LA County Report Warns Paramount Warner Bros Merger Could Risk 4,500 Hollywood Jobs

Los Angeles has been witnessing a gradual decline in its once-thriving production industry over the past few years. Tax incentives from other states and countries have increasingly lured film and television projects away from the region. Since 2022, the county has lost over 52,000 film and television jobs, with nearly all of those losses occurring within Los Angeles County.

A new economic analysis indicates that this decline may worsen significantly if a major merger proceeds as planned. The merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at approximately $110 billion, is currently undergoing regulatory review. To assess the potential impact on the local workforce, Los Angeles County commissioned an independent study.

The final report, released by the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity and the county’s Film Office, reveals that the merger could jeopardize around 4,500 direct film and television jobs in the county over the three-year period during which the companies integrate their operations. Conducted by CVL Economics, the analysis also estimates that a total of 10,360 job-years could be at risk, encompassing both direct production jobs and those indirectly supported by related spending.

In addition to direct job losses, the report outlines further economic vulnerabilities associated with the merger. It identifies 2,661 indirect jobs at small businesses that support production, such as prop houses, printers, and transportation firms, along with 3,204 induced jobs linked to spending by film and TV workers at local restaurants, retailers, and service providers. Overall, the report estimates a potential impact of $1.26 billion in lost wages, $4.06 billion in business output, and $547 million in tax revenue.

County officials emphasized that these figures represent modeled risk projections rather than confirmed layoffs, as neither Paramount nor Warner Bros. Discovery has publicly announced cuts of this magnitude. However, the report identifies five specific mechanisms through which the merger could lead to actual job losses, including slate consolidation, which may result in the newly merged company approving fewer projects, shared below-the-line workforce vulnerabilities, and decisions that could shift productions away from California altogether.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath expressed her concerns regarding the findings. “This report confirms what we feared: 4,500 direct film and television jobs, more than 10,000 total job-years, and $4.06 billion in business output are at risk,” she stated. “Los Angeles has already lost too many jobs, too much production, and too many people who make this industry possible. We cannot afford to lose another generation of Hollywood workers,” as noted in a release from Los Angeles County.

The report also highlighted a notable statistic regarding where the combined slate of Paramount-WBD is being filmed. Of the 73 films on the companies’ combined 2025 production schedule with identified filming locations, only four are set to be filmed in California, and just one of those in Los Angeles County.

This geographic disparity raises broader concerns outlined in the report regarding cost-of-living pressures and competitive tax credit structures in other states and countries, which have been drawing production work away from Southern California even before the merger was proposed. CVL Economics co-founder Adam Fowler remarked that the media industry is undergoing “a period of profound structural realignment,” citing declining linear television revenue as one of several factors reshaping the landscape.

With the regulatory review of the merger still in progress and a legal challenge from California’s attorney general reportedly ongoing, the timeline for when, or if, these projected job losses could occur remains uncertain. For a local economy still striving to recover from years of production decline, this report adds urgency to an already fragile moment for the industry that has defined Los Angeles’ identity.

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