On Friday, a congressional hearing was held in Burbank to discuss the challenges the film and television industry is facing, as well as the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros.
Sen. Adam Schiff led the hearing, which was called “Lights, Camera, Competition: Promoting American Film Production.”
“The Pitt” actor-director Noah Wyle was among those who testified about the job losses from productions moving out of Los Angeles.
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“We lost 42,000 film and TV jobs in LA County between 2022 and 2024, and as of last year, high-budget productions are down 43%,” he said.
KNX News’ Karen Adams reported that Schiff said he’s working to push legislation to create a federal film tax credit to keep productions and jobs in the U.S.
During the meeting, there were also concerns about the possible merger between Paramount and Warner Bros.
“People in L.A. are really concerned about what this merger means. Rep. Laura Friedman said. “Two of the main legacy studios now merging together with the buyer talking about efficiencies, which we know means layoffs. So we should all be really concerned about this, and we should be concerned about what it ultimately means for consumers when you go to stream a show.”
Former CNN and CBS journalist Jim Acosta also said he found the possible merger to be very concerning.
“I think we're going to have to start having a conversation about busting up big media because this is not America,” he said. “What we're witnessing right now - this is very close to what is going on in Russia, Hungary, and other authoritarian countries where they have successfully consolidated their news media.”
In the meeting, Schiff also reacted to the news that CBS is laying off 6% of its workforce and shutting down CBS News Radio.
“It's terrible news, and we're seeing this really throughout the media,” he said. “The Washington Post with its serious layoffs very recently…and it's been a cascading set of layoffs through the industry. But how are we to expect that if CNN is acquired by the same parent, that we won't see another round of layoffs? “
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