California’s Small Businesses Need Certainty for Hollywood’s Future

California’s entertainment industry is about more than the movies and television shows audiences see on screen. It is also about the thousands of workers, entrepreneurs and small businesses that help bring those productions to life.

That is why the proposed Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger matters to California’s small-business community.

Paramount’s operations and productions already support more than 34,000 jobs across California, a majority in the greater Los Angeles region, spanning employees, production workers and the many third-party businesses and workers that support the company’s operations. That economic footprint demonstrates just how deeply entertainment is connected to California’s broader economy.

Furthermore, Paramount has already committed to releasing more than 30 theatrical films annually amidst the potential merger. Those films mean real jobs and opportunities for local workers across the state. A commitment of this scale means job stability and a strong film industry for California.

When film production grows, opportunity extends far beyond the studio lot. It reaches the transportation companies, caterers, vendors, production firms, creative professionals and other small businesses that provide the services and expertise that make productions possible.

Today, however, that economic ecosystem faces continued uncertainty.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. An agreement reached in July prevents the companies from completing the transaction until June 1, 2027, or until a court rules on the states’ claims, whichever comes first.

For the workers and small businesses connected to Paramount’s operations, that delay is not an abstract legal matter. It means uncertainty about the future of investment, production and the economic activity that supports their livelihoods.

Notably, even the Directors Guild of America and IATSE recently warned that a prolonged litigation timeline and ongoing uncertainty about the future of Warner Bros. Discovery would harm their members.

California’s Asian American and Pacific Islander business community understands the importance of certainty and opportunity. Small businesses are essential to California’s economy, creating jobs and helping communities thrive. The entertainment industry is no different.

The Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger has the potential to create a stronger and more competitive American entertainment company, better positioned to invest in content and compete in a rapidly changing global marketplace.

A stronger company with the ability to sustain a robust content pipeline can mean more production, more work for vendors and more opportunities for the workers and entrepreneurs who depend on the entertainment economy. It can also help ensure California remains a global center for creativity, innovation and storytelling.

Attorney General Bonta should consider the real people and small businesses affected by continued uncertainty as the legal process moves forward. The question that needs to be asked is: what happens to small businesses, jobs and the economic ecosystem if we delay this merger?

California should pursue a path that provides greater certainty for workers and businesses and allows a strong, competitive entertainment industry to continue creating opportunities across the state.