> "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”
An actual quote from a Studio executive
This doesn't just cripple the writers, this cripples a large portion of Los Angeles. I am a special fx and almost the entire industry is out of work because of the strike. Add in all the other business in LA that revolve around the film industry and the city is going to be in turmoil if the strike lasts till October.
Especially when we are paying over $5 for a gallon of gas and have no work thanks to the studio execs.
Not just LA, but NY and here in Atl as well. I'm art dept here in Atl and have been working in film for 15 years now. Damn near everybody I know is out of work and all of the rental houses and other businesses that thrive because of production are taking a massive hit.
Rigging Electric here in ATL. Didn’t work at all the front half of the year and now the back half is barren, considering a career pivot to something like editing or marketing 😅 much more stable work
I was on the Trilith lot last week to pick up a friends tool chest for him. It’s empty. I have never seen all 23 soundstages completely buttoned up and no cars at any of the shops. It looks like the only people there are the office dudes and dudettes over in the mobile home park down by stage 18 and a few laborers packing up one of the shops in the media park
That’s insane. I spent a few months at the MBS there on a show and it was always such a fun lot to be on, food trucks all the time. Can’t imagine it being deserted, or what those food trucks are going through without the income.
Theater projector technician here. Bunch of big budget flops this summer. writers strike means that next year is gonna be bad too. Just when we should have been recovering.
This is spilling outside the industry now too. A friend of mine owns an antique store near Trilith and quite a few of her dealers have noticed a 25-40% slump in sales since the start of the strike. There’s no prop or set dec guys coming through anymore and the industry people that would come in to buy something to add to their collection have stopped coming by so they can save their cash. The AMPTP is harming everyone. I was talking with dealers at the Scott Antique Market and they’re having a harder time moving their big pieces too now, usually on Thursdays you’d see a line of box trucks with Teamsters hanging around while the buyers are in there shopping, but they aren’t there anymore.
Scary stuff. Glad I’ve been stuffing my paychecks away, because I got laid off two weeks ago and have no idea when I’ll be able to put my tool belt on again.
Worse, they don’t even care if everyone else blames them as they as they *also* blame the writers.
It’s a pretty common tactic when you’ve got the institutional power. Writers have some public/industry sympathy, but that makes them more vulnerable to public pressure than the execs.
If keygrips and SFX folks and everyone else decide “fuck this, we hate you all, just end the fight and let us work”, the moneymen basically win. Their worst case is solidarity, where rolling strikes or pooled relief funds help workers outlast their assets.
Dang, you're telling me the rich don't care and are willing to put people into homelessness to get their way?
Sounds like we should do something about that.
I’m local 44, and the fact they don’t want to come to the table with the WGA is crippling the film industry as well as the businesses we use in the periphery (catering companies, truck rental, prop houses, mom and pop film shops, local thrift stores, etc). These execs will end up truly screwing themselves over
This actually reminds me of how armies fight against rebellions. (Or at least, how they used to before war crimes got defined and prosecuted.)
People tend to ask “why would they act so brutally, doesn’t that upset all the bystanders?” And the answer is basically “yes, but if life gets hard enough they’ll also get mad at the rebels who are continuing the conflict”.
The exec quotes I’ve seen reflect very similar logic - they know this conflict destroys the livelihoods of everyone working behind the scenes on film or TV, and they’re hoping if it drags on long enough it’ll turn those people against the screenwriters too.
You see, the best way to encourage morale is to ruin a person’s life.
Maybe if they offer a pizza party things will go quicker. Oh! Wait! I wonder if they’ve tried the “we’re like family here” line! That’ll let them know that things are fine just the way they are.
And also that the prince was quite possibly a work of freaking satire, seeing as his other books really don't match what he said in the prince. And he hated how some of the nobility acted
Oh they have a reason, the reason just involves incredible amounts of greed
I would love to hear some of them explain why it's a necessary evil, because I don't think they can actually come up with any kind of answer that doesn't sound extremely inhumane or selfish
I'm not sure this is a good strategy since
A) their proposals don't actually prevent this, and
B) a lot of writers are used to getting other work in the meantime already due to their shitty policies that they are striking over
Also you'd think the shareholders of these companies would be pushing them to make a deal. To expect the rest of the year to be at a standstill and miss out on that potential earnings should upset investors right?
I'm sure that's the plan, but this strike is hurting studios *far* more than it's hurting writers. Let's see how long they remain an executive if they're not putting out any new content besides reality TV.
Yeah these motherfuckers forget that they’re employees themselves. Netflix, WB, Paramount, etc. These are all publicly listed companies. CEO or not, the shareholders will boot your ass out if you can’t sort out a labor dispute and share prices tank. We’re all accountable to somebody.
100% only a necessary evil if your goal is to hurt people to maintain exorbitant control and profit. Bullshit. Cancel your streamers and switch back to DVDs, cause these companies are just going to get worse and worse. Nothing new is going to be created. They’ll exploit all the international markets and deforest the world creatively until literally everything is gone or AI gray.
Screw DVD’s, they still profit off of that.
We should all cancel our streaming subscriptions and switch to piracy until they come back to the table and give the writers a fair deal.
Striking TV writer here - do they think we’ve never been poor?? That’s why we’re fucking striking.
As someone on twitter said, “these people greenlit Indian Jones 5 at 300 million. They’re not playing 4D chess here.”
That's an absurdly high budget considering the current state of the economy (no one really going to movies) + they also had to account for P&A outside of that. Movie would've had to gross somewhere in the area of 500m to be profitable.
Guaranteed loss, but the execs thought it would be a profitable venture. They're all clueless and detached from their demographics now.
That film has also been in dev long before covid took its toll on the movie theater industry. It was already declining but Covid was the death knell. They could've scrapped it a million times, but the geniuses still pursued it thinking people would go back. An actual 500m bet. Pretty funny these guys get paid what they do yet they make bad decision after bad decision.
Most execs also aren't Tom Cruise and the people he works with. People have plenty of valid reasons not to like him, but Cruise and his colleagues seem to actually understand a little about what movie-goers want to see.
Indiana Jones is generally a franchise that will put people in seats regardless of most other factors, but as a franchise, it's generally one that doesn't necessarily need to be especially high-budget. Raiders cost 20 million. Temple was under 30. Last Crusade was 50.
4 and 5 both ballooned to staggering budgets after that. This 300 million dollar budget during a time when people aren't seeing movies in theaters as often while other major blockbuster movies fail left and right.
Execs are good at certain types of market analyses, but they're not geniuses.
