As Warner Bros. Discovery is set to enter exclusive negotiations with Netflix over a potential acquisition, the Directors Guild of America says it will seek a meeting with the streamer regarding its plans for one of Hollywood’s most storied legacy studios.
“The news that Netflix had secured exclusive rights to negotiate for WBD raises significant concerns for the DGA. We believe that a vibrant, competitive industry – one that fosters creativity and encourages genuine competition for talent – is essential to safeguarding the careers and creative rights of directors and their teams,” the guild said in a statement. “We will be meeting with Netflix to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company. While we undertake this due diligence we will not be commenting further,” the statement continued.
The Netflix/Warner agreement comes roughly three months after the DGA’s members elected Christopher Nolan as its next president. Nolan released nine films over an 18-year period at Warner Bros., including “Inception” and the “Dark Knight” trilogy, before moving to Universal for his 2023 film “Oppenheimer” and next year’s “The Odyssey.”
Nolan’s final film at Warner Bros., “Tenet,” was released in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic at the filmmaker’s urging in an effort to provide some form of financial support to struggling theaters.
Nolan, like many of the DGA’s most prominent members, have spoken out in recent years about the necessity of preserving the theatrical experience, which adds further concern to such defenders as Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has regularly expressed that releasing films almost always as streaming exclusives — save for a small handful with a theatrical window of less than a month in select cinemas — is the company’s core strategy.
Despite efforts by Netflix’s top competitor for WBD, Paramount Skydance, the streamer won the bidding war with an offer of $30 per share, along with a $5 billion break-up fee to match the terms that Paramount added with its bid.
While DGA is the first to comment on the outcome of the Warner bidding war, other unions are likely to follow suit. In October, when Paramount was appearing as the frontrunner to acquire WBD, the Writers Guild of America voiced its opposition to such a merger, calling it “a disaster for writers, for consumers, and for competition.”
But news of Netflix overtaking Paramount in the race has also led to pushback from federal regulators. New York Post’s Charles Gasparino reported on Tuesday that insiders at the Department of Justice have signaled that Netflix would face an antitrust investigation on any potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
California Attorney General Robert Bonta has also previously voiced his opposition to any deals involving WBD. “Further consolidation in markets that are central to American economic life — whether in the financial, airline, grocery or broadcasting and entertainment markets — does not serve the American economy, consumers or competition well,” his office told TheWrap last month in response to Paramount’s initial offer.
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