How Paramount’s theater commitments could boost local economies across the nation

The debate over the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. merger has focused on a familiar concern: whether combining two major studios will eliminate jobs and reduce competition in Hollywood. Those concerns deserve serious consideration, but missing from the conversation is a bigger question: whether a stronger, better-capitalized studio could reverse the years-long decline in theatrical film production. Paramount has committed to producing 30 movies a year, each with a 45-day exclusive theatrical window. To understand what that could mean for theaters and communities across the country, my colleagues Russ Kashian, Erik Bergren and I did an economic analysis of this commitment, and we found that it could generate almost $20 billion in annual U.S. economic activity and support over 90,000 jobs across the country. Despite the Justice Department’s recent approval, several Democratic state attorneys general are reportedly preparing a potential lawsuit to block the deal. A recent report commissioned by Los Angeles County suggested that the transaction could place jobs in the Los Angeles region at risk due to consolidation. However, the analysis did not consider the broader job creation and economic activity across the entire country that would be generated by the combined company’s commitment to increased film production and a 45-day theatrical window. To assess what the merger could mean for communities across America, we used the economic analysis tool IMPLAN to estimate the impact of the transaction on the economy. We found that the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger and the ancillary guarantees would result in substantially increased spending and investment in the film industry, which would create considerable economic benefits for communities and movie theaters across the country. In presenting its offer, Paramount CEO David Ellison pledged to make 30 theatrical releases per year–15 from Paramount and 15 from Warner Bros., which will continue to largely operate separate