2023 Writers + Actors Strike Thread

[DRW50]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/actors-writers-strike-gallup-poll-1235578339/

[Vee]

AMTP is cracking.

[DramatistDreamer]

Barry Diller, a former studio executive, has been making the interview/podcast rounds. He thinks that the studios need to cut the streamers out of the negotiations and cut deals with the unions. He has other thoughts about the possibility of things to become catastrophic for the studios if they continue on this path.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/31/barry-diller-hollywood-strikes-netflix.html

[wingwalker]

 

[DRW50]

He made some valid points - they have chased the streamers and in the long run lost.

[DramatistDreamer]

He did indeed make some valid points.
As for the studios, it seems like they took an “if you can’t beat them..,then join them”, mentality. It was a fool’s errand, because the studios obviously operate and are structured differently from the streaming industry—they also have different business models. The studios should have tried to hire some people who have insight as to the direction of the technology industry and how it was poised to evolve and intersect with the film and television industries, to gauge if they can prepare and adapt to how their industries might be affected. But they were so rooted in their ossified vision of the industry and how it should function that they failed to see oncoming trends (A.I., for instance, the popularity shorter seasons brought about by orders of fewer episodes). But their greed took over and they looked to get what people on the street refer to as “that short money” aka, fast cash.

Another mistake that the studio bosses made was not building solidarity with the directors, writers and actors through their unions. From previous strikes, I know the relationship between them has been strained, if not combative but the possibility of catastrophic consequences to their industry should have been enough to build some sort of solidarity, even temporarily. The studios bosses are so used to bullying the talent that I guess, they could not conceive of a scenario in which they would have to work with the talent as equals, even if that meant saving and improving the foundation on which their entire entertainment ecosystem stands.

Such a shame that greed and short term thinking should persist this way.

[dragonflies]

 

[Soaplovers]

If these interim agreements work...then it will make the streaming services and studios realize that what each union wants will be.of a benefit to all.

[Vee]

This headline reads as a puff piece, but it's not that IMO. A decent read:

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Vee

[Vee]

Impressive: Swift apparently went to the studios, was offered a bad deal like the Guilds, then promptly cut them out of the equation and went to AMC directly. Relevant because Swift again has her finger on the pulse of the moment, and it reflects even worse on the studios.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

^^Good for Swift, who has proven to be a savvy businesswoman. In addition to her obvious celebrity, her main medium is the stage, not the screen, so presumably she would have so much more bargaining power than the hundreds of writers and acting extras whose names people don’t know, who are regarded as nonentities in their industry. Even the best known screenwriter is going to have less leverage and clout than Swift.

[dragonflies]

Yeah this strike isn't ending anytime soon

 

 

[DRW50]

There's also been even more of an uptick in posts on places like Deadline framing the unions as out of control and selfish and starving the working man, no one in the public cares about their fight, and the latest, that other countries will just pick up all the slack and nothing will be made in the US again. I think they've decided they can just wait out the year and starve everyone out (as they said they would do months ago). I wish I could believe it won't work.

[Contessa Donatella]

Please register in order to view this content

I think this may be longer than any before. 

[Soaplovers]

Some people figured it would go on through September..sounds like they were right.

I'm curious what was in the counter offer provided by the union.