Rebuilding Rob

ON July 14, SAG AFTRA, more commonly known as the screen actor’s guild, went on strike. This comes on the heels of the screen writers Guild going on strike prior to this. This is the first time in 60 years that both the screen actors Guild and the writer’s guild have been on strike at the same time.

For most of us, all this basically means is that there will be a delay before we get to see more new episodes of our favorite TV shows, and more new movies. in the meantime, we can probably expect some more reruns, more like sporting events, more pro, wrestling, and more “reality TV”.

From what I have gathered on my own Internet, deep dives, both strikes come down to essentially two issues: residuals for reruns and the use of artificial intelligence in the creative process.

This Associated Press article does a good job of explaining residuals to the late person, and why they would be a cause for striking for both writers and actors. Essentially, residuals or long-term payments for a TV or movie project for actors, writers, other key players, in the creation of television shows and movies.

Think of it like this: the 2012 Marvel movie The Avengers airs on at the ABC’s network. The idea behind residuals is since the ABC network would be making money off of airing the avengers in the form of commercials, viewership, etc., cast and crew members would also receive payments each time film airs. Bonus pay, if you will…

Take a show like The Big Bang Theory. It airs relentlessly on TBS. The show makes lots of money for TBS and garners great ratings for the station. Therefore, the main actors on the series receive residual payments every time the show is aired. In this case, the main actors are making millions of dollars off of reruns.

Now, the big bang theory is an exception. The overwhelming majority of actors in Hollywood are not multi millionaires. Many of them, probably even most of them, are regular people living paycheck to paycheck.

As you may have noticed, streaming has become the hot new means of watching TV and movies for millions of people. Most of the major Hollywood studios have their own streaming services now. However, writers and actors receive very little or no residuals from their products being streamed. As traditional television, and even cable TV‘s ratings, continue to fall, more viewers are turning to streaming services to get their entertainment fix. And since the streaming services are paying next to nothing in residuals, actors and writers are getting the proverbial shaft while companies like Netflix grow by leaps and bounds. Many actors have taken to social media to pull back the curtain on their residuals, or lack thereof. This NPR article highlights some of the more extreme cases.

Residuals is perhaps the biggest sticking point for both unions; but I think it is one that will ultimately get worked out for all parties involved. Sadly, I’m afraid that such a compromise means that we will see the cost of streaming services skyrocket in the aftermath.

The other major issue, and this one is a doozy, it’s a use of artificial intelligence in the creative process.

I wrote an earlier post about the use of AI apps and making art, and even writing letters and essays. Now, Hollywood wants to be able to use artificial intelligence to essentially generate screen plays in scripts. Doing this would eliminate the need for writers in a writers room. Furthermore, studios would be able to keep the money that they would’ve otherwise paid to writers.

As for the actors, studios, want to be able to create a digital archive of actors, likeness and voice. In theory, studios would be able to cast a AI generated version of any actor into any project that they ever wanted to make forever – having only pay the address for a single days pay. suppose Warner Bros. decides they want to make another movie with Heath Ledger as the joker. AI could make this a reality. Just as it would do to the writers room, AI would essentially eliminate the need for real actors.

We’ve already seen successful use of this computer generated wizardry in the movies. Carrie Fisher was digitally re-created for the final scene of a Star Wars spinoff of Rogue One. The late Paul Walker’s brothers – and some CGI trickery – was used tie up his character’s story in The F8 of the Furious. Harrison Ford was de-aged forty-something-years for flashbacks scenes in Indiana Jones and the dial of Destiny. It’s already happening.

Movie studios seem to be playing hardball, particularly with the writers Guild. Recent scuttlebutt has it that the studios are not even attempting to negotiate with the writers at this time. The word is is that they’re basically waiting until some of the writers begin losing their homes and getting evicted, maybe even delaying until after the holidays to give them more leverage in the negotiating process.

This is shaping up to be a true war of attrition. As they say, in show business, stay tuned folks…