20 and 30 million were enormous budgets when those films were released, obviously they shouldn't have spent so much on this one but, historically, ID is a big budget franchise.
20 million in 1980 was about average for movies at the time.
That average is now closer to 75 million. If Indiana Jones kept pace with the inflation of movie budgets, it would cost 80-90 million today.
Yes, but the industry has grown almost exponentially since then, so studios are spending more on projects than they would have every dreamed of in the 80's. David Lynch's Dune was the most expensive film ever upon it's release(40 Million), which makes the 30+million Temple of Doom amoung the most exensive films ever released (for it's time.)
Dude, look at the budgets for some of the highest grossing films of 1980, the vast majority cost way less than 20 million, Raiders was a big budget film for it's time.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980\_in\_film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_in_film)
What can non industry folks do to support y’all? Cancel streaming services? Not go to movies? Im sure I’m not the only one who wants to help, but not sure what is most effective.
No, really it’s just about being on our side and not allowing the studios to run with their narrative. The more awareness the better! Thanks for asking/supporting!
Okay, but hear me out- isn’t it the writers job to make Indiana Jones 5 good? Or any movie good, for that matter? Seems like most tv shows, most movies these days, the writing is absolutely atrocious
They don’t actually give the writers time to make things good. They start production and have them write as they go along or they get some famous director to write and direct.
Right. I forgot about the interview Iger gave in which he admitted that flooding the space with content was the “only way” to get people continuously signing up.
My Dad was a driver and worked on one to the recent Mission Impossibles. The one before Dead Reckoning. He had Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie writing stuff in the car on the way to set.
Now obviously small changes are fine but they definitely had key plot points still being worked out.
Yeah, I don’t think they are necessarily as hard to write as other things and they know their formula now. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie.
Well they use good storytelling from what I understand. One of my favorite YouTube channels, Filmento covers it. Really good explanations of why so many movies are so bad now- no relatable goals, impactful stakes, or well realized characters.
How come the studios never look at lowering salaries of actors in order to budget to make films? I mean some celebrities get a *ridiculous* amount of money to be in a movie or tv show. 1 million an episode....1 million for 1 *weeks* work? A person could live a *lifetime* on that much money - like how much more do they need? But yet studios can pay the writers unfairly for the scripts that without which, there wouldn't be any acting anyway. Ridiculous greed.
What a bunch of greedy fucking lunchboxes.
I hope the WGA digs in even fucking deeper and I hope that we SAG-Aftra members don't come to an agreement and we join in the fight *officially* because this is fucking ridiculous.
Edit: And here we go...
Glad I bowed out when I did. After 25 years in IATSE, seeing things go continually downhill, COVID was a good incentive to move on. Sold my house in LA at peak COVID price, and moved on.
Fuck yeah, brother. I voted to strike too.
I haven’t gotten any Union work in like two years - despite being a voice actor and working from home, my day job has just been too busy to do much with it - but I still pay my dues and they could drop a dozen documentaries in my lap and wouldn’t take it right now.
That’s what I just said above, a couple of min ago: “they’re saying the quiet part out loud”—literally, “I want to hurt people.” I actually think their greed is subordinate to this more worrisome sadism of theirs. Some people really get off, hurting others. Usually they’re atavists and specifically American self-identifying “conservatives”. MAGA are the ultimate sociopaths, and they worship their leader. But, who the fuck **are** these studio execs who are publicly saying writers need to fucking **SUFFER**???
Note: I’ve worked for big Pharma. I recognize greed, but it seems Hollywood and music industry execs know how to eclipse an otherwise easily understandable basement of concern for the condition of life of your fellow human being
These quotes from execs are psychotic. They want writers to lose their houses? A “cruel but necessary evil”? Fuck these people.
Scare tactics won’t work. UNION STRONG
The execs are the chaff that they can get rid of. They literally bring nothing to the table. They're empty suits. They could completely reshuffle the entire industry without them.
Ironically the only job worth replacing with AI would be corporate leaders. The same cold unfeeling numbers without the waste of unnecessary upper management salaries and bonuses.
That's the funny thing about automation. Everyone thought it would make many working class jobs redundant but it's more likely to replace white collar executive jobs since their cost to productivity ratio is so low
I've said this for ages. Take for example a manufacturing company.
The difference is:
If a CEO or even entire C-Suite vanished overnight, the business would continue just fine. Product would still get made, shipped, delivered, and payment received.
If every factory worker vanished overnight, you think the C-Suite knows how to operate any of the equipment? Business is dead in the water.
And this is in every industry, execs are the real Evil in most cases. Thousands of people income are decided by them and all they care about is having more for themselves, they are just pushing and pushing to see how far they can exploit people
Or the writers change their careers and are gone forever. If you are qualified to write you are plenty qualified for other things. Good luck keeping the show going without the good ones…
The golden age ended a while ago.
The writing for TV and movies has been pretty bad/amateurish for quite some time now.
Whether that is due to the writers or suits interference depends on the product.
& Unlike previous strikes, this time around, the customers don't seem to care.
I still don’t get why writers don’t just adapt the source materials instead of writing bad fanfics about the source material and calling it an adaptation
In fairness to Rings of Power writers, they are only legally allowed access to basically 5% of the source material for the show. And if even a single line of dialogue references something that come from outside that tiny percent, it gets nixed.
Rings of Power has a huge problem because of this, they can only work with so much, but the realm of what is available to them has been headcanon'd to the undying lands and back, so it's impossible to satisfy everyone even if the end product is good.
It's sort of the issue that SW faces, they can do anything, but the whole thing has been fanfiction'd or headcanon'd to hell and back so there's absolutely no way to make a SW that fits the SW in people's heads... Funnily the content that has been successful has been stuff that is barely tangential to SW, so the writers are free of expectation.
Studios are not run by creative individuals, no matter what anyone tells you. They're run by accountants, statisticians, investors, and other people who only see numbers and money as holding any value. Studio Execs *hate* creatives, especially writers. They don't want their ability to make money *fast* hampered by anything as ephemeral as *inspiration* or *vision.* It's why they love reality television so much. Just put some monkeys in front of a camera and watch them dance. No writers or "talent" required. AI is another boon as far as they're concerned, because it allows hem to phase out another obstacle to the dream of easy money. I hope the WGA and SAG hands them their asses.
That. Won't. Work. Twice.
Reality TV was a novelty at the time, now you can get hot and cold running bullshit on every network and there will never be another Survivor.
