The Disney/Fox merger is one of the biggest stories of the week. But, how will the deal affect the film industry? Will there be more acting opportunities for aspiring and working actors? How will the merger affect film crew workers who work behind the scenes?
According to reports, Disney said the merger will lead to about “$2 billion in cost savings” coming from “efficiencies realized through the combination of businesses.”
However, BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield told CNN, “There will be thousands of jobs lost. It is hard to see how any meaningful job creation will come out of this.
Once the deal is closed, and the dust has settled, Disney “won’t need a lot of the corporate overhead, or two distribution arms in Italy,” Needham & Co. analyst Laura Martin told CNN, essentially getting rid of any redundant employees.
Gene Del Vecchio, a marketing professor and industry expert at USC’s Marshall School of Business, told the Los Angeles Times that “the layoffs will happen, in all likelihood. They’re apt to be large. When you combine Disney with Fox, you get tremendous synergy.”
If the deal is approved by regulators, Disney could increase it’s market share in the entertainment industry and essentially outpour any of their competitors in the industry.
FBR media analyst Barton Crockett told Bloomberg following the merger, Disney would be “the Walmart of Hollywood”
That said, it will all depend on how Disney manages the merger. “The merger of two studios creates a situation where there’s going to be some redundancies. That’s a given at this point,” Milken Institute managing economist Kevin Klowden told the L.A. Times.
“The main issue then is how independent does Fox remain?” Klowden said.
