https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/orange-is-the-new-black-signalled-the-rot-inside-the-streaming-economyđ¸
― Gerard Grisey Funk (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 16 July 2023 15:41 (one year ago) link
H/t sleeve
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/actors-strike-sag-artificial-intelligence-hollywood-studios-background-1234788191/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:23 (one year ago) link
I meant to C&P this good Janis Ian post along with that link, here it is:
* you may share anything I post here.A few people on this page have objected to the SAG-AFTRA strike on the grounds that "you get to do what you love" "you're overpaid already" "I can't afford to take my kids to movies because of you" and my favorite, "I can't afford tickets to sports events any more."???So let me explain just a couple of things.- Statistically, 2% of actors make a living wage. Even fewer singers make that much.- SAG-AFTRA doesn't only represent actors. It represents singers, dancers, DJs, puppeteers, stunt performers, and dozens of other professions. - You may work in an industry that will contribute to your pension fund, provide matching funds, provide health benefits. We get none of that. The only benefits artists get are through our unions, and we pay for those. - Years ago, the union caved to Amazon and its subsidiaries by making deals that ruined audiobook narration and a host of other things. As a personal instance, I narrated The Singer and the Song, which was nominated for an Audie (the audiobook equivalent of a Grammy nomination). It involved singing parts of more than 20 songs, creating new arrangements for them all that would suit solo vocal and guitar, researching names of places and pronunciations, and a host of other things. I spent two full weeks of my life on the project and was paid for 7 hour's work, because that's how long the audiobook plays. At that time, the rate was about $230 an hour, so for my two week's work I was paid $134 a day, or about $14 an hour for a basic nine hour day.- Most performer's "days" are more like 12 hours.- Most performers earn in the region of $8-$10 an hour if they're lucky. - The studios are not "negotiating". Read the below article from Rolling Stone to see what they want from us. If you happened to be lucky enough to be a "background actor" on a show that needs warm bodies in a restaurant, or walking around the street, you'd be paid $200 for up to 16 hour's work, and have to agree to have your body scanned, after which the studio would OWN that scan and the right to use it FOREVER. - As a last aside, please don't come on my page and tell me artists get to do what we love so we shouldn't be paid for it, because we don't really work as hard as non-artists. Until I stopped touring, 12-hour work days were routine, and I was lucky if that's all it took. Thank you for your support, of art, and of artists.
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:25 (one year ago) link
Damn, good post. And YIKES.
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:30 (one year ago) link
also relevant along w/the Black Mirror episode everyone is referencing that I have not seen
https://bojackhorseman.fandom.com/wiki/Secretariat_(film)
After an incident with her and her daughter Penny, BoJack returned to L.A. to find the film has been finished without him. They did this by using a CGI version of BoJack, which was created from a computer scan they did of his face during the first few weeks of shooting in Brand New Couch. In fact, they actually replaced the real BoJack with the CGI version for the entire movie, meaning that BoJack technically isn't in the film at all.
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:31 (one year ago) link
https://deadline.com/2023/07/oliver-stone-oppenheimer-sag-aftra-wga-strike-roots-1235438219/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:52 (one year ago) link
truth bomb from above link:
âI donât think it will be wrapped up quickly. Because well, I donât understand the economics of Netflix and these new guys, but itâs the same old bullsh*t. You know theyâre making money and they always say theyâre losing money. Itâs the classic conflict that goes back to the 1880s in America.â
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 17 July 2023 00:57 (one year ago) link
So Netflix also hides viewership figures from cast and crew, too? Creeps.
Not just Netflix. Tony Gilroy, showrunner of Andor on Disney+: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/tony-gilroy-andor-emmy-nomination-wga-strike-1234883534/
Critics have raved about it, but it doesnât necessarily have the highest viewership for Star Wars. What would you tell people who have maybe hesitated to watch it?
Iâm gonna go back to the strike then. One of the central issues of this entire labor experience is that I donât have any idea what the audience is. We donât know what that is, and I think that the obscurity of data doesnât help anyone. Really. I think it looks like low-hanging fruit and easy profitability for certain corporations, but in the end it just crushes any kind of free market. It crushes the economics of the business, it means people are being overpaid and underpaid and never properly paid. It means that productions are overloaded with expenses up top because what used to be commonly residuals and royalties now have to be front loaded. I think itâs distorted and warped and is close to ruining this amazing industry. So I wish I knew how many people watched, I wish I knew who they were, and Iâm not sure that thatâs possible.
― Roz, Monday, 17 July 2023 02:30 (one year ago) link
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/hollywoods-cruel-strategy/674730/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 18 July 2023 18:33 (one year ago) link
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/os-angeles-shooting-days-plummet-writers-strike-1235539756/amp/
Lotta shooting not happening
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 19 July 2023 20:20 (one year ago) link
Everything has been said on the thread already, Iâm really hoping both writers and performers get what they deserve.
