Paramount just bought Warner Bros… what happens next?
Illustration by Lexi Forman, Cartoonist.
For film students, the postgrad job search may have just gotten much more difficult.
Following a judge’s decision to settle a lawsuit against Paramount, the production company merged with Warner Bros. Discovery, renaming the two companies “Skydance” on Oct. 6. The decision raises many concerns over the company’s filmmaking future and the employment cuts to come.
Critics predict Skydance will lay off employees between Paramount and Warner Bros. whose jobs overlap or are not seen as necessary. As a result, prospective filmmakers fear this decision may lead to fewer job opportunities within the company and the broader film industry since Skydance now holds a $6 billion debt.
At Dodge College, film students are faced with tough restraints as Dodge admits more students each school year and competition rises. The merger of these two giant corporations only accelerates existing fears.
“You've got people in jobs that are either getting laid off and not being replaced, you have people in jobs that are not getting promoted or moving up and you have people in jobs that can't find another job so they're staying in their jobs much, much longer,” said Joe Rosenberg, director of industry relations at Dodge College’s Career Center. “There are fewer jobs. There's no question about it, and students coming out of an undergrad program or grad program in the arts, they're facing a much more competitive landscape.”
Not only do many people fear layoffs within the new company, the scope of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is even larger. Rosenberg said all residents of Los Angeles will eventually feel the impact of the merger.
“When people lose their jobs in Hollywood, it's not just the actual people making stuff that are affected. We live in a company town,” he said. “Everybody depends upon the industry to employ as many people in Los Angeles as possible. And so everybody takes a hit when something like this happens.”
The uncertainty of what Skydance will change within Paramount and Warner Bros. productions is not just connected to employment, but also what types of films will be made now under a single executive team with a large debt to pay.
“The major (setback) is a reluctance of risk-taking from studio heads and executives and the need for every film to be a tentpole movie. There is a lack of confidence and spirit, not every movie is for everyone,” said sophomore broadcast journalism and documentary major Henry Mellow.
The employment and storytelling challenges for filmmakers extend beyond Skydance, with other major film studios making big, costly maneuvers all the time.
“I'm not sure how many people were worried about the Fox and Disney merger about a decade ago, but this is different because the intentions behind said merger lie within corporate greed, but also this weird political agenda,” sophomore writing for film and television major Colin C. Silber said. “It's also going to limit telling decent and intelligent stories in favor of corporate slop and potentially propaganda, which is not anything anyone really wants to see.”
The potential mass layoffs from the merger are not unfamiliar, as corporations have looked to cut back on projects for the past decade. For instance, in the past week, Disney has gone through its own round of internal layoffs with changes in leadership. Silber explained how his dad was laid off in 2024 from CBS, a subsidiary company of Paramount.
“My dad was working for the company since the mid- to late-2000s, so he was there for about 15 years before they pulled the plug, and this was before the Ellisons showed up, too,” Silber said. “But that sent a clear message to us that they're willing to just take anybody out in favor of gaining more money.”
The film and television industry has experienced many hurdles in the past few years, mostly notably the pause in productions the COVID-19 pandemic created.
“We began to come back, and then we got into a situation where the unions all went out on strike. That I’ve seen,” Rosenberg said. “So you have all of that going on just as we were starting to get back into some kind of a rhythm post-pandemic. This is different. And the other thing that's different is we're now talking about AI entering into the workplace and where that will also take jobs from people.”
Much criticism of the merger is also directed towards former Paramount and now combined Skydance CEO David Ellison. Critics fear Ellison’s own politics may seep into the projects Skydance will produce, though CNN has maintained that the new ownership will not affect their independent news.
Additionally, Ellison stated that Skydance will release 30 movies each year, utilizing both Paramount and Warner Bros. lots for filming movies and shows.
“This guy is kind of the new breed of mogul, and he may use what's good about technology to increase output, to make films more efficiently and effectively,” said Rosenberg. “We have to give him a shot.”
Along with current and future employment opportunities seeming sparse from business ventures like this, AI has become a big talking point in taking away jobs and the human touch in projects. At Skydance, Ellison said AI will serve as a tool for artists creating movies.
“There's this weird sort of attempted embrace of AI, which I think is really tone deaf and really should not be in our cards. We should not be having the creators of Tilly Norwood coming to talk to any of our students,” said Silber.
Although the challenges in Hollywood may feel like too much for aspiring filmmakers, Rosenberg wants students to remain positive. Rosenberg said that Skydance may eventually lead to more job opportunities for filmmakers as they prove themselves to be a real competitor with the biggest film studios.
“When times are good, people love going either to the movies or watching shows at home or streaming. And when times are difficult, people like to get out, see movies or stay at home and watch stuff on streaming,” he said. “We will not go out of business.”