Overview
- The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity’s interim report filed June 18 estimates about 2,495 jobs in Greater Los Angeles and roughly 6,000 jobs worldwide could be exposed to elimination because of duplicate corporate, technology, real estate and shared functions.
- The federal Justice Department cleared the merger, but the county report says the combined company would carry about $82 billion in gross debt and that Paramount projects more than $6 billion in cost savings from consolidation.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of state attorneys general are actively reviewing the deal and preparing possible litigation that could delay or block the transaction despite DOJ approval.
- The DEO found most 2025 theatrical productions from the two studios were filmed outside California, which raises doubt that Paramount’s pledge to increase output will restore local production and jobs.
- Los Angeles County will publish a deeper 120-day analysis and an action plan on Aug. 18 that will examine longer-term production effects and propose job training and workforce measures while regulators in the EU, U.K. and the FCC continue separate reviews.