If you arenât working in the industry and want to support, please consider using less Netflix/Disney + type streaming for the coming weeks or months, there are great alternatives for top content that arenât benifiting these ghouls!
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 19 July 2023 21:05 (one year ago) link
Great piece on Starbucks and their ownerâs stonewalling and general evil vibe.
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Friday, 21 July 2023 11:21 (one year ago) link
Yeah thatâs a fantastic piece and close to home for me. A Starbucks near my workplace is also unionized so Iâve patronized them feeling a bit self-righteous for doing so (worker solidarity!) but knowing that no unionized Starbucks has a contract makes me feel like shit now. Iâve wanted to talk to the baristas about their union experience but havenât thinking theyâd be wary of talking to a customer about their experiences.
― Gerard Grisey Funk (Boring, Maryland), Friday, 21 July 2023 15:20 (one year ago) link
Starbucks canât be blamed for Ms. Cruz Borrazasâ health crisis. Plenty of Starbucks workers are organizing under tremendous pressure without winding up in the hospital.
The fuck Starbucks can't. The woman who wasn't eating enough and spiraling in anxiety and depression because of Starbucks' actions wound up in the hospital.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 21 July 2023 19:04 (one year ago) link
I assume that was some kind of CYA from the Times legal department but fuck that shit.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 21 July 2023 19:05 (one year ago) link
Pretty great:
https://teamster.org/2023/07/weve-changed-the-game-teamsters-win-historic-ups-contract/
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:15 (one year ago) link
DANG.
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:38 (one year ago) link
Quite a coup for O'Brien, who hasn't been president all that long
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:45 (one year ago) link
Sets him up well for his big quest: unionizing Amazon.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 18:13 (one year ago) link
The contrast between 1997 and 2023 in terms of pre-strike mobilization and preparation couldnât have been more stark. Many major locals â Chicago local 705 in particular â were kept in the dark, and had no idea if thereâd even be a strike until it was called. And while it wasnât a Hoffa, Jr. -affiliated local, it was still very top-down, with the rank and file asking questions and not getting answers. A nearby Hoffa local, 710 in Rockford, actually scabbed on the â97 strike (and one of my favorite memories of that summer is when my friends and I chased scab-driven UPS trucks around the quiet and tony North Shore suburbs, honking, shouting at them, and hilariously scaring the shit out of them).OâBrien is the first non-Hoffa president since Carey was ousted by the government in 1998 (on what turned out to be completely false charges), and obviously isnât interested in getting cozy with UPS like Hoffa Jr was. That said, Iâm cautiously optimistic about the new contract, and am curious what Teamsters for a Democratic Unionâs position on it is.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 19:14 (one year ago) link
Per your first paragraph there's some particular detail about the past vs. now in this solid piece
https://prospect.org/labor/2023-07-25-teamsters-historic-contract-ups/
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 July 2023 20:14 (one year ago) link
Damn. Glad to hear that about UPS.
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 20:55 (one year ago) link
Thanks for that, Ned. Great background on their strategies.
OâBrien didnât face similar opposition today from hostile local officers. âWeâve taken different factions and coalitions, come together, under one vision, one voice,â he said when asked about the role TDU has played in the contract campaign. âI think itâs been effective, and it should be a template for the power of collaboration to effectuate change.â
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 25 July 2023 21:10 (one year ago) link
UPS came dangerously close to putting itself on strikevg wording
― serving bundt (sic), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 08:09 (one year ago) link
Rather!
Good new piece here on the SAG/WGA front
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/the-system-is-quicksand-sag-and-wga-union-members-tell-all
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 15:46 (one year ago) link
Also, Wil Wheaton's IG post here is pretty sharp.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvFzWyCPiN8/?hl=en
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 July 2023 16:18 (one year ago) link
Great post and he and spacemom are cuet.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 26 July 2023 16:41 (one year ago) link
Good piece on the UPS tentative agreement here:https://www.tempestmag.org/2023/07/what-happened-to-the-big-ups-strike/
What would a historic victory have looked like? Well, among other demands, it would be ending two-tier wage structures between part-timers and full-timers, and installing air conditioning for all delivery vehicles now. The current TA, despite threats from OâBrien and Zuckerman to âpulverizeâ UPS, has the feel of being underwhelming. But, underwhelming in an era of growing threats to the livelihood and health of UPS Teamsters are actually major concessions.Given the historic moment of low unemployment, record profits, and public sympathy for UPS workers, it feels like a moment has been missed for real historic victories.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 31 July 2023 20:14 (one year ago) link
And Iâm seeing on social media some locals organizing for a ânoâ vote.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 31 July 2023 20:22 (one year ago) link
https://deadline.com/2023/08/writers-strike-meeting-union-studios-no-new-talks-1235455349/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 August 2023 16:05 (one year ago) link
