Industry Dirt: March Madness

European studios are planting flags on both coasts. Qatari money is flowing into specialty distribution. A YouTuber in Burbank is running ten production crews simultaneously while the legacy studios debate their next move. The stories unfolding in entertainment are almost too crazy to believe.

Here's what you need to know.

-Ted Simpson and Myles Vargas-Smith

REAL ESTATE IMPLICATIONS OF WB DISCOVERY/PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE MERGER

If Paramount Skydance's proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, David Ellison could end up with a much larger slice of Los Angeles real estate — from the storied Warner Bros. lot in Burbank to studio, office, and production space across Culver City, Hollywood, Studio City, and Santa Monica.⁠

Warner Bros. occupies 11 million square feet and owns 14 properties totaling 9.5 million square feet, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom. About 3 million square feet of that commercial real estate is in the Los Angeles area, according to CoStar data.

The firm's portfolio also includes the 1.3 million-square-foot Warner Bros. Leavesden complex in the U.K. and a 350,000-square-foot Turner Broadcasting Systems headquarters at 1050 Techwood Drive NW in Atlanta.

Paramount Skydance, meanwhile, occupies 8 million square feet and owns 14 properties totaling 2.1 million square feet, according to CoStar data.

In addition to its iconic Hollywood campus, Paramount's holdings include several prominent New York City buildings, such as the 80,000-square-foot Ed Sullivan Theatre in midtown Manhattan and the CBS Broadcast Center building at 524 W. 57th St.

Industry brokers say overlapping back-office operations, marketing teams, and streaming divisions could create near-term sublease opportunities, particularly in Class-A office properties that catered to media tenants during the streaming expansion cycle.

For landlords in Burbank, New York City, and West Los Angeles, a central question is whether the combined company consolidates operations at a single primary campus or maintains parallel hubs. The answer could influence soundstage leasing velocity as well as demand for nearby creative office and post-production space.

Among the landlords exposed to the deal are Hudson Pacific Corp., Hackman Capital Partners, Kilroy Realty, Pimco Prime Real Estate, Goodman Group, and Worthe Real Estate, according to CoStar data. (source: Costar and The Real Deal)

More reading on the assets and consolidation possibilities in the LA Times and Wired.

REAL ESTATE NEWS AROUND TOWN

Sound Stages Opening

Warner Bros.‘ The Ranch is officially open for business. Less than a mile away from the iconic main lot, the Ranch is home to 16 soundstages, a construction workshop, an office building, and production support facilities across a nearly 1 million square foot campus. It opened earlier this year and has drawn shooting commitments from four shows. All of the stages have been certified by the California Film Commission, meaning productions can draw subsidies by filming at the property.

The expansion augments Warner Bros. Discovery’s position as among the largest soundstage operators in the region. Combined with the 30 stages on the main lot and four at the Burbank Studios facility, the company manages 50 stages. In a tour of the property with The Hollywood Reporter, executives spoke about how The Ranch will help boost physical production for the studio’s film and TV operations. The campus is positioned to be a key piece of those designs if Paramount completes its deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. “David Ellison has talked openly about a continuing commitment to production,” says Simon Robinson, president of global experiences and studio operations. “He needs real estate for that.”

The campus has four blocks, each with four stages, ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 square feet. Bells and whistles include concrete floors, sky-high clearance (45 feet for some stages), massive second-story walkways to accommodate rigging needs, heaters at every corner, dimmer rooms, and high-capacity silent air conditioning, among other things. (source: The Hollywood Reporter)

Glendale-based East End Studios opened a brand-new soundstage facility in Los Angeles’ Arts District. The studio management and development company currently holds four campuses in California and New York spanning about 1.35 million square feet. The new Mission campus officially opened in the Arts District late January, crossing over 255,000 square feet and providing offices, production facilities and five fully operating soundstages to L.A. creatives. East End Studios shared that bookings are already being made. (source: Los Angeles Business Journal)