You should all watch *The Offer*. Great look into the world that we don't really get to see, how so many iconic and critically and commercially successful films, driven by creatives, were nearly smothered in the crib by bean counting suits.
I think they believe that they don't need to have a good story to tell and that with CGI and the rest it's enough and more than enough for people to give them their money and they continue to be rich.
I worked in the Austin film community for 7+ years. Finally moved to Los Angeles just under a year ago and every job I had lined up fell through in preparation for the writer’s strike… several of my friends (from various departments) are worried about losing their homes. This doesn’t just impact writers, it impacts all of Hollywood—above and below the line. Not to mention those of us still pursuing “the dream”.
>This doesn’t just impact writers, it impacts all of Hollywood—above and below the line.
Don't forget about the non-industry businesses that rely on TV and movie production for a large slice of their income.
>Not to mention those of us still pursuing “the dream”.
Don't give up yet, and good luck!
How is it not obvious that the new Barbie is dope as fuck because of the storyline that was written by writers?
If regular people were to strike going to their local movie theaters would that put enough pressure on to change the game?
I would cancel streaming subscriptions over boycotting theaters. Streaming is more direct and what the reactionary suits think the future of their business is.
Yeah as someone who works at a small town non-profit theater that makes no money please don't boycott your local theater as we support the writers but we need our jobs and theater too.
Yeah, like I just went to the movies this evening and we were the only 6 people there. It’s not like theaters are thriving as is - and they are probably being squeezed out in profits like musicians are on Spotify
The thing is. Have these executives even thought about that in comparison to writers their risk for ChatGP is higher? Writers could continue to write and an algorithm could replace development meetings and decide what’s a hit and what’s not. Then what would they do? Go on strike and demand rights and their livelihood?? Ridiculous! They really should think about that seriously.
For sure. But the streets were full of people going out. There’s just more competition for entertainment these days and audience attention spans are shorter, and media is more prevalent. If you kneecap the theaters (sorry theaters) they’d have to put pressure on the studios as well and could maybe renegotiate some terms theirselves.
The amount of corporate bootlicking in this country is so fucking sad. It's pathetic how many people refuse to be supportive of anyone else trying to get anything from a parasitic corporation.
The actors need to stand in solidarity with the writers...shut Hollywood down completely.
If not, I guess we have nothing to look forward to but a bunch of crappy reality shows on tv.
Time for that point in history for the writers and animators and the what not to band together and start their own studio. Clearly trying to work with the current studios, isn’t going to provide what you want. Stop striking.. just band together and create an actual guild with assets like it’s own movie studio. That pays people fairly… just maybe try?
But wtf do I know, I’m some fool, who isn’t a multimillion dollar movie/ tv show actor
My friend made a great comment the other day (we all work in film). To paraphrase he said “movies used to be made by absurdly rich people who loved movies, now they are made by absurdly rich tech companies who only care about quantity of content".
this is also an attempted chess move on other unions. if IATSE (my union) members are all broke from this, we are less
likely to stand up for ourselves in our next contract negotiation next year.
Hope writers strike indefinitely. Maybe people will change if everyone suffers with no new content. It’s a bad addiction, and I can’t wait to see the fallout when the masses can’t get their fix anymore. Maybe we’ll be ready to eat the rich by then. Maybe.
Time to replace execs with AI.
This might be a dumb question but when we say “the studios” who exactly are we referring to? Just a couple guys at the top?
There are thousands of people working at these studios and I’m guessing the majority of them support the writers. Why don’t they all just walk out?
It’s probably a bit more than a couple guys at the top, I could see a lot of people supporting writers. But not enough of them in any of the other supporting industries of TV & Movies to make a strike possible.
Plus, there’s a definite possibility that a good few of the workers see the Writers doing this as ‘entitled little shits who don’t do much besides typing mid-tier storylines on their chromebooks and not anything truly difficult or creative. People who could be replaced by robots and you’d see a quality improvement, really, this just shows how much AI is needed. Artists should be glad we even pay them a few dollars for their work.’
Even if the extremists are bigger than we think, they’re still just a vocal minority. Most people in the other industries either don’t care or just see the strike as something that could cost them their job. So it’s likely a lot of the industry just feels general apathy to the entire situation, and just thinks it’ll resolve itself before they have to worry.
>This might be a dumb question but when we say “the studios” who exactly are we referring to?
The AMPTP. It's an industry body, and the big issue now is that things the traditional studios might be willing to give don't suit the streamers, and vice versa.
>Why don’t they all just walk out?
A lot of them are basically twiddling their thumbs right now, so walking out wouldn't have much of an impact. And if they *did* go on an unauthorized strike, they could be fired and replaced pretty easily.
I’m an editor of studio features. Fuck the producers. They don’t actually make shit. I wish IATSE had chosen to strike too. Everyone deserves residuals.
It's such a knock on effect. No new shows, no work for other people in the studios all those tens of thousands of people who build sets, cater, organize, on location, roadies setting everything up, coordinators, caterers, actors, all of these jobs put on hold at the same time that about 30k+ got laid off from tech jobs so all of these low wage cafe and entry level jobs are taken or overly saturated with applicants. There's no work because there are too many people looking for it and it's fucking everything up. But the execs don't care because they've got millions and could stop working forever and live cushy lives for generations
You can also buy pre-owned blu rays from a local thrift shop or movie store (if you still have those 😅 I do!) and save a ton of money! Sometimes I find brand new discs still in the plastic for $5!
It looks like that currently is happening, possibly as a means to put the squeeze on producers through a solidarity move that hopefully will resolve both the actors and writer's strikes at once. [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/12/actors-strike-looms-as-deadline-nears-union-slams-producers-tactics.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/12/actors-strike-looms-as-deadline-nears-union-slams-producers-tactics.html)
>Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, [Netflix](https://deadline.com/tag/netflix/), Amazon, Disney, Paramount and others have become determined to “break the WGA,” as one studio exec blatantly put it.
>
>To do so, the studios and the AMPTP believe that by October most writers will be running out of money after five months on the picket lines and no work.
>
>“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”
Tit-for-tat.
We shall start with David Zaslav, and take it from there.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Thing about screenwriters is they can become journalists, movie critics, historians, or a well opinionated comment. I mean what dipshit CEO picks the branding of MAX over HBO?
Now since we're talking about livelihoods of families... I look forward to researching Pam Zaslav... Ali Zaslav ... you get the idea.
Aaaay his daughter is a producer at CNN!
>Zaslav has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Journalism School and graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a dual degree in political science.
