Totally naive question: could an extended strike result in a shift upwards in global marketshares for non-U.S. films, and could some of that shift be permanent?
Two comments. 1) At some point I think Sonny said the "writers haven't met with the studios..." As I understand it, it's the STUDIOS that have refused to meet with the writers. Which is a very different thing. 2) While I agree with Alyssa that AI won't replace the "big" stars in the "big" speaking roles, IMHO the real threat is to all the smaller actors, background players, and extras. If you can hire me and pay me for 1 day, but then own my likeness forever, chances are you'll start seeing versions of me in the background of all sorts of stuff where in the past I would have been working and received pay for. If you have my likeness, I can show up in the audience in a variety of projects and never see a penny.
On a positive note, I just found out since House of the Dragon uses mostly British actors, they aren't SAG members so at least we are likely to have that show next year regardless of how long the strike(s) goes. Hopefully the actors and writers get a fair cut but it's nice with the new access to world entertainment, we can still look forward to shows like HOTD or Squid Game.
Having streaming options and so many different avenues for amazing shows has been a great development for consumers. However, the biggest downside is some of the best, deepest shows that don't get renewed as often as they used to. Back in the day, HBO could use it's high revenue shows to finance amazing expensive lesser watched shows (Carnivale for example) and lose money on shows like that to boost their Emmy count and overall appeal.
Now, unfortunately profitability seems to have to move to the forefront so a lot of the shows that get extra seasons are the cult shows/universes like Walking Dead or popular sitcoms. The best dramas that don't have huge audiences aren't getting renewed the way they once did. I worry that post-strike there will be less patience with shows that want to build up storylines. Incredible shows like The Leftovers, True Detective, The Night Of, etc. might not have gotten a go-ahead or the extra season they wanted if they were created today.
I've watched my residuals collapse in the last 5 years - they were robust the first 12 years of my career - those payments are how writers plan/ survive/ raise a family/ pay a mortgage/ have a career. That is the foundation on which we can go get other jobs. Netflix acts like it's paying more upfront in lieu of residuals - but the time to develop with them draaaaaags so long/ has no end date - you end up making way less. It's just not sustainable. The companies should def be getting a cut of everything fed into AI - and thus the creators getting a piece of that cut. That's one revenue stream to be fought for. But really -- I don't see how this business model works long term. Sad if America surrenders its pop culture/ soft power dominance.
Agreed that it’s a battle about who gets to decide who makes money -- but my sympathies are with the working actors, writers, techs & craftspeople. The VC investors and their employees will be fine, more or less. No-one’s sending them negative-dollar residuals for shows they helped make hits.
Totally naive question: could an extended strike result in a shift upwards in global marketshares for non-U.S. films, and could some of that shift be permanent?
Two comments. 1) At some point I think Sonny said the "writers haven't met with the studios..." As I understand it, it's the STUDIOS that have refused to meet with the writers. Which is a very different thing. 2) While I agree with Alyssa that AI won't replace the "big" stars in the "big" speaking roles, IMHO the real threat is to all the smaller actors, background players, and extras. If you can hire me and pay me for 1 day, but then own my likeness forever, chances are you'll start seeing versions of me in the background of all sorts of stuff where in the past I would have been working and received pay for. If you have my likeness, I can show up in the audience in a variety of projects and never see a penny.
On a positive note, I just found out since House of the Dragon uses mostly British actors, they aren't SAG members so at least we are likely to have that show next year regardless of how long the strike(s) goes. Hopefully the actors and writers get a fair cut but it's nice with the new access to world entertainment, we can still look forward to shows like HOTD or Squid Game.
Having streaming options and so many different avenues for amazing shows has been a great development for consumers. However, the biggest downside is some of the best, deepest shows that don't get renewed as often as they used to. Back in the day, HBO could use it's high revenue shows to finance amazing expensive lesser watched shows (Carnivale for example) and lose money on shows like that to boost their Emmy count and overall appeal.
Now, unfortunately profitability seems to have to move to the forefront so a lot of the shows that get extra seasons are the cult shows/universes like Walking Dead or popular sitcoms. The best dramas that don't have huge audiences aren't getting renewed the way they once did. I worry that post-strike there will be less patience with shows that want to build up storylines. Incredible shows like The Leftovers, True Detective, The Night Of, etc. might not have gotten a go-ahead or the extra season they wanted if they were created today.
I've watched my residuals collapse in the last 5 years - they were robust the first 12 years of my career - those payments are how writers plan/ survive/ raise a family/ pay a mortgage/ have a career. That is the foundation on which we can go get other jobs. Netflix acts like it's paying more upfront in lieu of residuals - but the time to develop with them draaaaaags so long/ has no end date - you end up making way less. It's just not sustainable. The companies should def be getting a cut of everything fed into AI - and thus the creators getting a piece of that cut. That's one revenue stream to be fought for. But really -- I don't see how this business model works long term. Sad if America surrenders its pop culture/ soft power dominance.
Agreed that it’s a battle about who gets to decide who makes money -- but my sympathies are with the working actors, writers, techs & craftspeople. The VC investors and their employees will be fine, more or less. No-one’s sending them negative-dollar residuals for shows they helped make hits.