Has there ever been an industry as predisposed to sales, dispositions, mergers and megadeals as Hollywood? Over the last century, oil companies, soda conglomerates, cable providers and Big Tech giants have gobbled up studios and networks. Wealthy investors and private equity firms too. But with entertainment in the midst of an existential fight for time and attention, the stakes could never be higher.
Inside both Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount, anxiety is pervasive in offices and studio lots as David Ellison’s $111 billion marriage stalls while 12 states take their legal fight to court with a winner-take-all trial set for March.
That uncertainty is causing a mix of panic and frustration at the highest levels. At the TV studio, it’s made it that much more challenging to retain talent (see Quinta Brunson, who defected from Warners, where she had an overall deal, to Disney’s 20th Television) or lure new names to the studio. One exec suggests that the strife in the CBS News division was not helping matters, as entertainment-side employees in left-leaning Los Angeles watched in horror as 60 Minutes unraveled and accusations of interference were lobbed at its Ellison-appointed editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
