AI, residuals among key issues for striking actors and writers outside of Warner Bros.
(18 Jul 2023)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burbank, Calif., 18 July 2023
1. Various of scene at picket lines outside of Warner Bros. Studios
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Zoe Perry, actor:
“The idea that CEOs, not only in our industry but across all types of industry, are already expressing a want to get rid of human workers in favor of cheap AI, the idea that, the lack of humanity that that they’d be willing to put out of work all of us. All of us, really. And not even be concerned about how people can, you know, make a living wage, make their health care, any of these things. I mean, what’s the point, honestly, of being on this planet if we’re not going to afford people the right to live?”
3. Various of scene on picket lines
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Johnathan McClain, actor/writer:
“Automation, robotics affected the automobile industry in the sixties, Right? But a lot of people out of work killed the assembly line. That’s bad. This is like saying, now we want to take machines and replace the people who conceive of the car designs. Right? It’s it’s really taking everything away. So at some point, it ceases to be an interactive society where human beings engage other human beings. And I don’t know what jobs are ultimately going to be left for anyone in any sector of the economy. And we because it’s easy to sort of marginalize what we do because it’s entertainment. And I get it. I totally do. But I feel on some level, like we are as far as this tech conversation is concerned, a little bit of a canary in a coal mine. And this is an important moment and we got to really make a decisive stand.”
5. Picketers
6. Various of scene on picket lines
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Johnathan McClain, actor/writer:
“I did a Netflix show a few years ago that I’ve seen like pennies on. Again, I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me, but I know that money is being made somewhere. I’m not, I don’t think any of us are saying pay us more because we want to cash in. They’re already cashing in at the studios. We just want a fair and proportional take of that. And the problem is with streaming especially, it’s so opaque, you can’t tell what those numbers are. There are no ad dollars in play. So it’s impossible to know what the deals look like, how much revenue they’re bringing in. It’s really hard to track. And so they can do what’s called studio accounting and just tell us they’re not making money forever. Meanwhile, their quarterly shareholders reports show, you know, booming profits. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
8. Picketers
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Zoe Perry, actor:
“So if we had transparency like we do in the network model, right, because we know what the ad dollars are, then we would have more of an idea of, Oh, our work has contributed to the great success of such and such, and we should be getting a portion of.”
10. Tracking shot of picket lines
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Chris Browning, actor:
“The example I brought up is I did a movie for Netflix. It was a $100 million movie with Will Smith called ‘Bright.’ And if it was back in the old DVD residuals days, I would have got a $25,000 residual check. I got $271 from Netflix, and it broke all the records. Their viewership records were out of control and I got squat. You know, that’s not going to work. I can’t, you know, and everything’s going to streaming now. So, you know, once in a while you get something on it, you know, I get a couple of guest stars on a network show, still have good residual residuals on network, but that’s it.”
12. Tracking shot of picket line
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burbank, Calif., 18 July 2023
1. Various of scene at picket lines outside of Warner Bros. Studios
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Zoe Perry, actor:
“The idea that CEOs, not only in our industry but across all types of industry, are already expressing a want to get rid of human workers in favor of cheap AI, the idea that, the lack of humanity that that they’d be willing to put out of work all of us. All of us, really. And not even be concerned about how people can, you know, make a living wage, make their health care, any of these things. I mean, what’s the point, honestly, of being on this planet if we’re not going to afford people the right to live?”
3. Various of scene on picket lines
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Johnathan McClain, actor/writer:
“Automation, robotics affected the automobile industry in the sixties, Right? But a lot of people out of work killed the assembly line. That’s bad. This is like saying, now we want to take machines and replace the people who conceive of the car designs. Right? It’s it’s really taking everything away. So at some point, it ceases to be an interactive society where human beings engage other human beings. And I don’t know what jobs are ultimately going to be left for anyone in any sector of the economy. And we because it’s easy to sort of marginalize what we do because it’s entertainment. And I get it. I totally do. But I feel on some level, like we are as far as this tech conversation is concerned, a little bit of a canary in a coal mine. And this is an important moment and we got to really make a decisive stand.”
5. Picketers
6. Various of scene on picket lines
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Johnathan McClain, actor/writer:
“I did a Netflix show a few years ago that I’ve seen like pennies on. Again, I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for me, but I know that money is being made somewhere. I’m not, I don’t think any of us are saying pay us more because we want to cash in. They’re already cashing in at the studios. We just want a fair and proportional take of that. And the problem is with streaming especially, it’s so opaque, you can’t tell what those numbers are. There are no ad dollars in play. So it’s impossible to know what the deals look like, how much revenue they’re bringing in. It’s really hard to track. And so they can do what’s called studio accounting and just tell us they’re not making money forever. Meanwhile, their quarterly shareholders reports show, you know, booming profits. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
8. Picketers
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Zoe Perry, actor:
“So if we had transparency like we do in the network model, right, because we know what the ad dollars are, then we would have more of an idea of, Oh, our work has contributed to the great success of such and such, and we should be getting a portion of.”
10. Tracking shot of picket lines
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Chris Browning, actor:
“The example I brought up is I did a movie for Netflix. It was a $100 million movie with Will Smith called ‘Bright.’ And if it was back in the old DVD residuals days, I would have got a $25,000 residual check. I got $271 from Netflix, and it broke all the records. Their viewership records were out of control and I got squat. You know, that’s not going to work. I can’t, you know, and everything’s going to streaming now. So, you know, once in a while you get something on it, you know, I get a couple of guest stars on a network show, still have good residual residuals on network, but that’s it.”
12. Tracking shot of picket line
STORYLINE:
The AMPTP said it has offered fair terms on those and other issues.
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