Damon Lindelof, who is attached to James Gunn’s DCU Lanterns HBO series, has publicly come out against the proposed Paramount-WBD merger.
Lindelof signed the open letter opposing Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery and shared the comments on Instagram.
Says Hollywood workers are “about to get f-cked”
Lindelof said his concern is what the merger could mean for workers across the industry, not just executives or creatives at the top.
“Because Hollywood, believe it or not, is a blue-collar town. It’s thousands and thousands of Grips and Gaffers. Drivers and Decorators. Builders and Boom operators. Camera teams and Caterers,” he wrote.
Lindelof added, “And they’re all about to get f-cked.”
Warns merger means fewer movies and shows
Contrary to Paramount-Skydance’s claim that they will release 30 movies a year, Lindelof argued that a merger like this will result in fewer productions and fewer jobs (on a side note, J.J. Abrams who also signed the letter is closing his Hollywood offices and moving to NY).
“Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs. When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive —one becomes a Ghost Town,” said Lindelof.
He also said opposing the merger may look pointless on the surface, but still felt it was worth doing.
“Better not to risk it. Me opposing an inevitable merger would be pointless and signing a letter that will evaporate into the sh-tstorm of an unrelenting news cycle would be even more pointless. But is it? Pointless?” he wrote.
Lindelof mentions David Ellison
Lindelof said he has worked with David Ellison before and described him in positive terms, but made clear he still opposes the merger.
“I actually sort of know my (potential ) new boss, David Ellison — We produced a few things together not too long ago and I found him to be bright, ambitious and passionate. He loved movies and trusted the people he made them with. But still…” said Lindelof.
“I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost.”
Lindelof closed by saying fear played a role in his hesitation, but he signed the letter anyway.
“I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost. And a fight is already lost if it’s never fought,” he said.
He added that others may stay quiet for their own reasons, but said the situation is coming either way.
“So I signed. Proudly. I understand why many of my peers have not — trust me, I’m more of a puker than a stormer. But these boats are heading for the beach whether we like it or not…” he wrote. “The only thing we have any control over is what we do when we get there.”