Cinespace Studios opened a new campus in Woodland Hills. Located at 21200 Victory Blvd., the 10-acre soundstage campus spans 180,000 square feet, bringing six 18,000-square-foot soundstages and 72,000 square feet of production offices to the San Fernando Valley. It marked Cinespace Studios’ debut in L.A. and its sixth global production facility, after establishing hubs in Chicago, Atlanta, Germany and the production company’s native Toronto. With the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cinespace Studios now operates 115 soundstages across 4.3 million square feet of production space. The new location is already busy: production for directing duo Adam Schindler and Brian Netto’s upcoming thriller “Nightwatching” is already underway at the new facility, shares Cinespace Studios. (source: Los Angeles Business Journal)

Inside a 125,000-square-foot campus in Burbank, Dhar Mann Studios runs 10 simultaneous production crews, produces five 25-minute scripted episodes per week, and distributes them across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, a proprietary app, and a Samsung TV Plus FAST channel, reaching 140 million subscribers. The campus includes full apartment sets, a school with functional lockers and a cafeteria, a courtroom, a hospital, a plane salvaged from a junk lot, a functioning auto shop, a neighborhood exterior with working streets, 50 vehicles, including cop cars, and a mall with brandable storefronts. Mann built it all because LA production permits were too expensive, and renting space didn't make economic sense for his volume. The studio operates on a 21-day script-to-screen cycle. Mann has over 1,500 actors on set annually and 200 full-time staff. He is planning to expand to 200,000 square feet and 20 film crews by 2026, doubling weekly content output. (source: The Wrap)

Hackman defaults

Hackman Capital Partners, Hollywood’s biggest landlord, is ceding ownership of the 55-acre Radford Studio Center in Studio City to lenders after a $1.1 billion mortgage failure, signalling a major distress in the Los Angeles studio market. The production space spans 1.2M sf of stages. While existing productions are likely to continue during the transition to new ownership led by Goldman Sachs, the instability likely encourages a review of space needs.

Hackman acquired the Radford lot, formerly known as CBS Studio Center, from ViacomCBS for $1.85 billion in 2021. It is currently listed by Eastdil, and bids are expected at around $450 million, according to StageRunner. The purchase was part of an acquisition spree that also included the CBS Television City studio in the Fairfax District. Hackman also owns Culver Studios — which is leased to Amazon — as well as production facilities in New York, New Orleans, the U.K. and Vancouver. (source: Yahoo! Finance)

Consolidation in media and real estate

Skydance and Warner Bros. aren’t the only consolidations going on. Here are a couple of more that will impact Los Angeles.

The biggest M&A deal of 2026 so far closed January 30th: French studio Mediawan acquired Peter Chernin's North Road Company in a deal valued at roughly $900 million, paid primarily in stock. The combined entity now operates nearly 100 production companies, spans 15 countries, and represents over $2 billion in annual production volume. Backed by KKR, the Qatar Investment Authority, Providence Equity Partners, and The Raine Group, Mediawan is turning North Road into its North American hub. Chernin joins the Mediawan board as non-executive chairman. Scott Manson becomes CEO of North Road. Jenno Topping stays president of Chernin Entertainment.

Mediawan is building the first genuinely multinational independent production infrastructure, with creative assets on both sides of the Atlantic and capital structures to match. North Road's labels — Chernin Entertainment Television, Kinetic Content (Love Is Blind), Words + Pictures, Perro Azul in Mexico, Karga Seven in Istanbul — all stay intact. This follows Mediawan's earlier acquisition of Brad Pitt's Plan B (Adolescence, F1) and See-Saw Films (Slow Horses). Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton, who already owns over 80 companies across Europe, will now split time between Paris and Los Angeles. (source: Variety)

Anora and Parasite distributor Neon is in advanced talks to sell a significant stake to Department M, the company formed by Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer with backing from Qatari private investors. The deal was circulating through the European Film Market in Berlin and has been described as "more tangible" than prior approaches. Neon CEO Tom Quinn is expected to remain at the helm under any new structure. Neon and Department M were both in Doha late last year for the Qatar Film Committee's announcement of partnerships with each company separately. The Gulf state signed a slate deal with Neon and a biopic deal with Department M. If this closes, it would reshape the arthouse distribution landscape: Neon would have Gulf state sovereign backing behind its acquisitions. (source: Deadline)

