MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
More than 2,000 actors, directors, producers, writers, editors, composers and costumers have now signed an open letter - a letter opposing Paramount Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, that deal is expected to close later this year if it wins approval from regulators and shareholders. But the letter out yesterday contains a warning. It says a merger will result in, quote, "fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world."
One of the people who signed the letter is Damon Lindelof, creator of the TV series "Watchmen," also co-creator of "Lost" and "The Leftovers." Damon Lindelof, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
DAMON LINDELOF: Thanks so much for having me.
KELLY: So you posted on Instagram yesterday and walked through how you decided to sign this letter openly opposing the merger. You said your first thought was, yeah, I do. I do oppose the merger. And the second was, I'm afraid to say so publicly. So let's start there. Why?
LINDELOF: You know, I think that this is what they refer to as the chilling effect. And I think that the short answer is the feeling around this merger, this takeover, whatever it is we want to call it, is that it's inevitable. And so the idea of speaking out against it and then understanding that I'm going to - in my case, the people that I - will be my new bosses, potentially by the end of the summer or in the fall if everything goes as planned, I'm now on record as saying that I didn't want this to happen. And so will there be potential retaliation when my deal is up at the end of next summer? Will they be less inclined to pick me up? So this sort of idea of what's going to happen to me as a result of publicly opposing this sort of overwhelmed me in the initial days that the letter was sort of coming together.
KELLY: Well, and just to underscore quite how not uninterested a party you are, you're speaking to us from your office on the Warner Bros. lot, is that right?
LINDELOF: Yes, it's true. I can see the water tower from my window. And this is - I've been in this office since we just - we did "The Leftovers," so almost a decade now, and I've grown quite fond of it.
KELLY: Yeah.
LINDELOF: So if someone starts pounding on the door while we're talking to one another, we both know why.
KELLY: I mean, practically speaking, what do you hope to achieve with this letter? Because as I said when I introduced to you, the deal is expected to close later this year.
LINDELOF: The fact of the matter is it isn't a done deal. It was looking like Netflix was going to take over Warners before Paramount came in and basically got the deal. And what we were hearing, at least anecdotally, was that Capitol Hill and Washington and our government officials were, you know, going to have hearings and there was going to be a lot of diligence done around that deal. And yet when Paramount sort of swept in, all of that went away. And so I think part of the push behind the letter is really to advocate for and create some narrative for attorneys general - Rob Bonta here in California but any other state attorneys general - to take a look at this deal and really see what kind of an impact it's going to have on not just our business but on consumers.
You know, obviously, there's going to be an immediate impact here in Hollywood. Anytime there's a consolidation, if you just look at what happened when Disney bought Fox, there was just a lot fewer movies being made, a lot less television being made. Anytime there's consolidation, that's going to basically hurt anybody who wants to consume our product.
KELLY: So Paramount has responded. They've read the letter. Through a spokesperson they are saying...
LINDELOF: They skimmed it.
KELLY: They're saying they understand the concerns. They are committed - and I'll quote, "committed to ensuring creators have more avenues for their work, not fewer." Do you find that reassuring?
LINDELOF: I want to take Paramount at their word. I don't think anybody is being purposefully disingenuous here. As I said in my Instagram post, I worked with David Ellison on several movies back in the early to mid-2000s. We made a couple of "Star Trek" movies together.
KELLY: David Ellison, the head of Paramount.
LINDELOF: And I think he's a great guy who loves movies. So this isn't me saying that I don't - that I think anyone's being disingenuous. But I do look at the Fox deal, the - and what happened over there, what they were saying at the time that the deal was done. And here we are five, six years later, and we've hemorrhaged, you know, 40% of movies and television - fewer movies and television shows are being made. And so I think that maybe Paramount Skydance believes that they're going to make 30 movies, and maybe will even make 30 movies next year. But I would be very surprised if that number isn't down to half that within four or five years. I mean, it does strain credulity. I think that if you think about what would happen if the Dodgers and the Yankees merged, if you're a shortstop, you're going to be worried.
KELLY: I guess I'm thinking of this year's best picture winner at the Academy Awards and whether it feels like one battle after another in Hollywood, going back to the COVID pandemic and the writers and the actors strikes and AI coming in. And you're referencing fewer shows, fewer movies, filming in Los Angeles. Are you still optimistic about the future of your industry?
LINDELOF: I have to be. You know, for someone who spent so much time telling dystopian stories, I do want to have happy endings. And I think that that all cycles back to this question of why would you say anything? What are you hoping to achieve by this? It's already a done deal. The storytellers in our business at every single level - and when I say storytellers, I don't just mean writers and directors and actors. I mean people at every level of the story - the grips, the gaffers, the caterers, the costumers, the set designers. All of us are storytellers. We want to tell stories about people who are facing overwhelming odds, the underdogs, and then they triumph. So it just felt like, why not practice what we preach?
KELLY: Damon Lindelof - TV writer, showrunner, storyteller - talking about his decision to sign an open letter opposing Paramount Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Damon Lindelof, thanks so much.
LINDELOF: Thank you.
KELLY: And a note, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount+ are financial supporters of NPR.
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