SAG-AFTRA Says It Will Conduct “Complete And Thorough Analysis” Of Netflix-WB Deal Before Taking A Position, But Warns Merger “Raises Many Serious Questions”

SAG-AFTRA has weighed in on the news that Netflix has won the bidding war for Warner Bros., and as expected, the actors union doesn’t seem happy — but it isn’t taking an official position just yet. Instead, the guild says the potential transaction “raises many serious questions” that leadership expects to have answered.

While the sale may “serve the financial interests of shareholders of both companies,” it is also sure to have sweeping consequences for the future of the entertainment industry, “and especially the human creative talent whose livelihoods and careers depend on it,” the guild argued in a statement issued Friday.

The deal — which sees Netflix fork over $82.7 billion for Warner Bros., including its film and television studios, HBO Max and HBO — “reaffirms the true value of legacy media companies and the long term economic prosperity they create due in large part to the contribution of the creative talent who are at the core of their success,” the statement reads.

In conclusion: “A deal that is in the interest of SAG-AFTRA members and all other workers in the entertainment industry must result in more creation and more production, not less. It must do so in an environment of respect for the talent involved. Any decision about SAG-AFTRA’s position on this transaction will be made with the best interests of SAG-AFTRA members as the standard and following a complete and thorough analysis of the details of the deal, with particular focus on jobs and production commitments.”

SAG-AFTRA is now the third above-the-line union to enter the conversation. The Directors Guild of America quickly spoke up late Thursday night, when news began percolating that Netflix had entered exclusive talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, saying that it plans to meet with the streamer over “significant concerns” surrounding the deal. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild has indicated that they are not willing to entertain such a conversation, urging that any deal “must be blocked.”

“The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent,” the WGA East and West said in a joint statement on Friday morning.

Thursday was a tumultuous day that saw Paramount move aggressively to counter Netflix’s offer and seal a deal of its own for WBD. However, Netflix still prevailed with a deal that sees them paying $27.75 a share for the venerable Hollywood studio.

WBD put itself on the block in October to open up the process after receiving three consecutive offers from Paramount. Now owned by the Ellison family, which has close ties to the Trump administration, Paramount had repeatedly argued that it is the only one of the three offers that were on the table with a clear path to closing, insisting in an open letter published yesterday that the rival offers from Netflix and Comcast both “present serious issues that no regulator will be able to ignore.” 

This sets the stage for an interesting year ahead, as the WGA, DGA and SAG-AFTRA are set to enter another round of contract talks with the major Hollywood studios. Though negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers won’t formally begin until sometime in the spring, the unions have already been back channeling with the studios’ negotiating unit to signal priorities.

Both the writers and actors guilds will need to focus primarily on overhauling their health and pension plans, which have taken a hit in recent years and are both currently operating unsustainably.