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/steven-soderbergh-interview-command-z-christopher-nolan-hollywood-strike-streaming-1234799431/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 7 August 2023 16:52 (one year ago) link
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna98755
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 11:17 (one year ago) link
From nbc dot com
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 12:13 (one year ago) link
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-08-10/wga-to-meet-with-amptp-friday-as-writers-strike-stretches-on
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 11 August 2023 14:39 (one year ago) link
Skip ahead to about the 20 minute point
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tvs-top-5-podcast-chris-keyser-writers-strike-100-days-1235561162/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 14 August 2023 19:19 (one year ago) link
UPS contract approved:
https://teamster.org/2023/08/teamsters-ratify-historic-ups-contract/
Meantime word out of Duke that their grad workers have organized, pretty cool:
Live from our watch party, we are thrilled to join a historic wave of organizing #UnionsForAll in higher ed, and so excited for Duke grad workers. Today, weâve formed the first recognized grad student union at a private university in the South, and 1 of the largest unions in NC! pic.twitter.com/ADWxqq9iPr— Duke Grad Union (@dukegradunion) August 22, 2023
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 August 2023 20:42 (one year ago) link
Bandcamp United begins contract negotiations tomorrow!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwTSiOsyPmx/
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 August 2023 23:11 (one year ago) link
đđ˝
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 23 August 2023 23:13 (one year ago) link
âPeople close to the studios who were not authorized to speak publicly also acknowledged the decision to make deal points public was designed to circumvent WGA leadership to spur writer-producers and legions of workers who are struggling financially to begin to apply pressure to WGAâs leadership to accept a deal.â
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-08-23/writers-strike-studios-wga-talks-amptp-actors-strike
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 24 August 2023 20:22 (one year ago) link
UAW membership votes 97% for strike authorization in mid-September if needed
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/25/uaw-strike-vote-to-authorize.html
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 25 August 2023 15:21 (one year ago) link
âA former senior studio executive called me from his car. âEveryone is feeling down on all sides,â he said. âIt really does feel like the business is in a lot of upheaval. People are talking about how linear television is declining faster than anybody thought, which means that the twenty-two-episode scripted network show is becoming a rarer and rarer thing. And the six-to-eight-to-ten-episode series on a streamerâthe economics of that turns out to be much harder for everybody. If you look at all the legacy studios, it seems like their profit margins are going down. And, obviously, talentâwriters and directors and actorsâare feeling like theyâre getting squeezed.â
He went on, âSo the mood is tough for everybody. Thereâs a lot of mistrust and animosity between the studios and the guilds. In the past, there has been more empathy across the aisles. Right now, it just feels like everybodyâs sort of frustrated with everybody, almost like everybodyâs fighting for a bigger piece of a shrinking pie.ââ
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/scenes-from-hollywoods-hot-labor-summer
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 31 August 2023 20:18 (one year ago) link
lol the pie isn't shrinking dog
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 31 August 2023 21:16 (one year ago) link
"it seems like their profit margins are going down"
*citation needed
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 31 August 2023 21:25 (one year ago) link
Today, @AmericanAir Flight Attendants returned a 99.47% âyesâ vote to authorize a #strike. Our 26,000+ Members have sent a clear message: we are ready to strike. #1u #SolidaritySummer pic.twitter.com/JwEnHcFzne— Association of Professional Flight Attendants (@APFAunity) August 30, 2023
― mookieproof, Thursday, 31 August 2023 22:38 (one year ago) link
salute
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 1 September 2023 07:09 (one year ago) link
Dang, a SECOND SAG strike
https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sag-aftra-seeks-video-game-strike-approval-1235711251/amp/
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 2 September 2023 13:02 (one year ago) link
Happy Labor Day!
I enjoyed listening to this today:
https://www.wnyc.org/story/witness-history-labor-movement/
― budo jeru, Monday, 4 September 2023 17:05 (one year ago) link
Workers at Powells Books in Portland are holding a one-day strike rally Im heading downtown for
Alright, yâall, letâs do this! đާâđŁOn Monday, September 4, workers at Powellâs Books will be going on a one-day Unfair Labor Practice Strike. This will be the first strike for Powellâs workers in 20 years! Come join us on the picket line!RSVP: https://t.co/G8UK7fYazR pic.twitter.com/Wy1PcfVGuM— ILWU Local 5 (@ILWULocal5) August 22, 2023
― Glower, Disruption & Pies (kingfish), Monday, 4 September 2023 19:32 (one year ago) link
This is not a labor action but I would like to suggest several actions against this asshole. (Same dude who went viral for telling millennials to stop buying avocado toast.)
Gurner Group founder Tim Gurner tells the Financial Review Property Summit workers have become "arrogant" since COVID and "We've got to kill that attitude." https://t.co/lcX3CCxGuj pic.twitter.com/f9HK2YZRRE— Financial Review (@FinancialReview) September 12, 2023
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 12 September 2023 17:26 (one year ago) link
there's a face in need of a fist
― symsymsym, Tuesday, 12 September 2023 17:40 (one year ago) link