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Hudson County, New Jersey, Democratic leaders are calling on Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to withdraw the state from its involvement in a lawsuit seeking to stop the merger between Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
In an op-ed published by the New Jersey Globe, Bayonne Mayor Sharon Ashe-Nadowski, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, state Sens. Raj Mukherji, Brian Stack and Angela McKnight, in addition to state Assembly members Jerry Walker, William Sampson, Ravi Bhalla, Katie Brennan, Larry Wainstein and Gabriel Rodriguez urged Davenport to withdraw from the lawsuit, citing potential economic benefits for the state.
The officials wrote that while they trust Davenport’s independent judgment, “The extraordinary stakes for New Jersey in this matter, however, give rise to this rare but consequential disagreement.”
“New Jersey has spent years building a film and television industry capable of competing with New York, California, Georgia and production centers around the world including the U.K., attracting transformational investments from Netflix and Lionsgate,” the officials wrote. “Paramount has become a critical participant in that effort and has committed to establishing a substantial, long-term production presence in Bayonne.”
The group said the plan to develop 1888 Studios in Bayonne is the most consequential economic opportunity Hudson County has had in years.
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“This is the creation of an entirely new economic ecosystem and a self-sustaining creative economy in our state: careers for electricians, laborers, carpenters, stagehands, technicians, artists, and countless others; new customers for our small businesses; and, critically, accessible pathways into a growing industry for young people and working families who too often have been excluded from the prosperity being created around them. Its economic reverberations will extend well beyond the studio gates,” the Hudson County officials said.
The project would bring in roughly $1.2 billion in capital expenditures in the Paramount campus, permanent soundstages and post-production facilities in the county, as well as permanent jobs, according to the officials.
The Hudson County elected officials also raised concerns over the cost of the litigation.
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“We are increasingly concerned that New Jersey taxpayer dollars are being committed to litigation whose merits appear uncertain while its potential costs to the State and to our economy continue to escalate,” they wrote. “After an exhaustive eight-month investigation involving review of more than 2 million documents, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the transaction was unlikely to harm competition in streaming, linear television, or theatrical film.”
They urged the attorney general to withdraw New Jersey from the coalition.
“Now that New Jersey is a party to this litigation, whether or not we might have chosen a different course at the outset, the question is how best to protect the interests of the State going forward. We respectfully urge our Attorney General to withdraw our state from this action or work toward a prompt and reasonable resolution of this matter and to be a voice of reason in the room,” they wrote.
“The State should have an exceptionally compelling reason before spending taxpayer dollars on multi-state litigation of uncertain merit that may undermine those very investments,” the county leaders added.
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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill told Fox News Digital in a statement, “We are excited to welcome Paramount to Hudson County because film is in New Jersey’s DNA — we’re Hollywood East and the only state where film shoots are up this year. New Jersey is open for film business, so we are going to keep building, keep filming, and keep making it easier for companies like Paramount to create good-paying jobs and lay down roots in the Garden State.”
Davenport’s office told Fox News Digital they had no comment on the Hudson County officials’ opinion piece.
Davenport’s office, in a July press release, said that she was joining the coalition to challenge the merger, which included other states such as California, Colorado and New York, saying, “The proposed merger would combine two of Hollywood’s five major film distributors and two of the five major basic cable companies, extinguishing competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflicting substantial harm on movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, consumers nationwide.”
“New Jersey is the birthplace of the American film industry, and the state is now a burgeoning hub for film and television production. Given our state’s leadership in the film and television industry, we must protect our residents when corporate media monopolies threaten to upend the industry by raising prices and reducing content choices,” Davenport said at the time.
“The proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will hurt our state’s residents, plain and simple,” she continued. “We will always stand up against corporate monopolists that seek to exploit hardworking New Jerseyans by driving up prices and turning a massive profit at their expense.”
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Seth Schachner, managing director of Strat Americas and former chairman of Florida’s Film & Entertainment Advisory Council, told Fox News Digital that the lawmakers have a legitimate argument.
“These lawmakers have a legitimate argument, as no one really benefits from extensive legal delays over a merger that could still go forward, albeit with asset sales,” he said. “The states’ legal case is a bit limited though, as it ignores the broader competitive reality that all locales — including New Jersey — are operating in with respect to film and TV production, as streamers like Netflix are essential parts of the case.”
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He also said the lawmakers were “not unbiased here,” as they are supportive of the commitment of Paramount’s 1888 Studios in Bayonne.
Representatives for Paramount-Skydance and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office were expected to meet last week to discuss a potential resolution to the lawsuit seeking to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to reports.
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