WGA & SAG Strike of 2023

[PerceptiveCoot]

We didn't mean it.

 

[rageofthegods]

We didn't mean it.

AMPTP group chat got a little heated after they realized the article was backfiring, didn't it?

 

[Tobias]

AMPTP group chat got a little heated after they realized the article was backfiring, didn't it?

Considering how fast it took for that "update" to happen, it lines up with the murmurs that there was a group chat of them SCREAMING at each other once it was clear this instantly backfired. They really thought "No Press is Bad Press" would hold true for them.

 

[Nick]

Considering how fast it took for that "update" to happen, it lines up with the murmurs that there was a group chat of them SCREAMING at each other once it was clear this instantly backfired. They really thought "No Press is Bad Press" would hold true for them.

It was tone deaf and speaks to how out of touch they are.

EDIT:
We'll hear in the morning (probably afternoon for EST) what the situation is regarding potential strike it seems like:

 

[rageofthegods]

SAG-AFTRA Contract Talks Fail To Reach Deal; National Board Meeting Thursday Morning To Launch Strike; Sides Issue Statements

UPDATED with AMPTP statement, 1:07 AM: Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke off tonight, and the guild’s national board will meet Thursday morning to formally approve t…

deadline.com

It's happening. Stay strong. The studios did not expect this.

See you on the line boys.

 

[Nick]

So this is good news as far as i'm concerned, but I use my mom (and brother) to gauge what normies think. I brought up a potential actor strike on top of the writer strike to them the other day and they sort of shrugged it off and were like, "Eh, i'm behind on so many shows already that this will finally give me a chance to catch up".

So while the quality will noticeably decrease as time goes on and there will certainly be a period of time when content that is fully shot starts to run low before writers even get back into a writers room, I worry that there's going to be a large group of people like my mom and brother who have fallen behind on so much content (because let's be honest, there's too much out there to watch it all in recent years) that they sort of won't care too much. There's always going to be something to find amongst the many different streaming options we have out there right now whether it's new, maybe it's an international show, or it's something old that people missed when it originally came out.

 

[Mad Dog]

This could be a very long strike. With so much red ink in the industry, there's not much incentive for the studios to negotiate fairly or quickly. Streaming is breaking the entire system.

 

[Grabnar]

This could be a very long strike. With so much red ink in the industry, there's not much incentive for the studios to negotiate fairly or quickly. Streaming is breaking the entire system.

Turns our disruption for disruption’s sake tends to lead to people learning the same lessons that made the previous system crappy

 

[MrRoamer]

So this is good news as far as i'm concerned, but I use my mom (and brother) to gauge what normies think. I brought up a potential actor strike on top of the writer strike to them the other day and they sort of shrugged it off and were like, "Eh, i'm behind on so many shows already that this will finally give me a chance to catch up".

So while the quality will noticeably decrease as time goes on and there will certainly be a period of time when content that is fully shot starts to run low before writers even get back into a writers room, I worry that there's going to be a large group of people like my mom and brother who have fallen behind on so much content (because let's be honest, there's too much out there to watch it all in recent years) that they sort of won't care too much. There's always going to be something to find amongst the many different streaming options we have out there right now whether it's new, maybe it's an international show, or it's something old that people missed when it originally came out.

I fit into this group too. My backlog of shows, movies, and games is completely overwhelming. I think my list of stuff we absolutely have to watch is 30 or 40 deep including a bunch of Marvel (Wakanda, Quantamania, Black Widow)

 

[Jerroddragon]

This could be a very long strike. With so much red ink in the industry, there's not much incentive for the studios to negotiate fairly or quickly. Streaming is breaking the entire system.

Companies are

Streaming isn't the issue, the issue is a company making something that makes a lot of money and only wanting to pay minimum wages to the people who make it and give the profits to investors and CEO's.

I fit into this group too. My backlog of shows, movies, and games is completely overwhelming. I think my list of stuff we absolutely have to watch is 30 or 40 deep including a bunch of Marvel (Wakanda, Quantamania, Black Widow)

Same about having a huge backlog. The strike could finally let me catch up on things I never got to as well.

 

[Grabnar]

Companies are

Streaming isn't the issue, the issue is a company making something that makes a lot of money and only wanting to pay minimum wages to the people who make it and give the profits to investors and CEO's.

While this is true, streaming, namely the fragmentation of streaming into 40+ individual services, has essentially recreated the worst parts of cable merged with the idea that endless subscriber growth is possible. Companies are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into the wrong metrics trying to achieve something inherently impossible.

Switching to a subscriber retention metric would be more sustainable but is incompatible with late stage capitalism.

 

[Jerroddragon]

While this is true, streaming, namely the fragmentation of streaming into 40+ individual services, has essentially recreated the worst parts of cable merged with the idea that endless subscriber growth is possible. Companies are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into the wrong metrics trying to achieve something inherently impossible.

Switching to a subscriber retention metric would be more sustainable but is incompatible with late stage capitalism.

Once again, to me it's not streaming that is the issue.