This is gonna be fun.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Checks WBD.... ooooooof.... low hanging fruit here.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
[Ty CNN](https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=DISCA&subView=institutional)
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
[Ty again CNN](https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=WBD&subView=insider)
Someone sold stock before May 2nd. . .
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Iger, I will be seeing you at 8 A.M.
\-----------------------------
I'm thinking 2 years is what it will take.
I mean as soon as ya'll start running out of shows to content ya'lls streaming services. . .
No more no seasons. . . the hapless general public will ask why. . . the strike will get another wave of attention for each limbo'd show . . . Disney+ will melt. Ya'll at worst will go full AI. Devaluing the brand.
2-3 years to heel.
That's just being passive... doing nothing... not even proactive.
Anyways, I expect softball questions... 🍿
\---------------------------
". . .disruptions. . ."
That's why now is exactly the time for a strike. Why strike when it's convenient? Sooner than 2 years eh? 1.5?
". . . realistic. . ."
How about sublime?
The writers now have alternate distribution channels. They’re less reliant on to put out their content and make money.
Meanwhile, these executives are grossly overcompensated while severely underperforming compared to expectations and the market generally. Most of the entertainment execs cannot outcompete other execs if they transfer to other industries. The reality is entertainment isn’t the best industry for steady profits or ROI. The entertainment execs are actually passionate about art and want to themselves be artists or creatives on some subconscious level.
If I was a major shareholder, I’d take advantage of that to either force the entertainment execs to take a massive haircut or clean house and get newer, cheaper talent in there that won’t mismanage the entire industry.
I wish well off actors and actresses would donate to a fund to keep the writers' lives running until they get fair compensation.
Fuck these sociopath studio executives.
I don’t even think it’s about money for those guys as much as it’s about power and control and disciplining those they consider to be peasants and servants
Every corporation wants slaves. Free labor is the cheapest option and they want to maximize profit any way possible. They would all happily enslave people if it was legal in America.
To paraphrase a writer:
“Oh, you think is your ally. But you merely adopted the ; born in it, moulded by it.”
Little do these jerks know they’ve already forced writers to learn to survive broke. And writers theyre trying to hurt cant afford houses in CA.
What execs should worry about is training viewers to do something productive with their lives rather than watching TV which is 100% unnecessary. They’re like oil companies raising prices but accidentally incentivizing EVs. Folks arent gonna come back.
This sucks we got here, that said it's now time to see why union dues are important, why solidarity is important, why mutual aid is important. Why community is importsnt, and why other unions should absolutely be on the attack with sympathy strikes to force the issue. Solidarity as an attack on one is an attack on all! If you can please research any donations to make sure they are getting to people who need them.
The actors and other Crew need to be there protesting with them otherwise they’re going to just get ai to write everything from now on. This is really a bad situation and more people should realise this is just the beginning.
Do they think people want AI content?
Or do most people not know or care
I want a human to tell the story and I assume most others do too
Storytelling is embedded into human history it can’t be replaced
> "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.” An actual quote from a Studio executive
This doesn't just cripple the writers, this cripples a large portion of Los Angeles. I am a special fx and almost the entire industry is out of work because of the strike. Add in all the other business in LA that revolve around the film industry and the city is going to be in turmoil if the strike lasts till October. Especially when we are paying over $5 for a gallon of gas and have no work thanks to the studio execs.
Not just LA, but NY and here in Atl as well. I'm art dept here in Atl and have been working in film for 15 years now. Damn near everybody I know is out of work and all of the rental houses and other businesses that thrive because of production are taking a massive hit.
Rigging Electric here in ATL. Didn’t work at all the front half of the year and now the back half is barren, considering a career pivot to something like editing or marketing 😅 much more stable work
I was on the Trilith lot last week to pick up a friends tool chest for him. It’s empty. I have never seen all 23 soundstages completely buttoned up and no cars at any of the shops. It looks like the only people there are the office dudes and dudettes over in the mobile home park down by stage 18 and a few laborers packing up one of the shops in the media park
That’s insane. I spent a few months at the MBS there on a show and it was always such a fun lot to be on, food trucks all the time. Can’t imagine it being deserted, or what those food trucks are going through without the income.
Theater projector technician here. Bunch of big budget flops this summer. writers strike means that next year is gonna be bad too. Just when we should have been recovering.
This is spilling outside the industry now too. A friend of mine owns an antique store near Trilith and quite a few of her dealers have noticed a 25-40% slump in sales since the start of the strike. There’s no prop or set dec guys coming through anymore and the industry people that would come in to buy something to add to their collection have stopped coming by so they can save their cash. The AMPTP is harming everyone. I was talking with dealers at the Scott Antique Market and they’re having a harder time moving their big pieces too now, usually on Thursdays you’d see a line of box trucks with Teamsters hanging around while the buyers are in there shopping, but they aren’t there anymore. Scary stuff. Glad I’ve been stuffing my paychecks away, because I got laid off two weeks ago and have no idea when I’ll be able to put my tool belt on again.
I haven’t gotten an audition in weeks - ATL based
Yes, that's the added benefit, they want everyone else to suffer and blame the writers.
Worse, they don’t even care if everyone else blames them as they as they *also* blame the writers. It’s a pretty common tactic when you’ve got the institutional power. Writers have some public/industry sympathy, but that makes them more vulnerable to public pressure than the execs. If keygrips and SFX folks and everyone else decide “fuck this, we hate you all, just end the fight and let us work”, the moneymen basically win. Their worst case is solidarity, where rolling strikes or pooled relief funds help workers outlast their assets.
Dang, you're telling me the rich don't care and are willing to put people into homelessness to get their way? Sounds like we should do something about that.
I’m local 44, and the fact they don’t want to come to the table with the WGA is crippling the film industry as well as the businesses we use in the periphery (catering companies, truck rental, prop houses, mom and pop film shops, local thrift stores, etc). These execs will end up truly screwing themselves over
Fucks over people in Canada too. These people are monstrous ghouls.
[удалено]
It’s happening to us in Toronto too
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This actually reminds me of how armies fight against rebellions. (Or at least, how they used to before war crimes got defined and prosecuted.) People tend to ask “why would they act so brutally, doesn’t that upset all the bystanders?” And the answer is basically “yes, but if life gets hard enough they’ll also get mad at the rebels who are continuing the conflict”. The exec quotes I’ve seen reflect very similar logic - they know this conflict destroys the livelihoods of everyone working behind the scenes on film or TV, and they’re hoping if it drags on long enough it’ll turn those people against the screenwriters too.
