Hollywood's biggest merger in decades is five days from closing, and the shake-ups are already here
A federal judge cleared the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal on Wednesday. The new co-CEO is a Barbie guy. The streaming future is still murky.
In brief
Hollywood's biggest merger in decades is five days from closing, and the shake-ups are already here
Wednesday was a long time coming for David Ellison. A California federal judge signed off on the antitrust settlement that had been the last real obstacle between Paramount Skydance and its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, and within minutes of that ruling, Ellison walked straight into the next headline: he named a co-CEO.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín entered a consent decree resolving an antitrust lawsuit brought by California and 11 other states who had sued in July, arguing the merger would reduce competition across film and television. The states got concessions. Real ones.
Per KTLA, Paramount pledged to increase domestic production by spending at least an additional $1.5 billion on U.S. film production over the next five years, and to establish monitoring of the editorial independence of the company's news operations. On the theatrical side, the combined company must release at least 30 films in U.S. theaters during each of the first two years after closing and at least 32 annually during the following three, with minimum requirements for wide releases and independent films, and at least half of the movies counted toward the annual totals must be produced or co-produced by the combined company.
The decision ends the legal hold that had pushed the acquisition toward a March 2027 antitrust trial. California Attorney General Rob Bonta led the case. The advocacy group Free Press wasn't happy. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez said the group was disappointed, calling it a "dangerous mega-merger" and arguing for stricter antitrust enforcement instead of settlement.
Enter Ynon Kreiz
Minutes after the judge's order landed, Ellison made another announcement. According to The Wrap, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is exiting the toymaker to join David Ellison's Paramount as it merges with Warner Bros. Discovery, with Paramount announcing that Kreiz will serve as co-CEO of the combined company.
Upon closing, Ellison will remain Chairman and CEO of the newly combined company, and Kreiz will serve as Co-CEO and join the Board of Directors, with both overseeing the combined company's businesses jointly. Ellison will focus on long-term strategy, creative vision and direction, including talent relationships, strategic partnerships, technology and capital allocation. Kreiz will focus on the company's day-to-day management and integration of the combined businesses.
Kreiz is not a stranger to reinventing brands. He is the former chairman and CEO of Maker Studios, the YouTube-oriented digital content network acquired by Disney in 2014. Kreiz exited Disney in 2016 and joined Mattel in 2018. At Mattel, he is widely credited with turning the toy company into an IP machine, a run that culminated in the 2023 Barbie film. Mattel announced Wednesday that Kreiz will step down as chairman and CEO effective October 2, and Roger Lynch, Condé Nast's CEO, has been named Mattel's next chief.
The co-CEO structure is notable. Adweek pointed out that the co-CEO strategy follows in the steps of streaming giant and Paramount competitor Netflix, which currently has Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters as its CEOs. Whether the model holds at a company this sprawling is a different question.
Streaming: no answers yet, but one big clue
The question everyone with a subscription actually cares about is what happens to HBO Max and Paramount+. So far: no merger, no combined app, no rebranding announced. But the personnel moves are telling. Complex reports that Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland is departing ahead of the merger, clearing the way for HBO chairman Casey Bloys to reportedly assume the top programming position across the combined company's streaming operations.
Bloys addressed the speculation that Paramount+ would be phased out with its content rolled into HBO Max, hinting that it is much more probable that HBO Max and Paramount+ will continue to operate as separate streaming services, but with bundled plans that encourage users to subscribe to both for one monthly cost. He made the comments at Bloomberg's 2026 Screentime event, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Additional leadership announcements are expected in the coming days, including details about the future of CBS News and CNN. The new name of the combined company could be announced as soon as this Thursday.
What this puts under one roof
The media merger will unite the Warner Bros. movie studio with Paramount studio, HBO Max with Paramount+, MTV with Discovery, and CBS News with CNN. Paramount plans roughly $6 billion in cost savings as part of the integration. Nobody has said publicly where those savings come from, but in Hollywood, cost savings and job cuts tend to arrive in the same sentence.
For audiences, the most immediate effect may simply be a confusing few weeks of app notifications, renamed menus, and customer-service calls. The name of whatever company emerges on October 6 is still, as of Wednesday night, unannounced.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