French production giant Banijay (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, Big Brother, MasterChef, Survivor) and the U.K.’s All3Media (The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge, The Tourist, 1917) have agreed to merge in a 50/50 deal. Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti will run the combined company. All3Media CEO Jane Turton steps aside. Jeff Zucker — who led RedBird IMI's $1.45 billion acquisition of All3Media in 2024, becomes board chairman. The deal is expected to close in fall 2026 and is projected to generate €50 million ($58M) in cost synergies. Combined 2024 revenues exceeded €4.4 billion, with EBITDA of €690 million. Real Estate questions: All 3 Media offices in the Playas District and Banijay has a few floors at 5161 Lankershim in NoHo from its Endemol acquisition. (source: Hollywood Reporter)

LEASING ACTIVITY

Former Paramount co-CEO Brian Robbins has launched Big Shot Pictures and signed a new office lease at Columbia Square in Hollywood, the historic CBS campus-turned-creative hub that now counts Viacom and iHeart among its tenants. The company is building animated franchises natively on YouTube, then migrating the winning IP to theaters and streaming. First acquisition: the children's book series Eloise at the Plaza. Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a first-look theatrical deal and put money in. So have Greycroft, MarcyPen Capital Partners, ValueAct Capital, and CAA. (source: Hollywood Reporter)

FUNDING

Propagate Content is making a structural bet that the creator economy and traditional Hollywood are converging and that the company positioned at the intersection will win the next decade. Propagate Content — the Ben Silverman and Howard Owens-founded production company behind The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and Chopped — closed a $50 million investment from Ares Management, valuing the company for continued expansion across digital, studio, and creator representation. The capital follows Propagate's earlier acquisition of Parker Management, a Los Angeles-based digital talent agency with 85+ social media creators founded by Lindsay Nead. Parker's roster had already partnered with Disney, Amazon, Nike, Target, Walmart, Ford, and Nordstrom. Parker Management continues operating under its existing brand as a Propagate division.

Propagate's overall talent platform now includes Artists First, Authentic, Select Management Group, and Parker, representing a spectrum from traditional Hollywood literary clients to TikTok and Instagram creators. Production subsidiaries include Electus, Big Breakfast, and Notional. (source: PR Newsire and Deadline)

Create Music Group has closed its latest funding round, raising over $450 million in new equity and debt capital at a $2.2 billion valuation. The company remains majority founder-owned, with Ares Management, 2 Mile, and Flexpoint Ford holding minority stakes. Truist Securities and Banc of California served as joint lead arrangers on the debt component. The raise follows Create's investment in Nettwerk Music Group, whose roster includes Sarah McLachlan and Paris Paloma. (source: Variety)

ODDS & ENDS

Movies made beyond soundstages dominate Oscar best picture nominations. A fun read on where the 2025 noms were made.

Netflix acquired InterPositive, Ben Affleck's AI filmmaking technology company. The full engineering and research team moves inside Netflix. Affleck becomes senior advisor. Affleck's stated origin story: he watched early AI deployments on sets around 2022 and concluded the tools weren't built for how productions actually work — camera behavior, lighting continuity, the iterative reality of a director on a live set. InterPositive was designed from the workflow up. Netflix CCO Bela Bajaria's public framing was precise: tools that expand creative freedom, not replace writers, directors, actors, and crews.

When a streaming platform owns its own AI production tooling, it changes the physical calculus of how a production is staffed and staged. If these tools scale across Netflix's slate, the downstream effect on stage occupancy, crew calls, and production real estate utilization is material. That engineering team now has a desk somewhere on Netflix's Sunset Las Palmas campus. Watch where the headcount grows from here. (source: Stockwits)

Thanks for reading. If you want me to look into something or have some ideas for the newsletter, let me know, and I’ll get right back to you.

Ted Simpson
Founder and CEO
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
(c) +1 310.384.6512 |(e) [email protected]
CA DRE License #0109718

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you with your real estate.

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