Podcast Episode Summary

It Could Happen Here – "Paramount, Warner Bros. and How Monopolies Ruin Everything"

Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Mia Wong
Guest: Vicki Osterweil (author of the forthcoming book "How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World")

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the ongoing consolidation of major Hollywood studios, particularly the near-completion of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, and expands into a historical and political critique of media monopolies. It examines how such consolidations damage creativity, public discourse, and the very fabric of film and cultural production, ultimately tying these trends to larger cultural and even political problems. The conversation also explores the futility of regulatory interventions and imagines paths toward a better, more equitable future for the medium of film.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger: What's Happening and Why It Matters

• [02:56] The Paramount and Warner Bros. merger, following Netflix's withdrawal, will leave only three big traditional film studios (Disney, Paramount/Warner Bros., and Sony) with A24 likely next to be acquired.
  • "Is this good? It's only three." – Mia Wong
  • Netflix and Amazon serve as the new "studios," but their models differ significantly.

The Origin of Hollywood Consolidation

• [04:32 - 07:45] Vicki outlines how consolidation is the core history of the movie business.
  • Early 20th-century: Thomas Edison uses relentless lawsuits and patent control (forming “the Trust”) to dominate early film production.
  • Filmmakers relocate to Hollywood to evade Edison’s reach, becoming “movie pirates” (creating the lore of Hollywood as a land settled by copyright outlaws).
  • "Hollywood is founded by a bunch of movie pirates basically. Right." – Vicki Osterweil [07:39]

The Vertical Integration Era and the Studio System's Collapse

• [07:58 - 09:51] Hollywood's “vertical integration” meant studios owned every part of the pipeline (production, distribution, exhibition).
  • Antitrust action in the 1940s broke up this vertical integration, shifting toward the present system of independent producers and brands.
  • Deregulation in the Reagan era enabled further consolidation, letting companies own TV, radio, and film simultaneously.

Blockbuster Economics and Deregulation Accelerate Monopolies

• [10:32 - 13:44] The rise of the blockbuster (e.g., Star Wars, Jaws) rewired the industry. Studios needed more money for wide releases, strengthening the appeal and power of massive conglomerates and tech entrants.
• 80s/90s: VCRs provided new cash flows; conglomerates (like Sony) began absorbing independent studios.
• TV and radio face similar consolidation, especially as FCC rules relax.

Apocalyptic Present: Fewer Studios, More Monopolies

• [14:36] "Consolidation is the story of capitalism, famously ... it has particularly perverse effects when we're talking about the visual culture, the audio culture and the news media." – Vicki Osterweil

The David Ellison/Skydance Takeover and Political Ramifications

• [18:44–22:43] David Ellison (backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison) is purchasing the consolidated studio. Guest notes his lackluster track record and public commitment to "right-wing" movies.
  • The focus isn’t just on CNN (cable is a dying, aging market), but the full suite—including Warner Bros.’ film assets.
  • "It is a literally dying market ... the price of the annual subscription to cable goes up by the distributed amount of the previous year's subscription costs that were lost by boomers dying." – Vicki Osterweil [20:24]

Netflix: Not a Savior, Another Threat

• [22:53] Netflix’s acquisition would likely have been worse for movies; its philosophy involves designing films for distracted, passive viewership.
  • “Netflix literally has a design philosophy of making movies that are designed for people who aren’t looking at them.” – Vicki Osterweil

The Structural Futility of Trust-Busting

• [25:32-26:37] Left-leaning calls for renewed antitrust/breakup measures, Mia and Vicki argue, miss the point: monopoly is a structural outcome of capitalism.
  • "You have to actually destroy the conditions that make [monopoly] possible. And those aren't regulatory conditions." – Mia Wong [26:18]

Intellectual Property: Why New Ideas Die

• [27:03 - 29:44] Mass acquisition of IP makes studio owners actively hostile to innovative new work.
  • Example: 2018–2019’s wave of “sad girl covers” in trailers was caused by investment firms monetizing old catalogs via licensing quirks.
  • “If you own enough IP, it is in your logical material interest to stop new ideas from being made.” – Vicki Osterweil

Enshrined by Global Policy: The WTO and IP Policing

• [31:31-33:49] The World Trade Organization has enshrined US copyright policing as a supranational requirement, with devastating global impact.
  • Major corporations can enforce IP globally—police in foreign countries intervene directly on their behalf.

