The state of Tennessee has reportedly been courting David Ellison’s Paramount-Skydance as the studio considers leaving California.
On July 2, Tennessee Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter asked Ellison to relocate Paramount corporate headquarters to Tennessee as the state of California continues to challenge its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Our success is rooted in fiscal discipline, low taxes, predictable governance, and a steadfast belief that government should be a partner in private-sector growth,” stated the letter, per The Hollywood Reporter (THR). “Companies that choose Tennessee find more than a favorable business climate — they find a state committed to helping them succeed.”
“As Paramount Skydance writes its next chapter, Tennessee offers a compelling proposition: a state where creativity and technology converge, where talent is developed intentionally, and where innovation is embraced,” McWhorter later added. “We would welcome the opportunity to share our vision for how Tennessee could help shape the future of Paramount Skydance and its talented team.”
A Paramount spokesperson verified the letter’s authenticity.
David Ellison has also reportedly been backing a bill for a federal film tax incentive that has bipartisan support, which multiple sources confirmed to Variety on Monday. The studio has already been considering an exodus from the state of California, with a report from Semafor over the weekend suggesting his friends and advisers have been nudging him to move the business if California Attorney General Rob Bonta stops his studio’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Last year, the company signed a lease in Bayonne, New Jersey, for nearly 300,000 square feet of studio space. Sources close to Ellison, however, said he remains “wary” of shifting from California after moving from New York to Los Angeles. Per Semafor:
Paramount has made repeated entreaties to Bonta to strike a deal that would allow its merger with Warner Bros. to close.
The studio proposed a firm commitment, via a consent decree, to produce 30 films annually, with a 45-day theatrical release window and a 90-day streaming window, alongside promises to keep both Paramount and Warner Bros. lots open in California, the people said.
Privately, Ellison and other Paramount executives have expressed frustration at Bonta’s refusal to engage, and have pointed to the commitments around content spending — some $30 billion annually — and employment that would flow into California. Already, the region has faced a production exodus to other states — even to Canada — with thousands of entertainment jobs lost in recent years. Ellison and his executives have said that the combined Warner Bros.-Paramount would create jobs in California, helping to stymie that outflow.
At least one Ellison adviser said that AG Bonta has created an “inhospitable” environment for Paramount to work in. Last month, Bonta told MSNOW that there were “red flags in the air everywhere,” and that he was “concerned about job loss and prices being increased.”
“We continue to engage constructively with the remaining few regulators around the world still considering the merger, including State Attorneys General, and are prepared to address any legitimate antitrust issues,” Paramount said in a statement. “We are confident this transaction raises no such concerns, as demonstrated by the dozens of antitrust authorities around the world that have carefully reviewed the transaction.”