Entertainment

Paramount-WB Could Cost LA 4,500 Film, TV Jobs and $2.8 Billion

Published

22 minutes ago

August 19, 2026

The Paramount -Warner Bros. Discovery merger could result in the loss of 4,500 film and TV jobs in Los Angeles County over the next three years when the two companies combine their operations, according to a new analysis by CVL Economics and the Department of Economic Opportunity.

The report also estimates that a total of 10,360 “job years” could be at risk, including 2,661 indirect jobs at small businesses that support production — such as prop houses, printers, transportation companies, and other vendors — and
3,204 induced jobs that exist because film and TV workers spend money in the local economy — including restaurants, retailers, and service providers.

A “job year” is defined as one job sustained for one year and measures employment over time rather than unique workers. For example, one job lasting three years equals three job years.

Overall, the economic impact of losing these jobs would be $1.26 billion in wages, $2.78 billion in economic value, $4.06 billion in total business output and $547 million in tax revenue, including $78.6 million in local taxes — most of which (63%) comes from property taxes.

The direct jobs at risk account for nearly 9% of the 52,016 film and TV jobs California has already lost since 2022 — and almost all those losses (99.6%) occurred in Los Angeles County.

The latest report, which was ordered by and submitted to LA County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, comes after DEO previously found that the $110 billion deal could put nearly 2,5000 local jobs and roughly 6,000 jobs globally at risk due to consolidation. Those figures cover duplicative roles in corporate, tech, real estate and other shared functions across the two companies.

DEO’s interim report estimated that 17% of Paramount’s total workforce and 13% of WBD’s total workforce are located in LA County. When looking by unit, 35% of Paramount and 27% of WBD’s studios unit workforces are based in LA, while direct-to-consumer/streaming make up 15% and 17% and TV/media and global linear networks make up 10% and 2%, respectively.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount CEO David Ellison (Credit: Getty Images/Christopher Smith for TheWrap)

In addition to the economic analysis, DEO is coordinating with state agencies including the Employment Development Department and the California Film Commission to create an action plan to provide job training, placement and other workforce programs, as well as access to unemployment insurance, public benefits and health and mental health services to any displaced workers.

DEO currently oversees $1.57 million in the Arts, Media, and Entertainment High Road Training Partnership (HRTP), which supports over 100 apprenticeships in editing, production, gaming and animation.

Los Angeles County’s creative economy supports more than 312,000 workers, including approximately 171,155 entertainment sector jobs.

More to come…

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Dutch Kids TV Classic ‘De Fabeltjeskrant’ Gets International Revival

Published

1 minute ago

August 19, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: De Fabeltjeskrant, the classic Dutch kids TV program set in the Great Animal Forest, is being given a new lease of life and a fresh international rollout.

Some 1,600 episodes of the puppet show will be restored, as a CGI incarnation of the property enters development and will be shopped to buyers at MIPCOM in October. The restored episodes are due to be released on the De Fabeltjeskrant YouTube channel.

Three-time Tony Award-winning producer Robin de Levita Productions has partnered with the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, Monks and JVDB Studios on the restoration initiative, which is working from original 16mm film elements preserved for more than half a century.

The business case is that producers and distributors are continuing to look toward established family IP with multigenerational recognition for their content, and that streaming and digital platforms have created new opportunities for extensive TV libraries that were previously difficult for international audiences to access. De Fabeltjeskrant is designed to tap into both notions, restoring and distributing the original programming for the audiences who grew up with it and simultaneously rebuilding the property for children encountering its characters for the first time.

Spot-motion puppetry show De Fabeltjeskrant, created by Leen Valkenier, first broadcast in 1968 and went on to become a cultural phenomenon in the Netherlands and Belgium. With a title translating as The Fables Newspaper, the show took place in a forest filled with anthropomorphic animals where the main character, an owl named Meneer de Uil read headlines from a daily paper.

The show used humor as a mechanism to explore frienship, community, curiosity and respect. Running for more than 1,600 episodes it became a cultural touchstone for Dutch audiences, and was sold into 40 countries.

“Thanks to the extraordinary work of the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, these original films have survived for more than half a century,” said producer Robin de Levita. “Together with our partners, we can finally restore them with the care and precision they deserve and share them with audiences around the world. The world has changed enormously since 1968, but people haven’t. The stories of the Great Animal Forest are perhaps even more relevant today than ever before.”

CGI series

The new animated version is being billed as a “new creative future for the franchise,” and will see the Great Animal Forest and its inhabitants reimagined, while keeping the same underlying values as the original show.

