Good News-Hollywood Writers Strike Is Over
Agreement is reached between writers and studios
The strike that has crippled Hollywood over the last four and a half months has been settled with an agreement between the Writers Guild and the studios, according to CBS News sources. This is great news!
This is subject to a vote by members, but it is universally expected to be approved because the intense labor negotiations leading to an exceptional deal have made both sides very optimistic.
This is fantastic news for all writers, even us humble scribes here on Medium, because of the nature of the issues involved, including the role of AI in the creative process.
The threat of AI down the road is still there, but this is a fantastic first step. AI must be controlled now, while it is still in its infancy.
There is still the issue of resuming the Screen Actors Guild talks with the big studios. When they joined the writers on the picket line, SAG effectively shut down all scripted production in Hollywood.
Without a resolution, all the TV shows for the new season would have been replaced by reruns and reality shows. Does anybody ever really watch these shows anyway? Really?
Now, everybody connected to the industry is extremely optimistic about approval by the rank and file of SAG union members. It’s going to happen.
The first programs likely to resume production are daytime and late-night TV talk shows. Like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Steven Colbert, who are all immensely popular talk show hosts with rabid, loyal audiences.
Scripted shows like Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” “Severance” on Apple+, and ABC’s “Abbot Elementary” will take a little longer, but all the Hollywood heavyweights like Disney Studios and Netflix executives have been in the front row of negotiations with the labor unions.
They are all united behind a speedy resolution to the actor’s strike. Why not? It is in everybody’s best interests, and money will always be thrown around with abandon whenever ongoing future profits are at stake.
America has long had a love affair with the magic of celluloid heroes and big-screen fantasies, going back to the earliest days of Hollywood.
It is because we all need to be uplifted, to be entertained by top-quality writing, and to see all our favorite heartthrobs in action.
It breaks up the monotony of everyday life and introduces us all to novel concepts and daring themes.
It stimulates the imagination and stretches the mind in positive ways like no other medium can do.
Imax, virtual reality, and other technical improvements make watching TV and movies even more of a staple of the lives of the average American.
The last strike was because movie theaters were fearful of losing their pre-eminence in the minds and hearts of Americans.
They were not wrong, as many old-style movie theater chains were forced out of business. The others learned to adapt.
There is still nothing like the big screen experience for many people, but the advent of streaming top-quality movies to the home screen has had a seductive effect on many of us.
Writers will get higher residuals from streaming issues and job security from the threat of AI replacing them. This is a really scary thought, but it seems to have been brought under control.
We will all benefit from this example of the latest impact that unions are having in our everyday lives.
Unions have won significant gains recently with the UPS strike being resolved favorably. Now the writers and actors strike is almost a done deal. Meanwhile, the UAW auto strike is making slow but solid progress.
The only way to take back the power from the mega-millionaires who have become so obscenely rich at the expense of their employees, making 300–400 more than their average employee, is through unions and their workers.
The middle class, the middle-of-the-road majority needs and deserves decent wages and working conditions. The resolution of the Hollywood writer’s strike is another nail in the coffin of these greedy exploiters.
Workers, united, will never be defeated. Get up, stand up. We are all connected…