Warner Brothers: Movie History & the Paramount Merger
Film Historian · UW–Milwaukee
Chris Yogerst is an associate professor of communication at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Review of Books and The Hollywood Reporter.
His book The Warner Brothers (University Press of Kentucky, 2023) traces Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner from their family's humble origins to the height of Hollywood fortune — and he's been writing extensively on the studio's present-day merger drama with Paramount and Netflix.
He's also the author of From the Headlines to Hollywood (2016) and Hollywood Hates Hitler! (2020). His work appears in The Washington Post, Journal of American Culture, and academic film journals.
Hollywood's biggest headlines are also its oldest story — studio mergers, family dynasties, and what happens when the movies meet Wall Street. Chris brings century-old Warner history into the room the week you're reading about Paramount in the news.
Tone & audience
Movie lovers, history buffs, and anyone following studio merger news. No film school required — curiosity is enough.
Illustrated talk, then open Q&A. Academic rigor, bar-stool storytelling. Think smart documentary, not lecture hall.
Pre-show lounge, cocktails, and a historic theater on Main Street. You're close enough to ask a follow-up — and you will.
"If past is present in Hollywood, there's lessons for both David Ellison and David Zaslav from merger mania 100 years ago."— Chris Yogerst, The Hollywood Reporter · on Paramount & Warner history
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