From The Hollywood Reporter · Kevin Dolak · · 1m 30s
Paramount's California exit threat, priced out
A report Paramount paid for now puts a number on what leaving California would cost the state, and it leaked.
In brief
A report Paramount paid for now puts a number on what leaving California would cost the state, and it leaked. Paramount commissioned the study that makes its relocation threat look devastating, and the numbers land right before a Sept. 24 bond hearing and an Oct. 1 deadline that costs $7 million a day. Originally…
A merger, and a threat
State attorneys general are suing to block the $110 billion Paramount Skydance purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount's answer: win the case, and we leave California.
58,000 jobs, $21 billion
A leaked study from the LA Economic Development Corporation puts the permanent hit at 28,990 to 57,980 full-time job-years and $10.6 to $21.2 billion in annual output.
“would experience the permanent loss of approximately 28,990 to 57,980 full-time job-years statewide”
Paramount paid for it
The study was commissioned by Paramount itself and leaked Saturday by Politico, while the company negotiates with a coalition of AGs led by California's Rob Bonta.
The carrot is tiny
Paramount's promise of 30 features a year for three years would add just 340 to 920 job-years annually, and at most $337.2 million in state output per year.
Soundstages don't come back
Converting Warner Bros.' stages to housing or offices would erase a century of infrastructure that vendors, crews and post houses were built around.
“permanently strip”
Two deadlines, one trial
A Sept. 24 hearing weighs Paramount's $1.88 billion bond demand. Miss Oct. 1 and a ticking fee pays WBD shareholders $7 million a day. No settlement means a March 2027 trial.
The key point
Paramount commissioned the study that makes its relocation threat look devastating, and the numbers land right before a Sept. 24 bond hearing and an Oct. 1 deadline that costs $7 million a day.
