I figured we could have a thread about these strikes while they’re ongoing…
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Steve Shives has been posting videos on the strikes since they started (I saw we have a whole ass Steve Shives thread, thanks to @LockeCJ!)… His most recent:
And Wil Wheaton was on the picketline today with his space mom…
In 1960, SAG and WGA struck to force management to adapt to the new technology of television. Without that strike and the agreement it birthed, residual use payments would not exist.
My parents stole nearly all of my salary from my entire childhood. My Star Trek residuals were all I had, and they kept me afloat for two decades while I rebuilt my life. I have healthcare and a pension because of my union. The AMPTP billionaires want to take all that security away so they can give CEOs even more grotesque wealth at the expense of the people who make our industry run.
To give some sense of what is at stake: There are actors who star in massively successful, profitable, critically acclaimed shows that are all on streaming services. You see them all the time. They are famous, A-list celebrities. Nearly all of those actors don’t earn enough to qualify for health insurance, because the studios forced them to accept a buyout for all their residuals (decade of reuse, at the least) that is less than I earned for one week on TNG. And I was the lowest paid cast member in 1988. They want to do this while studio profits and CEO compensation are at historic highs.
I mean, if not now, when? And I haven’t even touched on AI and working conditions.
We must fight for the future of our industry in the face of changing technology, the same way our elders did in 1960. So today, my Spacemom and I went to the place where it started for us, way back when, to do just that.
I see all your support. It means so much. Thank you.
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Thanks for creating this thread @mindysan33. I was considering doing something similar based on Steve’s new video. Also a good source for strike related content, especially the WGA aspects of it is Adam Conover:
I know there are a lot up there, but they’re all shorts, so they’re a quick watch.
Some of those are from his podcast Factually, which is also available on his channel.
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Second Thought is a great resource that I’ve referenced previously for Socialism and Workers’ rights. This video is over 6 months old, but extremely relevant to the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes going on right now:
Nebula Link:
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Captain Midnight has a pretty good overview of the traditional production pipeline that is one of the key issues that the WGA is fighting for in this video, even if it’s not wholly about the Strikes:
Nebula Link:
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Finally (for now), here is a Short video from The Verge:
I don’t think there’s necessarily anything factually incorrect here, but the overall tone and the conclusion are incredibly biased towards the studios in my opinion:
- Netflix is going to have $1.5 billion just lying around that they would otherwise be spending on that sweet sweet content you love because of the Strikes.
- As helpfully pointed out in the Steve Shives video upthread, it would cost less than half that much to settle both the strikes completely. It bears repeating: This isn’t about money for either side.
- “…unless writers and actors come to an agreement with big media companies like Netflix, we probably won’t be seeing that much new content any time soon…”
- This implies that the burden is on the writers and actors to suck it up and get back to work, instead of the reality that it is the Studios (via the AMPTP) that are unwilling to negotiate and caused the strikes in the first place.
This is a great example of an attempt to appear neutral that instead favors the status quo/Capitalism.
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A list of places you can donate to for the strike…
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People have been making movies and shows for a century now. I haven’t seen them all yet. And there’s no way I’m going to before this strike ends. It’s all new content to me. I’m still enjoying 80s movies and 70s-80s sitcoms. Ya’ll want my sympathy, come back in 40 years or so, if you think you can handle the strike that long. Maybe then I’ll need new content.
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I agree – and it’s nice to see 5-15 years’ worth of audience reviews to increase the probability of finding stuff that is actually good.
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Right now 87% of SAG members make less than $26,000 a year.
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And I bet all if not most of that 87 percent are gig workers.
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I guess that’s generally true of much of film/tv acting, though in the modern era. People go from contract to contract, rather than being employed by the studios as was the case during the golden age of hollywood. What’s changed is how people are paid under the streaming system. A major part of the problem seems to be that what is made and ratings are generally speaking a black box that the creatives have no access to and hence have a hard time getting a better deal with regards to residuals.
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From the picket lines:
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Yes. Also, while we might be thinking of a few big superstars, the vast majority of actors are best known for their line “Would you like fries with that?”
Also, scrolling back and reading my previous comment on this thread I think I kind of look like a total ass now. I apologize, what I said was wrong.
When I said “Ya’ll want my sympathy, come back in 40 years or so, if you think you can handle the strike that long.” that was not aimed at the hard-working actors. It was aimed at the studio execs. But yes, I worded it very poorly and probably gave the exact opposite of the impression that I meant to convey, and I apologize for that. I fucked it up.
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No worries. That wasn’t aimed at you, it was just a general contribution to the conversation about what is happening in this strike… or rather why it’s happening.
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One of the demands that actors and screenwriters are making in trying to renegotiate their contracts with Hollywood studios is greater residual payments, and several people in the entertainment industry have come forward to share what those residual checks look like.
Mandy Moore, who starred as matriarch Rebecca Pearson in NBC’s This Is Us , said she received streaming residual checks for a penny once and 81 cents another time.
Kamil McFadden, who starred on three seasons of Disney’s K.C. Undercover , tweeted a screen recording of his residuals, several of which had negative dollar amounts. He said his net income from the list was $2.77.
Jana Schmieding, who played Bev on FX’s Reservation Dogs , said she gets a 3-cent residual every quarter for the show being streamed on Hulu.
“Listen, I’m an actor. I don’t want a yacht. But I’d love to be able to save for retirement,” she tweeted.
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It seems like he’s doing a pretty good job of living up to the premise of the show that he’s scab promoting.
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