LOS ANGELES — Disaster, catastrophe and nightmare. That is how many of Hollywood’s creative workers are describing the possible breakup or sale of Warner Bros, as Netflix and Paramount Skydance battle for control of one of the film industry’s most historic studios and the entertainment capital braces for fresh job losses.

Warner Bros’ decline and looming sale have cast a shadow over an industry already battered by a prolonged production slowdown.

Whether the studio is sold whole to Paramount Skydance or carved up by Netflix, the outcome is expected to mean further layoffs and, critically, one fewer major buyer of film and television projects.

Interviews with actors, producers and crew members reveal deep anxiety about the future.

Many see the choice as one between two uneasy alternatives: ownership by a tech giant widely blamed for accelerating the decline of movie theatres, or control by billionaire-backed interests perceived as politically aligned with US President Donald Trump.

If Netflix prevails, it is expected to acquire Warner Bros’ core assets — including the 102-year-old studio, HBO and its vast film and television archive — while leaving legacy cable networks such as CNN, TNT Sports and Discovery to be sold separately.

Paramount Skydance, meanwhile, has launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid backed by Gulf investors as well as a fund established by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, prompting concerns in Hollywood about political influence and potential censorship.

President Trump has added to the controversy by publicly stating it is “imperative that CNN be sold,” further fuelling unease over the future independence of Warner Bros’ news assets.

The turmoil is the latest chapter in a series of upheavals that have reshaped Hollywood since the pandemic.

After a post-Covid production boom in 2022, the industry ground to a halt during the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes. When those disputes ended, production never fully recovered. Consolidation has since accelerated, with studios merging, downsizing or closing entirely.

Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav has become a lightning rod for criticism. While the company has lost billions in value and shed thousands of jobs since its 2022 merger, Zaslav earned nearly $52 million last year, drawing anger from workers who accuse him of dismantling a studio with a storied legacy.

Warner Bros disputes that portrayal, saying the studio has regained creative momentum under Zaslav’s leadership, relaunched the DC Universe under a long-term plan and turned its streaming service profitable for the first time.

For many in Hollywood, however, the identity of the eventual buyer feels secondary to a harsher reality: fewer jobs, fewer projects and an industry shrinking under the pressures of consolidation and artificial intelligence.

Some fear Netflix ownership would further sideline theatrical releases, while others argue that the streaming giant has shown respect for cinema through investments such as its restoration of Los Angeles’ historic Egyptian Theatre.

On the Warner Bros lot, tourists continue to pose in front of famous sets, while inside offices and writers’ rooms, those still employed carry on as usual. Veterans of past mergers say the loss of another major studio buyer will make it harder to get projects made, regardless of who wins the takeover battle.

As Hollywood waits for the outcome, few expect the upheaval to end with Warner Bros. With global media assets increasingly attractive to tech giants and ultra-wealthy investors, many insiders believe this may be only the beginning of a deeper transformation of the entertainment industry. — BBC