Strike two

[Emelee]

The writers are already on strike, and now the actors have voted for a strike of their own. Hollywood is shutting down for a while.

What do you think this will mean for TV and movies? (Aside from the fact that only fi-core writers and daytime soap actors will continue working)?

Will all TV series survive the two strikes?

Do you think the strikes will end before September/October, or do you think it will go on much longer?

Considering the writers haven't worked since May, new episodes for the new season haven't been written. And if the WGA strike ends, they still need the SAG-AFTRA strike to end too, or else no actors will be there to tape the scripted shows.

If the unions win and new deals are signed, what will happen to the movie & television companies's budgets? Will they be able to afford as many productions in the future?

And what will happen with all streaming services when they run out of new productions to attract subscribers?

Have we the consumers been too spoiled in recent 20 years? Do we have to come crashing down and adjust to less content and higher prices?

 

[Toni]

Poor, poor actors...especially those who appear in the Marvel Universe movies. They get paid so little and have to go out and film well-paid, expensive perfume commercials...

"They made me do that, I just couldn´t do with
so few millions for such a big movie..."​

 

[Emelee]

Poor, poor actors...especially those who appear in the Marvel Universe movies. They get paid so little and have to go out and film well-paid, expensive perfume commercials...

View attachment 46248

View attachment 46249
"They made me do that, I just couldn´t do with
so few millions for such a big movie..."​

It's not for them they're on strike though. Most actors aren't paid millions. There are 160.000 actors on strike. Some companies pay them once for their work but keep on using the material again and again and again on streaming platforms. Like musicians get paid for all streams of their songs, the actors want a similar deal. That's not unreasonable, in my opinion. The A-list actors might not need the money, but far from all actors have that kind of income.

They also fear AI since it can be used without their promission. AI will soon be able to "scan" actors and make a copy. AI will soon also be able to be fed with many scenes of a number of different actors' released work and create a perfect blend of them. AI actors based on real actors. Companies can basically use actors voices and faces to create their own AI actors.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Poor, poor actors...especially those who appear in the Marvel Universe movies. They get paid so little and have to go out and film well-paid, expensive perfume commercials...

View attachment 46248

View attachment 46249
"They made me do that, I just couldn´t do with
so few millions for such a big movie..."​

Yes, most actors are middle class, even lower middle class, and may never make much money. Their residuals are often their meager retirement -- even actors who faces you might know.

The highly-paid "stars" are a tiny sliver of the acting population.

43 years ago, during the infamous actors' strike in that long, hot summer of 1980 (which delayed the "Who Shot JR?" wrap-up, and gave the Shapiros the chance to fire George Peppard and start over) was about the fact that actors had no clauses in their contracts for residuals for cable play and home video sales/rentals, both of which industries were in their infancies at the time. And TPTB at the studios and their publicists tried to spin it in the press that these were a bunch of spoiled millionaires who just wanted even more millions.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

What do you think this will mean for TV and movies? (Aside from the fact that only fi-core writers and daytime soap actors will continue working)?

Are all daytime actors non-union or what makes them exempt from striking?

Will all TV series survive the two strikes?

Established shows will survive but I think bubble shows that were brought back for a second season will struggle with the elongated gap between new episodes. Also, I wonder if it drags on, will new series that have yet to start filming fall apart as contracts run out? (much like when they were hoping to find a new home for Cruel Intentions after NBC knocked back the Sarah Michelle Gellar pilot a few years ago).

On the subject of NBC, I see that they won’t be able to air any of the Dick Wolf shows they’d scheduled for the Fall. Also, the Night Court revival has been taken off the schedule which means new sitcom Extended Family (which completed filming pre strike) may not air in the Fall as they’ve no new half hour episodes to pair it with.

 

[Emelee]

Are all daytime actors non-union or what makes them exempt from striking?

Established shows will survive but I think bubble shows that were brought back for a second season will struggle with the elongated gap between new episodes. Also, I wonder if it drags on, will new series that have yet to start filming fall apart as contracts run out? (much like when they were hoping to find a new home for Cruel Intentions after NBC knocked back the Sarah Michelle Gellar pilot a few years ago).

On the subject of NBC, I see that they won’t be able to air any of the Dick Wolf shows they’d scheduled for the Fall. Also, the Night Court revival has been taken off the schedule which means new sitcom Extended Family (which completed filming pre strike) may not air in the Fall as they’ve no new half hour episodes to pair it with.

Daytime actors are part of SAG-AFTRA but under a different deal. Their contract isn't up until 2024.

Much of the network fall plans will have to be redone. I hear there will be many reality shows, sport events, news and competition shows in store to replace most scripted series. Daytime soaps may soon be the only American scripted series still having unaired episodes.

Good thing the US isn't the only country making great series.

 

[Monzo]

The new seasons for cable and streaming shows will certainly remain unchanged from episode order when they are eventually filmed, but there will be a shorter 2023/2024 season for the primetime shows. How is the main cast of the network shows paid?

I remember the case of Ana-Alicia, who got paid for the entirety of season 8 despite not appearing in every episode. Is there such a thing today, such contracts? And what does that mean for the strike? Are network stars paid per episode or per season no matter how long the season is? If a 22-episode season was planned and, for example, only 13 episodes are going to be produced because of the strike, how many episodes will the network stars be paid for?

 

[Seaviewer]

They also fear AI since it can be used without their promission. AI will soon be able to "scan" actors and make a copy. AI will soon also be able to be fed with many scenes of a number of different actors' released work and create a perfect blend of them. AI actors based on real actors. Companies can basically use actors voices and faces to create their own AI actors.

That could be a goldmine for some actors if they receive proper compensation. They could retire and let their avatar do all the work.

 

[Emelee]

That could be a goldmine for some actors if they receive proper compensation. They could retire and let their avatar do all the work.

Who would want to sign over the right to your own face, body and voice to whoever works with AI? Lord knows what they can have "you" do. I'd never agree to that.

 

[Toni]

Who would want to sign over the right to your own face, body and voice to whoever works with AI? Lord knows what they can have "you" do. I'd never agree to that.

Miss Piggy is actually weighing in on that... ("What are the figures?", she just told me)

 

[Seaviewer]

Who would want to sign over the right to your own face, body and voice to whoever works with AI? Lord knows what they can have "you" do. I'd never agree to that.

Well, I guess you could write right of approval into the contracts.

 

[Emelee]

Well, I guess you could write right of approval into the contracts.

Absolutely. And then set minimal wages for each time they use the material.

Although, what happens when "Actor A" have signed ok for AI but "Actor B" who are in the same scenes have not?

 

[Seaviewer]

Although, what happens when "Actor A" have signed ok for AI but "Actor B" who are in the same scenes have not?

If they don't have a contract with Actor B they wouldn't be able to use their image. We're talking here about new movies or shows made with the likenesses of certain actors, not reproductions of whole scenes.

 

[Emelee]

If they don't have a contract with Actor B they wouldn't be able to use their image. We're talking here about new movies or shows made with the likenesses of certain actors, not reproductions of whole scenes.

It's also why new AI related laws need to be written and new contracts in place. Many things need to be perfectly clear before going forward.

I hear an AI company gave many episodes of Southpark to the AI, and AI in turn wrote and created a whole new episode of Southpark. It's said that the result was very good, like an actual episode. This AI episode was distributed to only certain people, as a heads up on what AI can produce. It will never be made public.