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Posted on 07/15/2026 1:44:53 PM PDT by DFG
Tennessee is courting David Ellison’s Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
In a letter to Ellison on July 2, Tennessee Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter urged the Paramount CEO to relocate the studio’s corporate headquarters amid a rift with California over its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Our success is rooted in fiscal discipline, low taxes, predictable governance, and a steadfast belief that government should be a partner in private-sector growth,” stated the letter. “Companies that choose Tennessee find more than a favorable business climate — they find a state committed to helping them succeed.”
The invitation was delivered as California signaled its intent to block the deal. Paramount has extended what it perceived as an olive branch leading up to the filing of Monday’s lawsuit by committing to produce 30 films per year with a 45-day theatrical window, an offer that was ultimately rejected.
Leaving California isn’t optimal considering Paramount relocated out of New York last year, but a longtime adviser to Ellison tells THR that “everything is on the table.”
It’d be a major blow to production in the state and Los Angeles, where filming levels are near historic lows, if the studio were to reallocate much — or even any significant chunk — of its $30 billion in spending to competing regions like New York, New Jersey, the U.K. or Canada. The studio has several productions shooting in the state, including Matlock, NCIS and Tracker.
A Paramount spokesperson verified the authenticity of the letter but otherwise had no comment.
If it were to move, Paramount would join companies like FedEx, HCA Healthcare and Autozone in the state.
“As Paramount Skydance writes its next chapter, Tennessee offers a compelling proposition: a state where creativity and technology converge, where talent is developed intentionally, and where innovation is embraced,” McWhorter wrote. “We would welcome the opportunity to share our vision for how Tennessee could help shape the future of Paramount Skydance and its talented team.”
Ellison and his family have deep ties to Tennessee, where he lived on and off for 11 years from 2014 to 2025. He sold his home in the state after Paramount’s bid to acquire Skydance closed.
Also a factor: Plans by Oracle, led by Ellison’s father, to build a massive campus in Nashville. Co-CEO Clay Magouyrk also resides in Tennessee.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, moving headquarters to Tennessee would mean a return to the state. The company used to maintain a massive office complex in Knoxville stemming from the 2017 Scripps Network deal. It sold the property in 2023.
On Monday, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general led by California has sued Paramount to stop its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Days before the lawsuit was filed, Semafor reported that Ellison’s advisers have been pushing the exec to leave California and shift production spend away from the state.
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This is a bad idea for us. We don’t want or need that Hollywood class of people invading TN.
Paramount is leaving California; it’s just a question of where and when.
Wasn’t Tennessee the suckiest place to live on earth just yesterday?
They’ve already ruined Nashville.
Don’t let Hollywood infect Tennessee!
“They’ve already ruined Nashville.”
Right. And we’re worried that when they over populate the area, they’ll have no choice but to spread eastward.
It’ll never work.
It stands to reason there’ll be lots of work for local as extras. Except after decades of horrible imitation southern accents in Hollyweird movies, the American sheeple will accuse the hillbilly extras of faking it badly.
I live in CA and have spent a considerable amount of time in TN. Glorious state though I agree that the newcomers have ruined Nashville.
I’m waiting my +250% profit on my Warner Bros stock. It’s trading about $5 below the buyout price, pending completion of the merger. Wouldn’t you agree my profit is more important than the quality of life of the people of Tennessee?
Or worse, south.
with Nashville in the state, it would be a good fit.
LOL!
I think Paramount is blowing smoke I hope I am right.
Covington, Cedartown Mt. Berry, Savanna, Ga. The movie industry is already in the State of Georgia. If Hollywood wants to expand into Tennessee that will be acceptable.
Which explains Tenn (along with 9 other red states) being ranked as worst places to live. Preemptive strike/damage control. I bet many companies will be looking into relocating to red states soon.
Las Colinas between Dallas and DFW is a better fit. Filming facilities, world class airport, right to work (and that is big - there go the unions cost), low taxes (that is bigger). They filmed The Chosen about 70 miles away.
Going somewhere that still believes in generating electriciry, that has plenty of water, and where state government isn’t run as a conspiracy against the public has a lot to recommend it.
The film industry has been diversifying away from Southern Xalifornia for years. That seems to have reached a tipping point and the outflow has become a stampede.
Nashville has an infrastructure edge because of its longtime role in the music industry. There’s a lot of talent in the below the line, behind the camera technical crafts. But other hubs are developing elsewhere, both in the U.S. and abroad.
The industry will be healthier when it is more diversified.
These people are conservatives..
Yes, Texas is popping up in the discussion. So is north Georgia and Nashville. New York has always been a secondary hub because of its preeminence in the live stage.
The film industry has always shot many productions on location. The tug of war between the big sound studios and location shooting is as old as the industry.
The heavy concentration that arose in Southern California is an interesting historical quirk, but there’s no reason the industry HAS to be there, any more than the automobile industry HAD to be in Detroit or steel HAD to be in Pittsburg or investment banking HAD to be in NYC or Big Tech HAD to be in Silicon Valley.
Diversification is a natural evolution.
In all the above, the local pols started to take a baseline industry for granted and started plundering it. Big mistake.
IN N OUT BURGERS RELOCATED THEIR NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS TO TENN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
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