WGA/SAGAFTRA Strike Discussion Thread | SAG Ratifies Contract

[WittyUsername]

3 minutes ago, Kon said:

Well, the “let those peasants starve” was about the writers.

 

AMPTP always tried to manipulate the actors to not strike (whitout giving them anything).

I still can’t fathom how the AMPTP can acknowledge that the strikes are bad for them, but will do anything except negotiate with the unions. Is it really that important that Bob Iger be able to afford his 15 yachts? 

[dudalb]

6 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

I still can’t fathom how the AMPTP can acknowledge that the strikes are bad for them, but will do anything except negotiate with the unions. Is it really that important that Bob Iger be able to afford his 15 yachts? 

And  they will just pass the additonal cost of a deal on to their customers anyway.....

[Jonwo]

I do think the studios will go back to the table once shareholders, the exhibitors etc start piling on pressure. 

 

 

[filmlover]

2 hours ago, Jonwo said:

I do think the studios will go back to the table once shareholders, the exhibitors etc start piling on pressure. 

 

 

That might be a while since August, September, and October already look low on titles with truly blockbuster potential (and the majority of them are either already established IP or high concept movies that aren't being sold on star power). WB reportedly still has another month until they will have to make the final call as to whether Dune opens in November or is delayed to 2024 so that sounds like a good timetable as to when we can expect AMPTP to come to their senses (or not, knowing what we know about their greedy foolishness).

[Ryan Reynolds]

Netflix will prevent any deal soon

[Dementeleus]

Exclusive: WGA Warns Calif. Teacher Pension Fund on 'Risk' of Studio Stocks
https://strikegeist.substack.com/p/exclusive-wga-warns-calif-teacher

 

…One Day at a Time co-showrunner Mike Royce and WGA negotiating committee member and The Handmaid’s Tale co-showrunner Yahlin Chang spoke to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today to tell its board that “the strike exposes your investments to financial risk” and that the AMPTP has been absent from the negotiating table because it wants “to keep their labor costs at rock bottom, while their CEOs hold a race to see who can build the biggest yacht.”

[FunkMiller]

The only chance of a deal coming soon is if the actors completely buckle.

 

The AMPTP aren’t going to cede anything any time in the near future, because they cannot afford for the strike to end with it accomplishing anything positive for the unions. It sets a dangerous precedent for their gravy train.

[ZattMurdock]

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by ZattMurdock

[Ryan Reynolds]

1 hour ago, ZattMurdock said:

 

 

 

 

all industries are investing in AI , its probably all hype, but most don't want to be risk being left behind

[Porthos]

Prepare for a long, cold, winter, folks. :--/

 

(could be locker room talk, sure - but I've been long on the pessimistic side on the willingness of the AMPTP to negotiate in the short to medium term and statements/rumors like the above do nothing to assuage said pessimism)

[ZattMurdock]

8 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Prepare for a long, cold, winter, folks. :--/

 

(could be locker room talk, sure - but I've been long on the pessimistic side on the willingness of the AMPTP to negotiate in the short to medium term and statements/rumors like the above do nothing to assuage said pessimism)

Yeah this is starting to look like it will take a while.

[Eric is Quiet]

 

[SpiderByte]

After the Marvels nothings coming out till next July isn't it

[DAJK]

19 minutes ago, Eric Bainbridge said:

 

Wait... they weren't part of it already? Why?

[Porthos]

46 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Prepare for a long, cold, winter, folks. :--/

 

(could be locker room talk, sure - but I've been long on the pessimistic side on the willingness of the AMPTP to negotiate in the short to medium term and statements/rumors like the above do nothing to assuage said pessimism)

 

Should add that after reading the, very good I thought, Vulture piece that it isn't quite as negative in outlook as the "joke" in the lede suggests.  About half to two thirds of the article is musing on a way out of this that might be conceivable under present circumstances and one that the AMPTP and WGA/SAG might agree to.

 

I do recommend it as it brought up some angles I didn't think about in how to resolve this mess. But it still ends on a rather down beat note:

 

Quote

Of course, for any of this to happen, the studios will probably first need to concede the WGA and SAG point that what’s needed is a completely new framework for a deal rather than giving the current pact a facelift and some more cash. “The companies have to admit a solution is required,” The Good Place creator Mike Schur, who is part of the WGA’s negotiating committee, told Variety this week. “Whether it’s SAG’s plan or our plan or some other plan, there has to be a better payment structure for actors, writers, directors, and everybody when shows are successful.” But so far, as Variety noted in the same story, the AMPTP has called the idea of letting writers and actors share in the success of shows “a nonstarter,” leading to the present standoff: Nobody is working and nobody is talking.

Which gets us back to where this story started: Do the companies that make up the AMPTP really mean it when they say they want to end the strike ASAP? Disney’s Iger, whom many once believed was the sort of beloved figure who might play a key role resolving the impasses, did nothing to spark optimism on that front with his comments to CNBC earlier this month. Instead of conciliatory words toward the creative community, he instead blamed the lack of progress on unions having “a level of expectation … that is just not realistic,” comments that will go down as a textbook example of saying the quiet part out loud.

Since then, suits such as Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Paramount’s Brian Robbins have offered less bombastic takes, but what nobody inside the studio C-suites has done is give even the slightest hint that they’re willing to accept the notion that a compensation system created for the age of linear doesn’t makes sense in the era of streaming. “The studios are making so much money licensing and relicensing these shows for streaming. Why shouldn’t the writers enjoy the fruits of that?” says one former network exec who would never be described as a labor sympathizer. “Staying within the rubric of where we’ve been makes no sense. You need to have an entirely different approach to paying the writers and actors. But what I worry about is that the studios really believe they can strong-arm them and wait them out. It’s a remarkable clash of values.”

