Hollywood frets over Fox-Time Warner deal

The anxiety level in Hollywood ticked up several notches when news broke of an unsolicited $73bn bid by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox group for Time Warner.

The deal would combine two of Hollywood’s largest film studios – 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers -- and create a film company responsible for about a third of all US box-office sales and blockbuster franchises. 21st Century Fox has said it would maintain the independence of the fierce rivals 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. But behind the scenes the proposed 21st Century Fox purchase has caused alarm in the creative community that is Hollywood’s engine. “We are adamantly opposed to the idea,” says David Young, executive director of the Writers Guild of America West. “We think it’s a disaster for talent in Hollywood and bad social policy,” he adds. “Markets are efficient when there are a lot of people in them buying and selling. If markets get consolidated and there’s a concentration of power what we will see is writers being paid less to create and consumers having to pay more.”