by Rafael Augustin
July 20, 2023
Introduction:
Issues further discussed include:(Mother Jones) By now you’ve seen the scenes of young and middle-aged Americans wearing cargo shorts and Patagonia Baggies Brimmers in front of movie studios holding ironic picket signs, such as “Chat GPT doesn’t have childhood trauma!” As the battle grinds into its 12th week, with no end in sight—and the actors’ union now part of the strike too—it’s easy to think that a fight between a bunch of “rich Hollywood writers” and the big studios and networks may mean nothing to you, but it’s quite the opposite. This is the labor fight of our generation.
While in the broader labor force, the share of union members has fallen from 34 percent in the 1950s to 10 percent today, Hollywood remains a devout union town. Except for reality TV and some indie films, the majority of all personnel involved in film and TV production are part of organized labor. And tech companies, now dominating the Hollywood landscape, hate that.
Before we dive into why that is, let me explain the life of a Hollywood writer.
Writing for broadcast television versus writing for episodes that are utilized by streaming media.
How residuals are (unfairly) calculated.
AI replacing human creativity.
Conclusion:
Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/media/2023 ... ng-this/On the picket line, I’ve heard people scream at us to go back to work, police officers reprimand us for being too loud, and in one case, a white dude yelling, “Illegals are going to take your jobs!” But these outliers are washed out by the loud honks of support. The honks don’t usually come from the expensive Teslas that drive by. They come from the bus drivers, the electrical trucks, the waste workers, the big rigs—from the other union workers in the City of Angels.