WGA/SAGAFTRA Strike Discussion Thread | SAG Ratifies Contract

[21C]

9 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

Bullshit. You’ve created a straw man and using it to project onto all sorts of people. 
 

edit: if such a thing were true, it would be trivially easy for the AMPTP to break the strike by getting all these rich actors to cross the line and work on their projects regardless. 

What strawman? It is a fact that David Zaslav went to Cannes just a few months ago and hosted a party filled to the brim with pretty much the 1% of the mega-stars in Hollywood to hang out with them. It is a fact that they are willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money in these stars. They clearly respect them much more and see them in a very, very very different light than the typical working actor. 

Whatever they're proposing to SAG-AFTRA isn't to screw the mega-stars over; the mega-stars are already getting a lot more than SAG's own proposals. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by 21C

[Dementeleus]

aight peeps, gonna leave this for y’all and head out for the evening. 
 

 

[MysteryMovieMogul]

Just now, Cmasterclay said:

You're a bootlicker for showing you ass and defending every one of the right wing AMPTP corporate positions, yes. But that's your right. Just like it's my right to call it what it is. 

Since when is saying "all executives need to make less money and there needs to be a salary cap on actors" a right-wing position? Because maybe in my heated nature, I'm doing a bad job of constructing my point. That happens to me from time to time. But my position is:

In order for working actors and writers to get paid what they deserve, studios need to spend less on executive salaries and bonuses, as well as less on A-list talent. I truly don't believe anyone should be making over $20 million a year for anything. In a perfect world, the FTC would break up the big studios, but that ain't gonna happen so...

[Deep Wang]

5 minutes ago, Torontofan said:

I dont think Leo, Cruise, JLAW or RDJ are worth 25 million for any non-franchise film

 

JLaw making 25 million for Katniss makes sense but not a random comedy.

 

Same for RDJ...25 million or 100 million makes sense as Iron Man but not a random comedy. 

 

That’s incorrect. They are worth as much as anyone is willing to pay them. 
 

They didn’t make $25m for the first Hunger Games or Iron Man did they?

[MovieMan89]

I should note that me saying star salaries are absurd sometimes isn’t saying “blame them.” They are often relatively blameless there, Lawrence did not force anyone at the studio to pay her that absurd NHF salary. 

[dudalb]

1 minute ago, WittyUsername said:

The amount of people I’ve seen defend David Zaslav and insisting we give him a chance is especially baffling. Defending Bob Iger is stupid too, but Zaslav doesn’t even have anything to show for himself yet. Sure, the Barbie movie is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit, but it’s not even like he green-lit that. It was already filming when the merger took place.

I gave him a chance and IMHO He is doing a lousy job.

I think a lot of the heat he took early on was unfair because the steps he took were steps any CEO would have taken in taking over a company in deep debt trouble. The fans hated he cancelled some TV shows they loved, but given they were not justifying themsleves in the ratings it was a necessary move. (And I loved the Doom Patrol also). But since then he has made bad decsions after bad decisiion. He has permanently damaged the reputation of CNN, one of Warners flagship products.

[21C]

Just now, Deep Wang said:

That’s incorrect. They are worth as much as anyone is willing to pay them. 
 

They didn’t make $25m for the first Hunger Games or Iron Man did they?

You could make the exact same argument for the CEO's overpays as well lmfao

[ZattMurdock]

1 minute ago, Cmasterclay said:

Exactly. Iger and his ilk are the ones who are hurting work actors by refusing to meet reasonable terms. J-Law is standing in fucking solidarity with them!! This is the exact same union busting language virtually every union busting narrative has ever taken in the history of unions!!!! It's literally textbook!! People are either being intentionally obtuse or genuinely ignorant if they don't know that history.

Well, I mean, we did engage in a useless back and forth about how much it’s needed to replace big stars after all. And yes, what the studios and CEOs want is have people in the same side fighting each other and losing sight of the big picture, like every other CEO facing a strike would. Glad you come to your senses.

[Cmasterclay]

I'm sorry I'm getting so mad but I'll just be real - worker's rights actually matter. Like, they're a real thing. It's fun and games discussing whether Elemental or MI7 is a bomb but really, it's just for shits and gigs. But this stuff? Union busting? That's real ass shit that matters in real ass life. I may not work with Hollywood actors, but I do work with plenty of other unions, and the kind of mindless regurgitating of strawman, solidarity-busting rhetoric is scary shit. 

[dudalb]

1 minute ago, Deep Wang said:

That’s incorrect. They are worth as much as anyone is willing to pay them. 
 

They didn’t make $25m for the first Hunger Games or Iron Man did they?

True. Yes, they overpaid J Law with her latest movie, and overestimated her box office draw, but I blame them, not J Law for taking it.

[MysteryMovieMogul]

Just now, dudalb said:

I think a lot of the heat he took early on was unfair because the steps he took were steps any CEO would have taken in taking over a company in deep debt trouble.

