreed to take on more than $10 billion of Warner Bros.’ debt.

But Paramount, whose previous offers were rebuffed by Warner Bros., has appealed directly to shareholders with an alternative bid to buy all of the company for about $78 billion.Paramount said it will have more than $6 billion in cuts over three years, while also saying the combined companies will release at least 30 movies a year.

Netflix said it expects its deal will have $2 billion to $3 billion in cost cuts.Those cuts are expected to trigger thousands of layoffs across Hollywood, which has already been squeezed by the flight of production overseas and a contraction in the once booming TV business.Mulroney said that employment for WGA writers in ep...