WGA West Slams Disney/Fox: “Relentless Drive To Eliminate Competition”

What initially started as conversations about how cool it would be if Wolverine could punch Thanos, has turned into a very real concern about corporate overreach. Disney‘s deal to buy Fox has opened plenty of questions about its significant impact on the media landscape. Creators are gravely concerned about the elimination of an entire film and television studio as it gets absorbed into the mouse house, and it hasn’t taken long for guilds to start speaking out.

The Writers Guild of America West has released a heated statement excoriating the Disney/Fox deal. They view it as a move to further consolidate power in Hollywood, and one that will lead to less choice all around, and a potentially heavily unbalanced industry. Here’s their full comment:

In the relentless drive to eliminate competition, big business has an insatiable appetite for consolidation. Disney and Fox have spent decades profiting from the oligopolistic control that the six major media conglomerates have exercised over the entertainment industry, often at the expense of the creators who power their television and film operations. Now, this proposed merger of direct competitors will make matters even worse by substantially increasing the market power of a combined Disney-Fox corporation. The antitrust concerns raised by this deal are obvious and significant. The Writers Guild of America West strongly opposes this merger and will work to ensure our nation’s antitrust laws are enforced.

These are all very valid points. It’s the conversation that needs to happen before we start imaging Na’vi jumping into battle with Ewoks or whatever. Disney/Fox will tower over all their competition, dwarfing them in both movies and television. The ways in which business in Hollywood will change won’t be fully felt for some time yet, but there’s plenty of reason for concern, and we’re sure it won’t be long for more voices to WGA in the chorus. [Collider]