You mean the debt he incurred by buying Discovery? The debt he, himself, could have avoided?

[Cmasterclay]

2 minutes ago, ZattMurdock said:

Well, I mean, we did engage in a useless back and forth about how much it’s needed to replace big stars after all. And yes, what the studios and CEOs want is have people in the same side fighting each other and losing sight of the big picture, like every other CEO facing a strike would. Glad you come to your senses.

I....nevermind. Just...nevermind.

[21C]

Just now, Cmasterclay said:

I'm sorry I'm getting so mad but I'll just be real - worker's rights actually matter. Like, they're a real thing. It's fun and games discussing whether Elemental or MI7 is a bomb but really, it's just for shits and gigs. But this stuff? Union busting? That's real ass shit that matters in real ass life. I may not work with Hollywood actors, but I do work with plenty of other unions, and the kind of mindless regurgitating of strawman, solidarity-busting rhetoric is scary shit. 

I have empathy and solidarity for the working actors, not for the mega-stars that have yachts and mansions of their own as well.  They're also the 1%

Edited July 14, 2023 by 21C

[Jonwo]

5 minutes ago, dudalb said:

I also think that the recent J Law film was planned and written with J Law in mind.

Point is the film cost next to nothing in Hollywood terms..20 to 25  Million (amount spent after J Law's salary) to make. It was a reasonable gamble. Even if it flopped, the studio did not lose very much.

As it stands, the film did 70 Million dollars, which meant it will take a minor loss on the theatrical run, and will probably break even through  streaming and other media.

Not sure it is fair to J Law to see her as Katniss only....she has won a best actress Oscar, and built herself a reputation as a very good serious actress. She is also worth 150 Million, and never has to work antoher day in her life. I don't think anybody has played the 'One for me, One for them" game better the she has.

$45m for a R rated comedy isn't even that expensive, I can think of films of that genre that cost a lot more and made a lot less.

 

 

[TalismanRing]

12 minutes ago, dudalb said:

I also think that the recent J Law film was planned and written with J Law in mind.

Point is the film cost next to nothing in Hollywood terms..20 to 25  Million (amount spent after J Law's salary) to make. It was a reasonable gamble. Even if it flopped, the studio did not lose very much.

As it stands, the film did 70 Million dollars, which meant it will take a minor loss on the theatrical run, and will probably break even through  streaming and other media.

Not sure it is fair to J Law to see her as Katniss only....she has won a best actress Oscar, and built herself a reputation as a very good serious actress. She is also worth 150 Million, and never has to work antoher day in her life. I don't think anybody has played the 'One for me, One for them" game better the she has.

 

 

It's not about seeing her as just Katniss.  I'm pretty sure RDJ isn't making $75-80m in Oppenheimer.  Different genres, roles and budgets = different pay.  A mid budget film with sub $100m B.O. aspirations is not the place for a full on star salary.  Actors have been doing this for ages for Indies and prestige films.  Though Hard Feelings is hardly that and they probably had to pay JL that much to be in it - whether that's fiscally smart is on studios heads - it's not for JLaw to negotiate against herself.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by TalismanRing

[Torontofan]

5 minutes ago, Deep Wang said:

That’s incorrect. They are worth as much as anyone is willing to pay them. 
 

They didn’t make $25m for the first Hunger Games or Iron Man did they?

 

Considering the box office performance of many star lead ventures outside of major franchises lately, I think studios will rethink.

 

Yeah RDJ was making like 50-100 million for the avenger movies due to back ended deals no ? 

 

Hollywood is not a star lead industry as much as Bollywood or other industries. 

 

Can Jlaw get 25 million for a random comedy sure, but does it make any business sense no lol 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Torontofan

[dudalb]

3 minutes ago, Plain Old Tele said:

aight peeps, gonna leave this for y’all and head out for the evening. 
 

 

Please, no not another "Downfall" rickrooll. Anyhing but that.

[Cmasterclay]

Just now, 21C said:

I have empathy and solidarity for the working actors, not for the mega-stars that have yachts and mansions of their own as well. 

But you are arguing a made-up issue that is intentionally designed to divide and break solidarity. It happens with every sports strike, too. It becomes less about how everyone is getting screwed and more about "well Lebron should give his money away instead of the owner!" It's a strawman. J-Law is much more on the side of the working actor than the studio head.

[AniNate]

A lot of the things Zaslav did may have been less fury-inducing if it weren't for the very public Batgirl affair, which looks even worse in the aftermath of The Flash's box office performance and his desperately misguided effort to try to prop that movie up.

[MysteryMovieMogul]

No one is saying she should have refused the money. I'm saying there should be stipulations in studio contracts to limit the salary any actor can make on a film.

 

Again, going back to the pro-athlete discussion. The MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL... they all have Salary caps. In fact, the NBA salary cap is $136.021 million for the 2023-2024 season. Harrison Ford and J Law together made $50 million, if this was the NBA, there would only be $86 million to spend on other players for the rest of the year.