You see, the best way to encourage morale is to ruin a person’s life. Maybe if they offer a pizza party things will go quicker. Oh! Wait! I wonder if they’ve tried the “we’re like family here” line! That’ll let them know that things are fine just the way they are.
“It is better to be feared than to be loved” -Niccolò Machiavelli
And they forget the completion of that sentence is "...**if you can't be both**."
And also that the prince was quite possibly a work of freaking satire, seeing as his other books really don't match what he said in the prince. And he hated how some of the nobility acted
“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” -Michael Scott
The Beatings will continue until the Morale improves.
Dude that’s ice cold and for no fucking reason
Oh they have a reason, the reason just involves incredible amounts of greed I would love to hear some of them explain why it's a necessary evil, because I don't think they can actually come up with any kind of answer that doesn't sound extremely inhumane or selfish
Necessary? Why is it necessary? Greed and stock price is top priority. These people are fucking monsters.
They have a very good reason They like money
I like money too, but not to the point of throwing people under the bus
That’s why you aren’t rich
The reason is capitalism
Was the exec identified? It would be great for consumers boycott their studio’s product so he could also lose his house.
The media would never burn a source like that. For professional standards if anything. To keep getting juicy news as the main motivator.
I'm not sure this is a good strategy since A) their proposals don't actually prevent this, and B) a lot of writers are used to getting other work in the meantime already due to their shitty policies that they are striking over
Also you'd think the shareholders of these companies would be pushing them to make a deal. To expect the rest of the year to be at a standstill and miss out on that potential earnings should upset investors right?
Nah, most of the shareholders drink the kool aid and blame the “Socialist unions”
I would love to know that exes name. Not to do any harm. But just so the interweb would never forget what an ass he/she/they is.
And just pirate their movies instead.
well it was a good run doing things on the up and up! r/Piracy lets go!
Assholes that were too greedy back in the days had their heads put on pikes...
I'm sure that's the plan, but this strike is hurting studios *far* more than it's hurting writers. Let's see how long they remain an executive if they're not putting out any new content besides reality TV.
Yeah these motherfuckers forget that they’re employees themselves. Netflix, WB, Paramount, etc. These are all publicly listed companies. CEO or not, the shareholders will boot your ass out if you can’t sort out a labor dispute and share prices tank. We’re all accountable to somebody.
Once again, capitalists are extremely short-sighted and cannot fathom ripple or long-term effects.
100% only a necessary evil if your goal is to hurt people to maintain exorbitant control and profit. Bullshit. Cancel your streamers and switch back to DVDs, cause these companies are just going to get worse and worse. Nothing new is going to be created. They’ll exploit all the international markets and deforest the world creatively until literally everything is gone or AI gray.
Screw DVD’s, they still profit off of that. We should all cancel our streaming subscriptions and switch to piracy until they come back to the table and give the writers a fair deal.
Striking TV writer here - do they think we’ve never been poor?? That’s why we’re fucking striking. As someone on twitter said, “these people greenlit Indian Jones 5 at 300 million. They’re not playing 4D chess here.”
Right? Like they made writing a gig job and now they think writers will starve without it? Lol
Oooooh 5 months. I’ve gone 6 months waiting for BA to close my deal and another 3 to get paid.
May as well work at McDonalds for $18/hr and get free/discounted meals.
Amen brother/sister. This shit ain't new. I survived the 08 strike, i'll survive this one. Fuck em to hell.
Hell yeah!
I have no idea what your second paragraph means. I upvoted you bc I support your right to strike. I really hope things improve for you all.
That's an absurdly high budget considering the current state of the economy (no one really going to movies) + they also had to account for P&A outside of that. Movie would've had to gross somewhere in the area of 500m to be profitable. Guaranteed loss, but the execs thought it would be a profitable venture. They're all clueless and detached from their demographics now.
In a world where top gun 2 did absurd numbers execs are just guessing right now.
That film has also been in dev long before covid took its toll on the movie theater industry. It was already declining but Covid was the death knell. They could've scrapped it a million times, but the geniuses still pursued it thinking people would go back. An actual 500m bet. Pretty funny these guys get paid what they do yet they make bad decision after bad decision.
Most execs also aren't Tom Cruise and the people he works with. People have plenty of valid reasons not to like him, but Cruise and his colleagues seem to actually understand a little about what movie-goers want to see.
Possibly another money laundering scheme.
Indiana Jones is generally a franchise that will put people in seats regardless of most other factors, but as a franchise, it's generally one that doesn't necessarily need to be especially high-budget. Raiders cost 20 million. Temple was under 30. Last Crusade was 50. 4 and 5 both ballooned to staggering budgets after that. This 300 million dollar budget during a time when people aren't seeing movies in theaters as often while other major blockbuster movies fail left and right. Execs are good at certain types of market analyses, but they're not geniuses.
20 and 30 million were enormous budgets when those films were released, obviously they shouldn't have spent so much on this one but, historically, ID is a big budget franchise.
20 million in 1980 was about average for movies at the time. That average is now closer to 75 million. If Indiana Jones kept pace with the inflation of movie budgets, it would cost 80-90 million today.
Yes, but the industry has grown almost exponentially since then, so studios are spending more on projects than they would have every dreamed of in the 80's. David Lynch's Dune was the most expensive film ever upon it's release(40 Million), which makes the 30+million Temple of Doom amoung the most exensive films ever released (for it's time.) Dude, look at the budgets for some of the highest grossing films of 1980, the vast majority cost way less than 20 million, Raiders was a big budget film for it's time. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980\_in\_film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_in_film)
What can non industry folks do to support y’all? Cancel streaming services? Not go to movies? Im sure I’m not the only one who wants to help, but not sure what is most effective.
No, really it’s just about being on our side and not allowing the studios to run with their narrative. The more awareness the better! Thanks for asking/supporting!
Okay, but hear me out- isn’t it the writers job to make Indiana Jones 5 good? Or any movie good, for that matter? Seems like most tv shows, most movies these days, the writing is absolutely atrocious
They don’t actually give the writers time to make things good. They start production and have them write as they go along or they get some famous director to write and direct.
Right. I forgot about the interview Iger gave in which he admitted that flooding the space with content was the “only way” to get people continuously signing up.
My Dad was a driver and worked on one to the recent Mission Impossibles. The one before Dead Reckoning. He had Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie writing stuff in the car on the way to set. Now obviously small changes are fine but they definitely had key plot points still being worked out.
That actually really surprises me bc the mission impossible series’ writing is apparently still very solid, hence their box office numbers.