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Porthos

[Eric is Quiet]

19 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Wait... they weren't part of it already? Why?

*cracks knuckles*

 

When it comes to animated shows and movies, the people who work on them, outside of voice actors, are in a totally different union called The Animation Guild. What this means is that most animated productions aren't typically filed under the WGA union. There are exceptions, as major shows like Simpsons and Family Guy and Rick and Morty and Big Mouth are under the WGA. And plenty of writers are part of TAG and WGA at the same time. But generally, cartoon shows like Spongebob Squarepants or The Owl House or Adventure Time are not considered WGA shows. This also applies to almost all animated movies as well. So until the SAG-AFTRA strike, there was no real production stoppage for Spongebob or Pixar when the writers began striking. There's a lot of reasons why, mainly because animation used to be storyboard-driven instead of script-driven back in the 1930s, when these unions were first beginning to exist. So a weird gray area that's still kind of around with animated productions.

 

However, that's not really a good thing that there's different unions. Generally speaking, TAG pays less and there's no residuals from any DVD sales, reruns on TV, or merchandise sales. Which you know...very scummy when you think about how these kids show networks will happily reair marathons of Teen Titans Go or Spongebob on a loop and none of the writers who make those hit shows have ever gotten their fair payments outside of some upfront checks. There was even an AngrySo having WGA backage, where things pay better and residuals are a thing, that's just good for everybody.

 

This explains some of the whys better than I could.

https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-writers-strike-animation-20170426-story.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-screenwriters-strike-animation/writers-seen-turning-to-animation-if-strike-long-idUSN0640254920071108

 

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/wga-writers-strike-the-animation-guild-228670.html

[ZattMurdock]

16 minutes ago, Eric Bainbridge said:

*cracks knuckles*

 

When it comes to animated shows and movies, the people who work on them, outside of voice actors, are in a totally different union called The Animation Guild. What this means is that most animated productions aren't typically filed under the WGA union. There are exceptions, as major shows like Simpsons and Family Guy and Rick and Morty and Big Mouth are under the WGA. And plenty of writers are part of TAG and WGA at the same time. But generally, cartoon shows like Spongebob Squarepants or The Owl House or Adventure Time are not considered WGA shows. This also applies to almost all animated movies as well. So until the SAG-AFTRA strike, there was no real production stoppage for Spongebob or Pixar when the writers began striking. There's a lot of reasons why, mainly because animation used to be storyboard-driven instead of script-driven back in the 1930s, when these unions were first beginning to exist. So a weird gray area that's still kind of around with animated productions.

 

However, that's not really a good thing that there's different unions. Generally speaking, TAG pays less and there's no residuals from any DVD sales, reruns on TV, or merchandise sales. Which you know...very scummy when you think about how these kids show networks will happily reair marathons of Teen Titans Go or Spongebob on a loop and none of the writers who make those hit shows have ever gotten their fair payments outside of some upfront checks. There was even an AngrySo having WGA backage, where things pay better and residuals are a thing, that's just good for everybody.

 

This explains some of the whys better than I could.

https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-writers-strike-animation-20170426-story.html

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-screenwriters-strike-animation/writers-seen-turning-to-animation-if-strike-long-idUSN0640254920071108

 

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/wga-writers-strike-the-animation-guild-228670.html

In short, The Animation Guild is a joke and is a long time coming for the writers to get into the WGA.

[MysteryMovieMogul]

https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/peacock-lost-651-million-dollars-comcast-q2-earnings-1234887557/

 

So, how much of this is anti-Strike propaganda, and how much of this is *actually* something to worry about?

 

EDIT: It's interesting to watch people on Reddit claim to care about the Strikes, but as soon as they can find anything anti-streaming, they froth at the mouth with anticipation to tear it down. Are they not aware that the main sticking point is streaming residuals, and it's in every studio's best interest to make streaming appear unprofitable? If it were losing these studios *that much* money, they'd stop making direct-to-streaming shows. 

Edited July 28, 2023 by MysteryMovieMogul
Added a small mini-rant!

[ZattMurdock]

3 minutes ago, MysteryMovieMogul said:

https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/peacock-lost-651-million-dollars-comcast-q2-earnings-1234887557/

 

So, how much of this is anti-Strike propaganda, and how much of this is something to actually worry about?

I think the appropriate answer to your question would be something like this:

 

‘’What the flying fuck is a Peacock?!"

 

All this tells me that Comcast will be making moves to make buying WB possible faster and bring back HBO while evil Zaz keeps Max and whatever that is. 

[Porthos]

15 minutes ago, MysteryMovieMogul said:

https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/peacock-lost-651-million-dollars-comcast-q2-earnings-1234887557/

 

So, how much of this is anti-Strike propaganda, and how much of this is something to actually worry about?

 

Nothing to do with the strike*.  No streaming service, outside of Netflix, has been profitable and in the short term only Disney Plus might be somewhat soon-ish (as in a couple of years).

 

* Well, the fact that streamers aren't yet profitable has a great deal to do with why there is a dual-strike, but the strikes themselves are not a proximate cause of this:

 

Quote

Sadly, those losses have pretty much become par for the course. The NBCUniversal streaming platform lost $704 million in the prior quarter (and $467 million in Q2 2022). The company expects to post “peak” losses from streaming — to the tune of $3 billion — in 2023. Good thing Comcast is soon to come into about $9 billion in streaming bucks through the sale of its Hulu stake to Disney.

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Porthos