Actors' strike
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Anonymous
It's dangerous for pedestrians and the drivers that are trying to avoid them. I avoid driving by those picket lines when I can. |
Anonymous
We stopped watching network tv years ago and either watch the few cable shows with the few decent American actors or streaming services with the few decent American actors but mostly foreign shows. Same with movies. I can barely watch the basic American shows because the acting, especially, is so bad compared to foreign actors. An “A List” Hollywood actor was on a British show I watch and the humblest actor with three lines outperformed her. We have exported so much business overseas, why not entertainment. |
Anonymous
Why doesn’t she use Obama care? Many people don’t even have the option of union health insurance. |
Anonymous
Lots of educated Ukrainians and Ghanaians would love to teach in the States. My sister lives in Manhattan and her kids are at Stuyvesant. All the good teachers are from overseas |
Anonymous
UPS is next. |
Anonymous
I still don’t understand why actors deserve residuals. I believe Jack Nicholson didn’t get paid for Batman. Instead he asked for residuals and made more that way than a lump sum. RDJ made more from Iron Man. residuals a year after the release than any working actor in HW. The rich actors can take that risk since they already have money. I’m sure if the studio knew what the residuals were going to be they wouldn’t have agreed. Pay everyone up front and leave residuals out of it. I don’t get paid from any of my previous jobs for the contributions I made to the company’s success. |
Anonymous
Residuals are protection for the studios. They cut down the amount they pay up front to actors and they only have to pay extra for shows that are successful. You're looking at the success stories. But for every one of those, there are dozens or hundreds of shows that fail, e.g. make less than the cost of producing. Many of those shows never hit syndication, don't get rerun and don't pay out residuals. For anything that just barely breaks even or less, it saves the production companies a ton of money. They paid the actors less up front and they owe them nothing for an unsuccessful show, e.g. they cut their losses. If they had to pay more up front, all those unsuccessful shows would sink the companies because they'd be recording huge losses for those failed shows. There are also shows so bad in ratings that they get cut before the full run. So a show may have had 10 episodes, but the ratings are bad and only 3-5 are shown before the show gets pulled and they sub another show, another pilot, or a popular rerun in the slot. For those shows, paying lower up front and not paying any residuals for the unaired episodes also saves the production company a lot of money. There are far more unsuccessful shows than successful ones. This is how production companies stay in business when they have a string of flops and only have 1-2 good shows in a season. The successful shows and the top A-listers are the small minority of the population. Over 140K of the 160K SAG-AFTRA membership are within the danger zone of losing health benefits and also not earning any residuals from streaming productions. It's a major source of profit for the streaming production companies to skimp on paying the talent. You can't just the industry based on the RDJs and Cavills of the industry. That's like saying that we should determine what pay and benefits you deserve based on what the top A-listers in the field can afford. |
Anonymous
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Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher from Star Trek TNG) has some good things to say about the issues.
https://www.cbr.com/star-treks-gates-mcfadden-wil-wheaton-reunite-on-the-sag-aftra-picket-lines/ |
Anonymous
In those cases they did backend deals, not a residual deal. The actor gambled by taking a cut to their usual rate, with the expectation that they'd make more by taking a percentage of the profit. Residuals are different. Every time a film or show is viewed, it generates revenue, and that revenue is split between all the artists involved in creating it. I don't make anything off of what I contributed to previous companies, because I sold my intellectual property to them when I signed an agreement for the duration I worked for them. In Hollywood, it's more like a licensing agreement, so everyone continues to get their cut in perpetuity. |
Anonymous
DP. Glad you posted this. People who think "A-listers" in TV and streaming shows are all making bank should read it. He points out that as a teen supporting actor on "Star Trek: TNG" in the 80s he was making more than the leads of some series are making today. And it's because of how the system for compensating actors is now set up, largely due to streaming. Folks, read his explanation and experiences. |
Anonymous
| Anyone have a list of the writers/actors want vs what is being offered? |
Anonymous
| Silly question - I see a lot of celebs on the picket line taking and posting pictures. They are all smiling and having fun in each. While it’s nice that they are supporting the cause and especially those working actors who don’t make as much as they do, shouldn’t they be more serious about it? For the regular working class actor, they are losing money they need due to the strike and also would lose lots more money in the future if the studios don’t compromise on what they want. |
Anonymous
Some say the A-listers shouldn’t be there as it’s multi-millionaires asking for more money. Mariska is there and she’s A-list for tv and worth millions. I think the A-listers should be there as it would get more coverage on the news. It’s clear they want more money but no idea what they want versus what is being offered. |
Anonymous
Sounds like the studios need to be smarter picking projects. |
Anonymous
WGA proposal with AMPTP counter SAG-AFTRA proposal with AMPTP counter |