WGA/SAGAFTRA Strike Discussion Thread | SAG Ratifies Contract

[grim22]

Just now, Plain Old Tele said:

 

There’s no chance in hell this stuff gets published without studio fingers in it. The AMPTP does not care one whit about public opinion. Stuff like this is designed to frighten WGA members and cause other guilds to pressure them toward a deal. It’s how they’ve done it in the past. What they don’t realize is they’ve misread the room, and cross-union solidarity is WAY stronger this time around. 

The threat of AI and declining streaming residuals hurt everyone and the refusal of the studios to talk about either is a big deal. It's caused a genuine sticking point the guilds can't move past without resolving.

[dudalb]

5 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

 

There’s no chance in hell this stuff gets published without studio fingers in it. The AMPTP does not care one whit about public opinion. Stuff like this is designed to frighten WGA members and cause other guilds to pressure them toward a deal. It’s how they’ve done it in the past. What they don’t realize is they’ve misread the room, and cross-union solidarity is WAY stronger this time around. 

And that is a big mistake in an era where movies are everybody's second business..........

The problem the AMPTP has with this story is a lot of people are treating thier denial as 'Sure they are saying that now, they are just upset that it got leaked to the public".

I have no love for Deadline, but thinking they are on the same power level as AMPTP Is pretty silly.

[DInky]

10 hours until the SAG deadline?

[Dementeleus]

5 minutes ago, dudalb said:

And that is a big mistake in an era where movies are everybody's second business..........

The problem the AMPTP has with this story is a lot of people are treating thier denial as 'Sure they are saying that now, they are just upset that it got leaked to the public".

I have no love for Deadline, but thinking they are on the same power level as AMPTP Is pretty silly.

 

Yeah, the trades rely on the studios for ad revenue, they aren’t gonna run a piece like that without at least tacit approval. 

[dudalb]

7 minutes ago, grim22 said:

The threat of AI and declining streaming residuals hurt everyone and the refusal of the studios to talk about either is a big deal. It's caused a genuine sticking point the guilds can't move past without resolving.

I think the second is the more immediate concern. 

Thye can't avoid AI as an issue. The US Government is going to look into the problems AI poses, for heaven's sake. Even ususal pro business Republicans are nervous about what Ai could do.The studios cannot dodge the issue.

I think that the studios were taken by surprise by how fast Straming took over. They thought it would be a slow gradual change bu tthe along came Covid and it happened in a couple of years, which id overnight by business standards, and studio managment is not coping well, and they are taking it out by trying to be tough with the talent. Big Mistake. The talent is the product.

They remind me of the idiocy of the Baseball owners before the 1994 striek, which led to a season being basicallly cancelled. It took baseball a decade to recover, and it never really has reclaimed it spot as the most popular American sport from NFL Football, whichmoved into the populairty  vacume.

[ChipDerby]

There's a part of this that has a whole "Trump White House aides are leaking that Trump is furious" vibe to it. Which was always entertaining at least.

[AniNate]

 

Just now, Plain Old Tele said:

 

There’s no chance in hell this stuff gets published without studio fingers in it. The AMPTP does not care one whit about public opinion. Stuff like this is designed to frighten WGA members and cause other guilds to pressure them toward a deal. It’s how they’ve done it in the past. What they don’t realize is they’ve misread the room, and cross-union solidarity is WAY stronger this time around. 

 

 

Maybe they have done it in the past, idk, but I find it literally impossible to believe that anyone with AMPTP would think it a smart idea to put a piece like that out in this environment. Penske Media Corp is out to make money too and this seems like the biggest win for them, especially since no one except me apparently thinks they made the whole thing up. It just didn't pass the smell test from the moment I first read it. 

 

I don't want to harp on it much longer so agree to disagree I guess. If this leads to good things for the WGA I guess that's what matters most, do wish it was a basis I could feel better about getting behind though.

[AniNate]

15 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

 

Yeah, the trades rely on the studios for ad revenue, they aren’t gonna run a piece like that without at least tacit approval. 

 

This does explain it a little better, but idk, feel like Deadline's gone rogue enough before that I can't put it past them. 

[Water Bottle]

33 minutes ago, grim22 said:

The threat of AI and declining streaming residuals hurt everyone and the refusal of the studios to talk about either is a big deal. It's caused a genuine sticking point the guilds can't move past without resolving.

 

It's gonna be a bit funny if the directors have to take notes from AI while writers and actors ban AI. Obviously this means WGA/SAG get anti-ai language in but would be funny. 

 

"This scene is too short according to the AI. It also needs two more trees." 

 

AI gonna be the new focus group. 

[Dementeleus]

17 minutes ago, AniNate said:

 

This does explain it a little better, but idk, feel like Deadline's gone rogue enough before that I can't put it past them. 

Deadline is owned by Penske, which also owns Dick Clark Productions, an AMPTP signatory. They are literally a (small) piece of the AMPTP. 

