Since it was announced in March, the pending merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery has been a hot topic in Hollywood, and around the world. The mega-merger will certainly have an impact on the future of company that controls Star Trek. The $110 billion dollar deal has seen some opposition and that includes some Star Trek celebrities. We have some more details along with a video from Star Trek: Discovery star Wilson Cruz, who wants fans to come out in New York City and Washington D.C. on Thursday to protest the deal.
Star Trek stars join #BlockTheMerger
Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was a long and drawn out battle, with plenty of Hollywood drama including Netflix being originally announced as the winning bidder for WBD, before Paramount raised their bid and won the heart of the WBD board of directors. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval around the world, and that process can only start once WBD shareholders officially approve the merger. That vote will be held at WBD headquarters in New York on Thursday.
The merger of two of Hollywood’s biggest studios has seen significant opposition, especially from the creative community. Earlier this month 1,000 big names penned an open letter opposing the deal, primarily concerned with media consolidation and the potential loss of competition and decrease in productions. The list included lots of big names including J.J. Abrams, who produced the last three Star Trek films for Paramount (with Skydance as partners).
Abrams was joined by writer/producer Damon Lindelof who worked on two of those movies. Since that original letter was published the list of signatories has grown to over 4,000 and now has other Star Trek celebs including Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher in TNG), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine in Voyager and Picard), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber in Discovery), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker in Picard), Shazad Latif (Ash Tyler in Discovery), Osric Chau (Discovery). Together they are all supporting the efforts of blockthemerger.com.
Cruz asks fans to join Thursday protest
Today Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber) took to Instagram to implore Star Trek fans to join the opposition to the merger. According to the actor, Trekkies should be particularly concerned about the deal, as “no one understands better than we do that we don’t need one corporation controlling massive amounts of power and storytelling.” But Cruz believes fans can make a difference and specifically he is asking Trekkies to join in at one of two protests being held on Thursday, April 23rd:
- New York City, 9am ET: WBD headquarters (230 Park Avenue South), where the shareholder vote is taking place
- Washington DC, 5:30pm ET: United States Institute of Peace (2301 Constitution Avenue NW), where Paramount CEO is hosting a private dinner honoring the Trump White House. [more details HERE]
Cruz’s message signs off with “Trekkies, there’s no one better suited for this moment than you. Let’s make our voices heard. Live Long and Stop the Merger so we can ALL PROSPER!” You can watch the full video below.
Frakes and Shimerman add their voices On TrekMovie podcast
This issue came up during last week’s All Access Star Trek podcast. The TrekMovie podcasters asked Jonathan Frakes, Kitty Swink, and Armin Shimerman if they agreed with the open letter and would sign on, Shimerman said:
“I certainly would [sign on]. I think it’s not just [less competition and productions], but also the lack of vision if you only have one point of view. So having multiple studios is a way of having multiple visions.”
To this Frakes chimed in, saying “Yes, perfectly said… and to keep people working.” Armin’s wife, actress Kitty Swink, added:
“I also think that it’s not just media consolidation, it’s everybody consolidation there. It’s not healthy for society or for the economy below the billionaire level to not have a wider range of people as employers. It just is not. Look at what happened at the end of the Gilded Age. Look at what happened at the end of the 1920s. It’s not good.”
For more check out the full podcast.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source trekmovie.com ’
