A coalition of independent film and movie theater organizations have co-signed a letter sent to state attorneys general urging them to block a sale of Warner Bros. to Netflix or any other major media company.
The 21-page letter was written by the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) and co-signed by six other organizations including Art House Convergence, the International Documentary Association and the Future Film Coalition.
Those three organizations were also part of a separate grassroots coalition called Block The Merger, which publicly launched at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival this past weekend and is calling on filmmakers, indie theater owners and other entertainment workers to reach out to lawmakers to urge them to halt the Warner Bros. sale.
“This deal raises serious antitrust concerns that enforcers should closely scrutinize, as any such deal would deepen the media consolidation crisis, hurting creators, workers, consumers, and the public writ large,” the letter reads.
With the Trump Administration’s close interest in the Warner sale and influence over federal regulators, state attorneys general have been identified by the AELP as the key leverage point for those who oppose the merger, particularly those in states with major entertainment industries like California, New York and Georgia.
In the letter, the AELP cites recent examples of state AGs playing key bipartisan roles in enforcing antitrust law, such as when AGs from Colorado and Texas led a lawsuit against Google’s monopoly over the search engine market as well as a group of 10 state AGs that filed a lawsuit against the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.
“Given recent troubling and unusual circumstances involving federal enforcers
and administration officials, we urge you to take immediate public action against this deal,” the letter reads.
“This includes making public statements against further media consolidation, declarations that you will use your full civil investigatory and subpoena authorities to investigate, a demand for transparency and cooperation from parties if and when they do file official transaction reports, and warning lobbyists about the criminal legal consequences of engaging in acts of public corruption,” it continues.
The AELP also notes that its opposition to a sale of Warner Bros. is not confined to Netflix and says that a hypothetical acquisition by Paramount Skydance or NBCUniversal parent company Comcast would have the same negative effects on the entertainment industry.
“Any of these transactions would deepen the media consolidation crisis, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for consumers, fewer jobs and reduced bargaining power for workers and content creators; effectively killing independent production and movie distribution; and handing Netflix outsized control over content creation and distribution,” the letter says.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the Netflix-Warner merger, with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos expected to testify. Senators from both parties, including Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Mike Lee, have already spoken out against the deal.
