Merger Meeting?
Timeswas home delivered and read by millions, movies were a dominant form of entertainment.
Few movies are made here and fewer still are worth talking about.
Warner Bros Discovery‘s David Zaslav andParamount Global‘s Shari RedstoneGetty
In fact, its quickly becoming a place where movie studios come to rest before dying.
Rumors currently abound about another of the original studios, Paramount, being acquired by WB Discovery.
If that happens, it’s possible for you to stop looking for it on Melrose.
Look instead on Boot Hill.
The studio is simply collateral damage.
Theres simply nothing to see.
Ignore their wishes and youd perish.
The movie business was more interesting.
Made them more important.
And yes, buried in there was a love of film.
Do any of the studios love movies today?
Id argue not enough.
Every time something original breaks through, its because the talent is pushing it, not the studio.
Without Margot Robbie, theres no Greta Gerwig, and without Gerwig, theres no originality toBarbie.
Stop asking why the original pictures work they work when they are good.
Greed, as Gordon Gekko said, is good.
Today, when a film doesnt reach a billion in revenue, its a waste of resources.
Good never enters the equation.
If it breaks a billion and no one likes it, dont worry.
Size is viewed as a more important asset.
Take over a competitor and you gain leverage.
They dont realize movies arent fueling growth in streaming but rather are victims of it.
This is not a piece against the streamers.
No, as they say, we have met the enemy and the enemy is us.
The studios control the life blood of movies and yet stopped caring about their offspring.
The answer is self-evident in both cases.
There is room for the exceptional to innovate.
Chart your own course and ignore whether someones bigger.
Worry about being better.
Size can be as much a deterrent to success as an enhancement.
Big often leads to manufacturing and selling whats sold before, not the next thing.
Big can also lead to a bureaucratic miasma stifling innovation.
Sound like our business?
The one glimmer out there for Paramount is that Skydance also is interested in acquiring the studio.
