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Post by jdv on May 2, 2023 11:41:44 GMT -5
Hollywood screenwriters Guild has gone on strike, immediately causing the shutdown of all late night talk shows. SNL will also likely halt production.
While none of that will matter to 99% of Americans (more on that in a sec), the strike is ironic as the main cause for the walk out is an over-all reduction in wages due to inflation.
It's ironic b/c the writers who just voted to strike are universally liberal, and the near-total lack of scrutiny for the party currently responsible for the high inflation. Higher costs mean less advertisers, who are - get this - trying to stay in business themselves.
That same bias has presumably caused the ratings crash for all late night programs. Johnny Carson once got 10 million viewers a night with a much lower population base. Now, all late night host's ratings combined from CBS/ABC/NBC do not equal 5 million.
Given the record low ratings for these shows - plus the retirement of James Cordon and others - and the slide in ads will likely continue. But it's already been a blood bath - over the past 5 years ad buys have dropped some 41%, from $698 million in advertising in 2018 to $412.7 million in 2022.
It turns out that alienating 1/2 the country while simultaneously blindly supporting people who do not deserve support is bad business.
Who knew?
Lastly, the other big concern is AI writers. It's probably not a great admission to essentially tell your employer that you're worried that your job can be done just as well by an on-line writing program.
Given the loop-sided and ratings killing awfulness of the writing in the past 5 years, the computer could hardly do worse.
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Post by Warpig on May 2, 2023 12:00:28 GMT -5
 OBSOLETE |
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Post by Warpig on May 2, 2023 12:52:48 GMT -5
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Post by jdv on May 2, 2023 13:58:20 GMT -5
"Instead, the proposal would allow a writer to use ChatGPT to help write a script without having to share writing credit or divide residuals.
Or, a studio executive could hand the writer an AI-generated script to rewrite or polish and the writer would still be considered the first writer on the project."
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There's no fighting AI at this point - it's already one of the dirty secrets that writers have been using AI for a while now.
And while AI isn't quite to the point where someone can say, "3 characters, 1 villain, 60 minutes long" and have a usable script, that day is rapidly approaching.
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Post by Warpig on May 2, 2023 14:41:37 GMT -5
The most hated question I have ever asked myself, from years ago:
"How long have we been suckers?"
or maybe better:
"How long have we been asleep?"
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Post by jdv on May 2, 2023 16:06:45 GMT -5
The sleeper must awaken.
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Post by jdv on May 2, 2023 17:46:45 GMT -5
The big 3 nightly news casts mentioned the strike, with only ABC mentioning that inflation has cost the writers 23% of their income.
Welcome to the club fellas.Sadly, many professions - like teachers, rail workers, dock workers, and other essentials - are not allowed to strike.
Maybe now the writers for the Guild will start to address the reckless economic policies which have put them on the streets, and less burning issues like global warming.
Perhaps when this is all sorted out they will aim their pens - now completely silent on such themes - in a different direction.
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Post by Warpig on Aug 21, 2023 8:42:23 GMT -5
Hey, how's that strike going?
Them executives ready to budge?
No? Nah, it's cool though scro', just learn to code and shit, right?
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Post by jdv on Aug 21, 2023 13:12:16 GMT -5
The studios will never make the actual number of views public or available to the various guilds. They don't dare. Not only would it immediately halt future investment into the companies when it's realized just how much money has been lost on streaming, it would also show that, no, The Mighty Ducks 2 is not the #6 movie in America today (or whatever other laughably untrue claims they make on their front pages about the dreck that makes up 90% of their content). It would also expose which movies & shows the streaming services over-paid for, like anything made by the Obamas, Clintons, or Royal family cast offs - shows that no one watched yet were handed millions upon millions for. No one wants to outed for giving golden parachutes to insufferable people.
That too is verboten.
And even more than all that there is the simple truth that 95-99% of what's written is either absolute trash, or the most basic of re-treads of older works....Which is exactly how chat GTP works - it uses other works and plot lines and builds the story with input from the human "author".
Put another way, why should producers pay residues for a product that is, essentially, indistinguishable from from what a free AI program can produce? It's just as un-original and just as vulgar. Indeed, it might be more original.
As for the actors, they'll soon see that the writers can not win this fight. Oh, the writers will likely get a bone of some sort, like higher upfront fees for scripts, but they will likely never get residues based on number of views. At least not with the current CEOs in charge.
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Post by Warpig on Aug 21, 2023 13:32:33 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm expecting a bloodbath for actors. They'll be lucky to get minimum wage. Take this girl for example:  She's an up-and-comer, she's been in a couple of TV shows, but nothing solid yet. What kind of contract can SHE expect in the next couple of years? Actually none. See this girl does not exist, I created her seconds ago by clicking a button. I am a few pieces of software away from animating her and adding an electronic voice indistinguishable from a real human voice. AI, and AGI WILL destroy us. It's not if, it's when. |
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Post by Warpig on Aug 22, 2023 14:39:13 GMT -5
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Post by Warpig on Aug 22, 2023 14:40:37 GMT -5
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Post by jdv on Aug 22, 2023 15:08:40 GMT -5
Well, you can see why they're scared....
Hell, we all outta be.
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Post by Warpig on Aug 22, 2023 15:19:09 GMT -5
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Post by jdv on Aug 23, 2023 12:14:52 GMT -5
Hey, how's that strike going? Them executives ready to budge? No? Nah, it's cool though scro', just learn to code and shit, right?
Oh no, the studios are not budging... but the writers might want to start learning to code:
"Drama: Striking Hollywood Writers Blast Studios for Publicizing Offer as Negotiations Deteriorate
Any hope that the Hollywood writers strike might resolve itself in the near future appeared to fizzle late Tuesday in a volley of bitter recrimination, with the Writers Guild of America accusing the major studios of an underhanded effort “not to bargain, but to jam us.”
The WGA perceived the move as a stab in the back, telling members that it amounted to a “lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was.”
The deterioration in negotiations comes as Hollywood writers approach their fifth month of striking — the longest writers strike in decades.
Writers are complaining that they are burning through their personal savings, claiming that studios are toying with them with the intent of driving them into poverty in order to gain the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Hollywood actors are nearing the second month of their concurrent strike. ------------------------------------
As I predicted above, the studios might be willing to pay a bit more upfront to writers, but will never budge on residuals for streaming.
As far as the studios are concerned, the writers might as well be asking for unicorn powered racing chariots.
Also as predicted, the studios will never commit to not using AI for either writing or generating actors - again, it's the equivalent of baring the barn door after the cows have escaped.
The real question now is whether or not studios will begin using non-union talent, with the smart money saying sooner than later. Until then, get ready for an ass-load of reality shows and sports.
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Post by jdv on Sept 14, 2023 17:29:52 GMT -5
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Post by Warpig on Sept 14, 2023 21:06:19 GMT -5
And they'll be lucky to eat get even that.
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