The Aesthetic and Cultural Impacts of Monopolization

• [36:45–38:22] Monopoly shapes not just business but the very aesthetics of what movies get made.
  • Nazi culture as an example: Most propaganda wasn’t overt; most Nazi films were “frothy comedies” or adventure stories unified by reactionary themes.
  • “Fascist filmmaking looks like family adventure fare, often.” – Vicki Osterweil [38:32]

The Danger Is Already Here

• [38:32–42:21] The U.S. is already deeply affected by this kind of subtle propaganda.
  • Example: “The Beekeeper” (Netflix) as literal fascist parable, yet popular and accepted.
  • “Did you watch the Beekeeper? ... it is literally a movie that is just a guy shooting a bunch of people, and then the background superstructure is an explanation of what the Führer is...” – Mia Wong [39:12]

Disintegration and the Hope for Alternatives

• [42:56–46:13] Despite streaming and franchise dominance, audience whims can’t be fully predicted or controlled—giant franchises (MCU) eventually lose their appeal.
  • "As we enter into more and more naked versions of this, what it should help us do ... is to reflect on how we got here already.” – Vicki Osterweil

Trans and Indie Film as Resistance

• [44:09–45:22] Trans filmmakers are at the vanguard of fighting for film as an expressive medium rather than a vehicle for merchandising or nostalgia.
  • “Trans film is one of the last things fighting for the existence of film as a medium and not as a way to sell you toys...” – Mia Wong

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On early studio consolidation:
  “Hollywood is founded by a bunch of movie pirates basically. Right.” – Vicki Osterweil [07:39]

• On the pointlessness of regulatory tinkering:
  “You can break up the monopolies, but they’ll just reform. It requires you to win the battle forever. And all the monopolies have to do is get like one fascist elected or get like ... one Ronald Reagan and you just lose everything.” – Mia Wong [26:18]

• On the dystopian logic of massive IP holdings:
  “If you own enough IP, it is in your logical material interest to stop new ideas from being made, because every new idea is competition.” – Vicki Osterweil [27:03]

• On fascist media aesthetics:
  “Fascist filmmaking looks like family adventure fare, often.” – Vicki Osterweil [38:32]
  "Did you watch the Beekeeper? ... it is literally a movie that is just a guy shooting a bunch of people, and then the background superstructure is an explanation of what the Führer is...” – Mia Wong [39:12]

• On trans film as resistance:
  “Trans film is one of the last things fighting for the existence of film as a medium and not as a way to sell you toys and, like, $15 popcorn.” – Mia Wong [45:22]

• On what it would take for movies—and society—to be good again:
  “We could resolve movies good and movies bad by resolving the other dialectic of capital and labor by simply destroying the categories and ending the class system. I believe in us, we can make movie good again.” – Mia Wong [46:13]

Important Timestamps

• [02:12] – Show proper begins; topic and guest intro
• [04:32 – 07:45] – How Edison’s IP monopoly birthed Hollywood
• [07:58 – 09:51] – Studio system, vertical integration, and antitrust breakup
• [10:32 – 13:44] – Blockbuster economics & Reagan deregulation
• [18:44] – David Ellison’s takeover: who he is and what his acquisition means
• [22:53] – Netflix as a threat to cinema via anti-art “background streaming” model
• [25:32 – 26:37] – Why antitrust is a band-aid on a structural crisis
• [27:03 – 29:44] – Why monopolies kill innovation in music and movies
• [31:31 – 33:49] – WTO, copyright policing, and global “superstate” enforcement
• [36:45 – 38:22] – How monopoly shapes cultural output and aesthetic
• [39:12] – Modern “fascist” films: Beekeeper & the normalization of propaganda
• [44:09 – 45:22] – Trans film as a unique site of artistic struggle and hope
• [46:13] – Final call for structural revolution and a better future for film

Closing Thoughts

This episode presents a rich, critical history of how monopoly and corporate consolidation regularly devastate not only business landscapes but also public culture and artistic possibility. The hosts argue that simply breaking up monopolies isn’t enough; the underlying economic logic must be transformed. Yet, in all this, they find hope in communities—like trans filmmakers—who continue to use film as resistance and creative practice, suggesting new futures are still possible when collective struggle overcomes capitalist enclosure of art and culture.

For more on these topics, check out Vicki Osterweil’s upcoming book with Haymarket.