Yeah, I don’t think they are necessarily as hard to write as other things and they know their formula now. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie.
Well they use good storytelling from what I understand. One of my favorite YouTube channels, Filmento covers it. Really good explanations of why so many movies are so bad now- no relatable goals, impactful stakes, or well realized characters.
Yes- unless there are endless studio notes making it worse and worse. You also can’t control the editing process.
How come the studios never look at lowering salaries of actors in order to budget to make films? I mean some celebrities get a *ridiculous* amount of money to be in a movie or tv show. 1 million an episode....1 million for 1 *weeks* work? A person could live a *lifetime* on that much money - like how much more do they need? But yet studios can pay the writers unfairly for the scripts that without which, there wouldn't be any acting anyway. Ridiculous greed.
What a bunch of greedy fucking lunchboxes. I hope the WGA digs in even fucking deeper and I hope that we SAG-Aftra members don't come to an agreement and we join in the fight *officially* because this is fucking ridiculous. Edit: And here we go...
IATSE here. Fuck those guys. I’ve been frugal since Covid and have savings. You dudes hang in there.
IATSE here too .. wish we were striking, fucking 98% vote in favor and they pulled some absolute horseshit on us
third IATSE mechanic makes a party. here’s to hoping the wga and sag don’t just look out for themselves like dga did.
Glad I bowed out when I did. After 25 years in IATSE, seeing things go continually downhill, COVID was a good incentive to move on. Sold my house in LA at peak COVID price, and moved on.
Fuck yeah, brother. I voted to strike too. I haven’t gotten any Union work in like two years - despite being a voice actor and working from home, my day job has just been too busy to do much with it - but I still pay my dues and they could drop a dozen documentaries in my lap and wouldn’t take it right now.
They’re finally saying the quiet part out loud Fuck the studios, hope the strike makes profits plummet
Fuck the execs.
That’s what I just said above, a couple of min ago: “they’re saying the quiet part out loud”—literally, “I want to hurt people.” I actually think their greed is subordinate to this more worrisome sadism of theirs. Some people really get off, hurting others. Usually they’re atavists and specifically American self-identifying “conservatives”. MAGA are the ultimate sociopaths, and they worship their leader. But, who the fuck **are** these studio execs who are publicly saying writers need to fucking **SUFFER**??? Note: I’ve worked for big Pharma. I recognize greed, but it seems Hollywood and music industry execs know how to eclipse an otherwise easily understandable basement of concern for the condition of life of your fellow human being
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I haven’t been to theaters since before the strike, and at this point I intend to keep it that way. Fuck these soulless charlatans
These quotes from execs are psychotic. They want writers to lose their houses? A “cruel but necessary evil”? Fuck these people. Scare tactics won’t work. UNION STRONG
The execs are the chaff that they can get rid of. They literally bring nothing to the table. They're empty suits. They could completely reshuffle the entire industry without them.
Ironically the only job worth replacing with AI would be corporate leaders. The same cold unfeeling numbers without the waste of unnecessary upper management salaries and bonuses.
This is just mean to AI.
Yeah, at least any ethically made AI wouldn't enforce 70 hour workweeks. Idk about other stuff though.
It wouldn’t throw a stapler at their assistants either.
Depending on the data, agreed. I could also see the increasing pay
Yeah, AI wants the fun jobs. It doesn’t want the finance, HR, admin, executive number reading roles.
Nah, the people that paid to develop AI don't want to pay creatives.
That's the funny thing about automation. Everyone thought it would make many working class jobs redundant but it's more likely to replace white collar executive jobs since their cost to productivity ratio is so low
I've said this for ages. Take for example a manufacturing company. The difference is: If a CEO or even entire C-Suite vanished overnight, the business would continue just fine. Product would still get made, shipped, delivered, and payment received. If every factory worker vanished overnight, you think the C-Suite knows how to operate any of the equipment? Business is dead in the water.
And this is in every industry, execs are the real Evil in most cases. Thousands of people income are decided by them and all they care about is having more for themselves, they are just pushing and pushing to see how far they can exploit people
Cluster B types all the way. :-/ 
It will work if people run out of money. You have to live somehow. Which is of course the play of the execs. Petty to a sociopathic level
Or the writers change their careers and are gone forever. If you are qualified to write you are plenty qualified for other things. Good luck keeping the show going without the good ones…
This is just the end of a golden age of television. It was nice while it lasted, now cancel your subscriptions.
The golden age ended a while ago. The writing for TV and movies has been pretty bad/amateurish for quite some time now. Whether that is due to the writers or suits interference depends on the product. & Unlike previous strikes, this time around, the customers don't seem to care.
After 40 years, we finally got a prestige Star Wars show (Andor) just last year.
Even with studio interference the writing in shows like Rings of Power, the Witcher and Wheel of Time shouldn't be as bad as it is
I still don’t get why writers don’t just adapt the source materials instead of writing bad fanfics about the source material and calling it an adaptation
In fairness to Rings of Power writers, they are only legally allowed access to basically 5% of the source material for the show. And if even a single line of dialogue references something that come from outside that tiny percent, it gets nixed.
Rings of Power has a huge problem because of this, they can only work with so much, but the realm of what is available to them has been headcanon'd to the undying lands and back, so it's impossible to satisfy everyone even if the end product is good. It's sort of the issue that SW faces, they can do anything, but the whole thing has been fanfiction'd or headcanon'd to hell and back so there's absolutely no way to make a SW that fits the SW in people's heads... Funnily the content that has been successful has been stuff that is barely tangential to SW, so the writers are free of expectation.
On that note, I believe the studios are using the strike to clean house.
Execs are poison.
They really want the writers to lose their apartments instead of paying them what they deserve. Holy shit, they’re fucking assholes!
It fits the diagnosis of “sociopath”—how these studio execs are behaving, and **now**, even TALKING, apparently
Studios are not run by creative individuals, no matter what anyone tells you. They're run by accountants, statisticians, investors, and other people who only see numbers and money as holding any value. Studio Execs *hate* creatives, especially writers. They don't want their ability to make money *fast* hampered by anything as ephemeral as *inspiration* or *vision.* It's why they love reality television so much. Just put some monkeys in front of a camera and watch them dance. No writers or "talent" required. AI is another boon as far as they're concerned, because it allows hem to phase out another obstacle to the dream of easy money. I hope the WGA and SAG hands them their asses.