Monks is working with Robin de Levita Productions on the new incarnation, using current-generation animation and digital production technology.

“Great entertainment brands are timeless,” said Victor Knaap of Monks. “Together we are combining heritage, creativity and cutting-edge technology to build a new international future for this extraordinary brand.”

Jordi van den Bussche of JVDB Studios added: “Technology should help great stories reach more people. By combining AI, digital production and global distribution, we can introduce one of Europe’s most iconic children’s series to new generations around the world.”

The new CGI show will be presented to buyers in Cannes for MIPCOM in October.

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Nicolas Cage To Battle Cannibals In Action-Thriller ‘Parish’

Published

8 minutes ago

August 19, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a fun one. Nicolas Cage is set to play one of the last known survivors of a nuclear apocalypse who must do battle with a horde of vicious cannibals in new action-thriller Parish.

Concourse Media is launching world pre-sales on the project ahead of the TIFF market.

Set 30 years after a nuclear apocalypse, Parish stars Oscar winner and action vet Cage as “a hardened survivor who has managed to stay alive with his highly trained attack dogs by following one unbreakable rule: never let anyone through the gate. That rule has kept him alive for three decades. But when a desperate woman carrying an infant appears outside his sanctuary, Parish is forced to choose between compassion and survival. His decision exposes the refuge he has spent years building and puts him in the crosshairs of a vicious band of cannibals closing in from the wasteland. With his highly equipped compound under siege and his past finally catching up with him, Parish is forced into a brutal fight to protect everything he has left.”

The project heralds from writer-director Adam Sigal, writer-director of Simon Pegg comedy-thriller Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose and producer on 2024 sci-fi Slingshot with Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne. Filming is being lined up for October in Minnesota.

Joel Shapiro of MagiCity Studios (Gunner, Killerman) is producing along with Steven Tyler Sahlein (The Devil’s Advocate). Matthew Shreder’s Concourse Media will executive-produce and finance alongside its sister company Archetype Media Finance.

Big-budget veteran DoP David Tattersall, known for Star Wars: Episodes I, II & III, The Green Mile, Tomb Raider and Cage starrers Con Air and Next, will serve as cinematographer.

“There’s a scale and pedigree to Parish that immediately separates it from the pack, with all the ingredients of a real theatrical event,” said Matthew Shreder, CEO of Concourse Media. “Nic Cage is an incredible and fearless actor, with an extraordinary group of filmmakers around him who are all setting out to make a sophisticated survival thriller that’s a cinematic event built for a global audience.”

Producer Joel Shapiro added: “Adam has created a world that is savage, cinematic and incredibly visceral, but what drew us to Parish was the humanity underneath it. Nick Cage brings an unpredictability and emotional intensity that makes him perfect for this character. And to be building this world alongside artists like David Tattersall is incredibly exciting. We’re approaching this as a big-screen experience from the ground up.”

Cage is repped by Stride Management, WME, and GGSSC.

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‘Love Island USA’s Ariana Madix Sets ‘St. Denis Medical’ Season 3 Return

Published

17 minutes ago

August 19, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: Ariana Madix is set to return to NBC‘s St. Denis Medical when the mockumentary returns for Season 3.

The Emmy-nominated Love Island USA host will reprise her role as Dr. Brooke Emerson, a cardiac surgeon and former girlfriend of Josh Lawson’s Bruce.

Deadline has learned that Madix will guest star in at least three episodes next season.

Madix joined the cast in Season 2 of the comedy with a multi-episode guest appearance and sharing credits with Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, Mekki Leeper, and Kaliko Kauahi.

The mockumentary is set at St. Denis Regional Medical Center, following an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.

St. Denis Medical is not the only place Madix is returning this fall. This week, it was confirmed that she would return to Broadway and join the Just In Time musical as Connie Francis.

Just In Time stars Jeremy Jordan as Bobby Darin, the legendary singer whose short but remarkable life took him from teen idol to global sensation and inspired generations of performers who followed. The musical transports audiences into an intimate, swinging nightclub complete with a live band, a stellar ensemble cast, and iconic Bobby Darin hits including “Beyond the Sea,” “Mack the Knife,” “Splish Splash,” and “Dream Lover.”

Madix will next be seen co-hosting the Love Island USA Season 8 reunion alongside Andy Cohen, set to stream Monday, August 31 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Madix is represented by Gersh, and her management is Venture Entertainment Partners; legal is Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.