It's these companies being greedly, look at Hulu. Which was doing just fine but now everyone wants out, the Office and Friends have gone from everyone has seen these shows to many younger people not knowing what they are because greed. You must come to us to watch the content instead of just letting Netflix buy up your rights, making money off doing literally nothing and viewers all watching your content because its on Netflix/Hulu

The bubble only burst once everyone decided to make an App

It's like Video games there was this period where we just got cheap/free DLC and now everything is a "Micro transaction"

Funniest part as well is these companies now have limit how many people can watch on one account....and even after that still dont have the money to pay actors/writers, lol

 

[Nico]

Once again, to me it's not streaming that is the issue.

It's these companies being greedly, look at Hulu. Which was doing just fine but now everyone wants out, the Office and Friends have gone from everyone has seen these shows to many younger people not knowing what they are because greed. You must come to us to watch the content instead of just letting Netflix buy up your rights, making money off doing literally nothing and viewers all watching your content because its on Netflix/Hulu

The bubble only burst once everyone decided to make an App

It's like Video games there was this period where we just got cheap/free DLC and now everything is a "Micro transaction"

Funniest part as well is these companies now have limit how many people can watch on one account....and even after that still dont have the money to pay actors/writers, lol

Both things can be the issue. Greedy corporations who have no idea how to resolve/make money with steaming. Streaming was a digital gold rush, then they realized the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Deleting projects, changing titles, minimizing residuals are all attempts to save on the P&L.

 

[Mad Dog]

Once again, to me it's not streaming that is the issue.

It's these companies being greedly, look at Hulu. Which was doing just fine but now everyone wants out, the Office and Friends have gone from everyone has seen these shows to many younger people not knowing what they are because greed. You must come to us to watch the content instead of just letting Netflix buy up your rights, making money off doing literally nothing and viewers all watching your content because its on Netflix/Hulu

The bubble only burst once everyone decided to make an App

It's like Video games there was this period where we just got cheap/free DLC and now everything is a "Micro transaction"

Funniest part as well is these companies now have limit how many people can watch on one account....and even after that still dont have the money to pay actors/writers, lol

One huge economic issue. Prior to the last few years, during the past three decades, the Studios had made the bulk of their profits through various aspects of the home entertainment industry. Studios, short of a few blockbusters, don't make a lot of profit from theatrical showings, even with their 'creative financial books'. The income from streaming, now that it's the dominant source of home entertainment financials, does not come close to replacing those lost revenues. Streaming fees are way too low to make a profit. Unfortunately, there's too many streaming services fighting to achieve market share, and that keeps the pricing artificially low in relation to production costs. Services like Hulu did somewhat OK in the past since the other Home Entertainment products/services still were dominant. Netflix always survived as a 'growth stock' that attracted tons of investment capital that kept them alive though they rarely made money. Under the previous sharing systems , it was kind of a golden age for those involved in Film and TV. More money was generated than ever before and the sharing trickled down more fairly than now. Sure, there were labor disagreements, but they were always worked out. But once the Studios went full force into streaming, which was predicted by many in home entertainment to be a foolhardy decision, all the dynamics changed. Streaming has changed the intent of the previous labor agreements, and the pricing structure needs to be more realistic so the workers can get their just due as they did in the past. And the workers need protection against the dangers of Artificial Intelligence.......People forget that prior to the golden age of home entertainment starting in the 1980's, Film was a dying industry. Studios rarely made money, were constantly surviving by selling off their film library, were often being merged or in bankruptcy proceedings. It was a poor industry to invest in.....The various aspects of Home Entertainment, and the profits it generated saved the film industry, but now streaming is threatening all of those gains. Streaming broke the system.

 

[Tbad556]

What a pompous ass. This strike is a peak demonstration of class warfare. Eat the rich, y'all.

 

[Jerroddragon]

What a pompous ass. This strike is a peak demonstration of class warfare. Eat the rich, y'all.

My god

Why do they think now.....general people will side with the elites? Just shut up and make a deal or don't but this kinda talk from the top is not helping

 

[Jake S]

Why do they think now.....general people will side with the elites?

as someone who used to write about sports for a living: oh yes, absolutely.

 

[Clive]

Iger burning through so many years of goodwill. The books must be more cooked than we realized.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Iger burning through so many years of goodwill. The books must be more cooked than we realized.

As he would say, a brand withdrawl.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Deadline is obviously carrying water for the studios, but here are a few of the recent productions that will be immediately affected.

SAG-AFTRA Strike: The Film & TV Projects Impacted Overseas — Updating

Check out Deadline's evolving list of film and TV projects based overseas which are being impacted by the SAG strike.

deadline.com

I also imagine in the coming weeks there either be multiple stories that attempt to portray internecine strife within the guilds or high profile cancellations or delays of certain projects that the studios will lay at the feet of the strikes.

EDIT: If I had to guess, a Beyond the Spider-Verse delay gets laid at the feet of the strikes, even if there are transparently other reasons for that movie being delayed to years from now.