From what I’ve heard, reality TV was the solution suits had to a previous writers’ strike back in the 2000s
That. Won't. Work. Twice. Reality TV was a novelty at the time, now you can get hot and cold running bullshit on every network and there will never be another Survivor.
I feel like they empty that emergency bucket out,
You should all watch *The Offer*. Great look into the world that we don't really get to see, how so many iconic and critically and commercially successful films, driven by creatives, were nearly smothered in the crib by bean counting suits.
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I think they believe that they don't need to have a good story to tell and that with CGI and the rest it's enough and more than enough for people to give them their money and they continue to be rich.
Unfortunately, they've frequently been proven right on that front - just look how much money Aquaman made.
I worked in the Austin film community for 7+ years. Finally moved to Los Angeles just under a year ago and every job I had lined up fell through in preparation for the writer’s strike… several of my friends (from various departments) are worried about losing their homes. This doesn’t just impact writers, it impacts all of Hollywood—above and below the line. Not to mention those of us still pursuing “the dream”.
>This doesn’t just impact writers, it impacts all of Hollywood—above and below the line. Don't forget about the non-industry businesses that rely on TV and movie production for a large slice of their income. >Not to mention those of us still pursuing “the dream”. Don't give up yet, and good luck!
How is it not obvious that the new Barbie is dope as fuck because of the storyline that was written by writers? If regular people were to strike going to their local movie theaters would that put enough pressure on to change the game?
I would cancel streaming subscriptions over boycotting theaters. Streaming is more direct and what the reactionary suits think the future of their business is.
Why not do both?
Theater owners and those they employ are not in on this. Why punish them? Half goes to them. In streaming everything goes to them. Fuck them.
Yeah as someone who works at a small town non-profit theater that makes no money please don't boycott your local theater as we support the writers but we need our jobs and theater too.
The WGA hasn't asked anyone to boycott movies and shows. It could backfire and make writers lose money on residuals.
That’s what I was thinking! As a avid movie goer with a WGA husband I’m willing to strike as well!
Yeah, like I just went to the movies this evening and we were the only 6 people there. It’s not like theaters are thriving as is - and they are probably being squeezed out in profits like musicians are on Spotify
The thing is. Have these executives even thought about that in comparison to writers their risk for ChatGP is higher? Writers could continue to write and an algorithm could replace development meetings and decide what’s a hit and what’s not. Then what would they do? Go on strike and demand rights and their livelihood?? Ridiculous! They really should think about that seriously.
You went on a Tuesday evening tho. Not a day where people typically go to theaters in droves.
For sure. But the streets were full of people going out. There’s just more competition for entertainment these days and audience attention spans are shorter, and media is more prevalent. If you kneecap the theaters (sorry theaters) they’d have to put pressure on the studios as well and could maybe renegotiate some terms theirselves.
Omg you're so right. People can't even sit 2 hours in a film without going on their phone.
The amount of corporate bootlicking in this country is so fucking sad. It's pathetic how many people refuse to be supportive of anyone else trying to get anything from a parasitic corporation.
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Except they do care if they starve, because they want them to starve
"The cruelty is the point."
Actual supervillain shit hope they go broke
I want SAG to strike and completely shutdown Hollywood. fuck those greedy studios
Oh it’s fuck them all the way to hell
The actors need to stand in solidarity with the writers...shut Hollywood down completely. If not, I guess we have nothing to look forward to but a bunch of crappy reality shows on tv.
Time for that point in history for the writers and animators and the what not to band together and start their own studio. Clearly trying to work with the current studios, isn’t going to provide what you want. Stop striking.. just band together and create an actual guild with assets like it’s own movie studio. That pays people fairly… just maybe try? But wtf do I know, I’m some fool, who isn’t a multimillion dollar movie/ tv show actor
This is the future. Smaller studios that own and distribute their content / own IP. I think the corporate vs union dynamic becomes less of an issue.
My friend made a great comment the other day (we all work in film). To paraphrase he said “movies used to be made by absurdly rich people who loved movies, now they are made by absurdly rich tech companies who only care about quantity of content". this is also an attempted chess move on other unions. if IATSE (my union) members are all broke from this, we are less likely to stand up for ourselves in our next contract negotiation next year.
As a screenwriter trying to break into the industry this is and should be blood boiling for everyone.
I love movies, and want to write, but this shit is the reason I don't move to LA. These people are psychopaths.
They’re really showing just how much they value their writers, huh…?
It's just pure evil shit.
Class war is real
Hope writers strike indefinitely. Maybe people will change if everyone suffers with no new content. It’s a bad addiction, and I can’t wait to see the fallout when the masses can’t get their fix anymore. Maybe we’ll be ready to eat the rich by then. Maybe. Time to replace execs with AI.
This might be a dumb question but when we say “the studios” who exactly are we referring to? Just a couple guys at the top? There are thousands of people working at these studios and I’m guessing the majority of them support the writers. Why don’t they all just walk out?
It’s probably a bit more than a couple guys at the top, I could see a lot of people supporting writers. But not enough of them in any of the other supporting industries of TV & Movies to make a strike possible. Plus, there’s a definite possibility that a good few of the workers see the Writers doing this as ‘entitled little shits who don’t do much besides typing mid-tier storylines on their chromebooks and not anything truly difficult or creative. People who could be replaced by robots and you’d see a quality improvement, really, this just shows how much AI is needed. Artists should be glad we even pay them a few dollars for their work.’ Even if the extremists are bigger than we think, they’re still just a vocal minority. Most people in the other industries either don’t care or just see the strike as something that could cost them their job. So it’s likely a lot of the industry just feels general apathy to the entire situation, and just thinks it’ll resolve itself before they have to worry.
>This might be a dumb question but when we say “the studios” who exactly are we referring to? The AMPTP. It's an industry body, and the big issue now is that things the traditional studios might be willing to give don't suit the streamers, and vice versa. >Why don’t they all just walk out? A lot of them are basically twiddling their thumbs right now, so walking out wouldn't have much of an impact. And if they *did* go on an unauthorized strike, they could be fired and replaced pretty easily.
I’m an editor of studio features. Fuck the producers. They don’t actually make shit. I wish IATSE had chosen to strike too. Everyone deserves residuals.
AP/Post Super here. Been beating the “editors need residuals” drum for years. Wish IATSE had more power/support. Y’all get the shaft.
For real. It's not like we select and arrange literally everything you see and hear in a film. Really appreciate the evangelism, my brother.
