SAG-AFTRA Opposes Paramount-Skydance Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery
The actors union’s board adopted a resolution demanding production safeguards before the merger can proceed, while supporting existing antitrust lawsuits, but it will not join the Writers Guild’s court action.
SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted over the weekend to oppose the pending Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery unless the deal includes enforceable guarantees that production levels will not be reduced and that a higher share of projects will be filmed in the United States. The resolution aligns the union with the Writers Guild of America and a coalition of state attorneys general that have filed antitrust suits to block the merger.
"Today’s board resolution officially puts on record our demand that the acquisition not proceed unless there are enforceable safeguards against reduced production by the studios with guarantees of increases in the percentage of productions made in the USA," SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a joint statement.
The statement added that the union will leave other concerns to “other advocates” while concentrating on the economic impact on its members and industry workers. SAG-AFTRA said it had conducted a “complete and thorough analysis” of the deal, consulting lawyers, guild leaders, studio executives and the Department of Justice before adopting the resolution.
The merger, approved quickly by the U.S. Justice Department and the European Union, remains pending in the United Kingdom. A temporary restraining order was issued after a lawsuit by a dozen state attorneys general, led by California, and a hearing on a preliminary injunction is scheduled for next week. Paramount Skydance has agreed to proceed directly to trial rather than seek a settlement.