[grim22]

13 minutes ago, Water Bottle said:

 

It's gonna be a bit funny if the directors have to take notes from AI while writers and actors ban AI. Obviously this means WGA/SAG get anti-ai language in but would be funny. 

 

"This scene is too short according to the AI. It also needs two more trees." 

 

AI gonna be the new focus group. 

 

Isn't that how Netflix gives notes?

 

Quote

Fukunaga acknowledges that he used the information Netflix provided to change at least one episode:

“There was one episode we wrote that was just layer upon layer peeled back, and then reversed again. Which was a lot of fun to write and think of executing, but, like, halfway through the season, we’re just losing a bunch of people on that kind of binging momentum. That’s probably not a good move, you know? So it’s a decision that was made 100 percent based on audience participation.”

Reading a director say that a story decision was made “100 percent based on audience participation” may rightly terrify cinephiles—or any film or TV fan who believes in the sanctity of the creative process.

For his part, Fukunaga describes Netflix’s data as more like a helpful set of notes from a producer than a new robot overlord. ”Because Netflix is a data company, they know exactly how their viewers watch things,” Fukunaga revealed. “So they can look at something you’re writing and say, We know based on our data that if you do this, we will lose this many viewers. So it’s a different kind of note-giving.”

 

[MysteryMovieMogul]

There's no doubt in my mind that the Studios are trying to outlast the writers, hoping they need the money enough to sign a deal that isn't in their best interests.

 

But the article got a wider audience than expected, and now people who were siding with the studios began to falter and side with the writers and, as soon as tonight at midnight, the actors.

 

The article failed. It was a major fuck up and bolstered the strike. I wouldn't be surprised if, because of that article, fundraisers to help the writers end up getting even more donations than they would have with no article whatsoever.

Edited July 12, 2023 by MysteryMovieMogul
typos

[WittyUsername]

It seems difficult to believe that Deadline would be willing to blacklist themselves by making up a story about how ridiculously cruel the AMPTP is. Someone from the inside had to have told them this. 

[ZattMurdock]

3 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

It seems difficult to believe that Deadline would be willing to blacklist themselves by making up a story about how ridiculously cruel the AMPTP is. Someone from the inside had to have told them this. 

But that’s precisely how this works. It’s the game of thrones of Hollywood, trades are their Varys. It can definitely be weaponized. Hell, it’s regukar use is basically PR and the expression ‘negotiations through the press’ wasn’t created yesterday.

[Jonwo]

Penske Media owns Variety as well

[Cappoedameron]

Oh what's that the fine print says that the studios could face legal repercussions for the threats issued against the writers livelihood.

 

What the studios need to do more than anything else is get people to balance a budget. Any nimrod would have told you Indy with it's budget wouldn't be successful at all. Fast X also with it's ridiculous budget was not substantial as well.

Edited July 12, 2023 by Cappoedameron

[Jonwo]

I wonder if any members of SAG would be consider doing theatre if there is a strike or would that be risky if it got resolved fairly quickly?

 

I assume that an actor can still work on a film or TV show if it's not associated with the AMPTP like Paddington in Peru which is a British film but funded by a French film studio. I imagine it's get a bit complicated if it's a co-production. 

 

 

[dudalb]

1 hour ago, ZattMurdock said:

But that’s precisely how this works. It’s the game of thrones of Hollywood, trades are their Varys. It can definitely be weaponized. Hell, it’s regukar use is basically PR and the expression ‘negotiations through the press’ wasn’t created yesterday.

Yes, but this was huge miscalculation on the part of AMPTP. It has backfired.

Problem is the people in charge of big companies are capable of doing really stupid things.

And yes, using the press as a weapon in these disputes goes back a far as union disputes have beenhappening. Both sides try to get the pubic on their side. In this case, AMPTP really, really, miscalculated.

[dudalb]

16 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

I wonder if any members of SAG would be consider doing theatre if there is a strike or would that be risky if it got resolved fairly quickly?

 

I assume that an actor can still work on a film or TV show if it's not associated with the AMPTP like Paddington in Peru which is a British film but funded by a French film studio. I imagine it's get a bit complicated if it's a co-production. 

 

 

Yes, the strike is only against AMPTP members and and other studio that might be named. 

I suspect the if it co production with a AMPTP/Other named studio then the actor cannot do the film under SAG rules.

Doing live theater would be fine if the theater has no connection to the studios the strike is against, but that the strike might be resolved quickly would be a problem. Theaters would probably want a fairly long commitment.

 

[Jonwo]

1 minute ago, dudalb said:

Yes, the strike is only against AMPTP members and and other studio that might be named. 

I suspect the if it co production with a AMPTP/Other named studio then the actor cannot do the film under SAG rules.

Doing live theater would be fine if the theater has no connection to the studios the strike is against, but that the strike might be resolved quickly would be a problem. Theaters would probably want a fairly long commitment.

 

I suspected that was the case, would be difficult to say yes to doing a play for a few months at short notice since by the time it's up and running, the strike would potentially be over and you've missed out or dropped out of a lucrative project.