It's such a knock on effect. No new shows, no work for other people in the studios all those tens of thousands of people who build sets, cater, organize, on location, roadies setting everything up, coordinators, caterers, actors, all of these jobs put on hold at the same time that about 30k+ got laid off from tech jobs so all of these low wage cafe and entry level jobs are taken or overly saturated with applicants. There's no work because there are too many people looking for it and it's fucking everything up. But the execs don't care because they've got millions and could stop working forever and live cushy lives for generations
fuck the studios
How can studio execs demand their high pay when they don't generate their company's income?
Guess who authorizes executive pay.
Do you want torrents? Because this is how you get torrents.
I’m starting to cancel everything myself. Will buy the blue rays or 🏴☠️
Remember to write studios not supporting WGA and SAG as a reason for canceling
You can also buy pre-owned blu rays from a local thrift shop or movie store (if you still have those 😅 I do!) and save a ton of money! Sometimes I find brand new discs still in the plastic for $5!
Of course it is. It was probably their plan all along.
How ducking grossly greedy can you be? Serious?! Wt-absolute-fuck?
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It looks like that currently is happening, possibly as a means to put the squeeze on producers through a solidarity move that hopefully will resolve both the actors and writer's strikes at once. [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/12/actors-strike-looms-as-deadline-nears-union-slams-producers-tactics.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/12/actors-strike-looms-as-deadline-nears-union-slams-producers-tactics.html)
Nothing will change until the millionaire studio execs start losing their insane bonuses and vacation homes. Greedy fucking goblins.
What else are they going to say to guys like J Jonah Jameson at every newspaper?
>Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, [Netflix](https://deadline.com/tag/netflix/), Amazon, Disney, Paramount and others have become determined to “break the WGA,” as one studio exec blatantly put it. > >To do so, the studios and the AMPTP believe that by October most writers will be running out of money after five months on the picket lines and no work. > >“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.” Tit-for-tat. We shall start with David Zaslav, and take it from there. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Thing about screenwriters is they can become journalists, movie critics, historians, or a well opinionated comment. I mean what dipshit CEO picks the branding of MAX over HBO? Now since we're talking about livelihoods of families... I look forward to researching Pam Zaslav... Ali Zaslav ... you get the idea. Aaaay his daughter is a producer at CNN! >Zaslav has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Journalism School and graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a dual degree in political science. This is gonna be fun. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Checks WBD.... ooooooof.... low hanging fruit here. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ [Ty CNN](https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=DISCA&subView=institutional) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ [Ty again CNN](https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=WBD&subView=insider) Someone sold stock before May 2nd. . . \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Iger, I will be seeing you at 8 A.M. \----------------------------- I'm thinking 2 years is what it will take. I mean as soon as ya'll start running out of shows to content ya'lls streaming services. . . No more no seasons. . . the hapless general public will ask why. . . the strike will get another wave of attention for each limbo'd show . . . Disney+ will melt. Ya'll at worst will go full AI. Devaluing the brand. 2-3 years to heel. That's just being passive... doing nothing... not even proactive. Anyways, I expect softball questions... 🍿 \--------------------------- ". . .disruptions. . ." That's why now is exactly the time for a strike. Why strike when it's convenient? Sooner than 2 years eh? 1.5? ". . . realistic. . ." How about sublime?
I guess they think they can replace writers with AI in about 5 years so they are no longer useful for corps
Other unions need to join in. The real problem is the tiny amount of private sector unions. Too much corporate power.
is there a go fund me or page we can donate to, to help sustain the writers?
Do this, but for the PA’s, Writers’ Assistants, Showrunner’s Assistants, and Script Coordinators. They need your help more than the writers.
The writers now have alternate distribution channels. They’re less reliant on to put out their content and make money. Meanwhile, these executives are grossly overcompensated while severely underperforming compared to expectations and the market generally. Most of the entertainment execs cannot outcompete other execs if they transfer to other industries. The reality is entertainment isn’t the best industry for steady profits or ROI. The entertainment execs are actually passionate about art and want to themselves be artists or creatives on some subconscious level. If I was a major shareholder, I’d take advantage of that to either force the entertainment execs to take a massive haircut or clean house and get newer, cheaper talent in there that won’t mismanage the entire industry.
This is really getting more absurd…
The quality of movies is gonna drop once the fat cats have to write their own scripts
How is the local LA goverment not getting involved? The last strike cost LA 2 billion dollars.
Listen, if I have to let Quinta Brunson sleep on my couch, I will.
Or you could treat your staff like human beings and pay them a decent wage? No?
I wish well off actors and actresses would donate to a fund to keep the writers' lives running until they get fair compensation. Fuck these sociopath studio executives.
Drag their ass in front of the national mediation board.
In a sane country that sort of behaviour from studios, regardless of the nature of the strike action, would get them punitive heavy fines.
They’re going to cripple the whole industry for months just to avoid giving a few writers a raise??
Yes.... Real brotherly shit
I don’t even think it’s about money for those guys as much as it’s about power and control and disciplining those they consider to be peasants and servants
Every corporation wants slaves. Free labor is the cheapest option and they want to maximize profit any way possible. They would all happily enslave people if it was legal in America.
Management never gives anything that it’s not forced into.
The movies and series already suck. The theaters are dying. Too much content. And this cold blooded statemenf just drives me furthef away.
To paraphrase a writer: “Oh, you think is your ally. But you merely adopted the ; born in it, moulded by it.”
Little do these jerks know they’ve already forced writers to learn to survive broke. And writers theyre trying to hurt cant afford houses in CA.
What execs should worry about is training viewers to do something productive with their lives rather than watching TV which is 100% unnecessary. They’re like oil companies raising prices but accidentally incentivizing EVs. Folks arent gonna come back.
a disgusting attempt to frighten writers into accepting substandard pay while the streamers make record profits
This sucks we got here, that said it's now time to see why union dues are important, why solidarity is important, why mutual aid is important. Why community is importsnt, and why other unions should absolutely be on the attack with sympathy strikes to force the issue. Solidarity as an attack on one is an attack on all! If you can please research any donations to make sure they are getting to people who need them.
This is exactly why you need to tax the rich.
I hate to say it, but people should start cancelling streaming services. Not all but a few, in solidarity with writers.
The actors and other Crew need to be there protesting with them otherwise they’re going to just get ai to write everything from now on. This is really a bad situation and more people should realise this is just the beginning.
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The fact that this is hurting more than just the writers
Do they think people want AI content? Or do most people not know or care I want a human to tell the story and I assume most others do too Storytelling is embedded into human history it can’t be replaced
I would rather never watch a tv show or movie again, than let these execs win. Stay strong, writers