John Leguizamo, Paramount and Warner Bros. talks about his merger and implores David Ellison to consider what the industry needs as he takes over the new Skydance.
“Come on, Dave. Do the right thing. Don’t just think about yourself and your pocketbook. Think about what Americans need and what the industry needs. Think about others for a change.”
Terms of the merger include Paramount-WBD being affiliated with Paramount Studios or Warner Bros. in California. It is prohibited to sell its lots for at least five years. “This is still not enough,” Leguizamo said.
“You have an end date. You have an expiration date. That’s not cool,” he said. “People have to plan for the rest of their lives. They plan for five years, but then what?”
“…the industry belongs in Los Angeles,” Leguizamo said Friday at the 6th Annual Celebration of Film and Television, where he was honored with the Critics’ Choice Association’s Career Achievement Award. “We need to support and grow. We need to rebuild and add. Not subtract.”
In April, Leguizamo was signed to Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros. He was one of more than 4,000 film and TV stars and creators who signed an open letter opposing its acquisition of Discovery.
“We are deeply concerned by signs of support for this merger that puts the interests of a small group of powerful stakeholders ahead of the broader public interest,” said the letter, published by the New York Times and available on the website BlocktheMerger.com. “The integrity, independence and diversity of our industry could be seriously compromised. Competition is essential to a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. So is careful regulation and enforcement.”
Other signatories include Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Kristen Stewart, Robert De Niro, Sofia Coppola, Florence Pugh, Pedro Pascal, Edward Norton, Atsuko Okatsuka, Adam McKay, Alan Cumming, Alyssa Milano, Boots Riley, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Nixon, Damon Lindelof, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Elliot Page and Glenn Close. Jane Fonda, JJ Abrams, Jason Bateman, John Leguizamo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Margaret Cho, Mark Ruffalo, Noah Wyle, Patti Lupone, Ramy Youssef, Rosario Dawson, Rosie O’Donnell, Ted Danson, Tiffany Haddish, Tig Notaro, Yorgos Lanthimos and Yvette Nicole Brown.