The Hollywood actors' strike hit Universal Studios Hollywood today, as thousands of picketers gathered outside the theme park's main entrance.
The SAG-AFTRA union is not striking the park, per se, but called for a mass action today on Lankershim Boulevard in front of the main public entrance to the Universal City complex after Universal had made several other studio-only gates on its property inaccessible or inhospitable for picketing.
Universal had torn up the sidewalk in front of one gate and severely pruned shade trees in front of another - a illegal act for which Universal was fined (a pittance) by the City of Los Angeles. SAG-AFTRA, along with the WGA writers' union, are striking NBCUniversal, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and other members of the AMPTP (Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers) over a slew of issues, including residuals for works shown on streaming services and the use of so-called artificial intelligence in movie and TV writing and production.
The unions have not called for a consumer boycott of the studios and their businesses, including theme parks, but have picketed studio lots to help ensure the shut-down of production during the strike. But with Universal making that difficult for the unions, they countered by blocking the street in front of the theme park, which perhaps not coincidentally was the bright spot in parent company Comcast's most recent financial report: Hollywood up, Orlando down at Universal theme parks.
Disclaimer and disclosures time: In any labor dispute, my gut reaction is to side with labor over management. But I am especially involved in this particular labor dispute, as I have worked on several TV and movie productions in the past year or so. While I am not (yet) a member of SAG-AFTRA, I have worked two productions under SAG-AFTRA agreements as well as many others alongside SAG-AFTRA members. SAG-AFTRA has asked its members, as well as any potential future members, not to work on or promote any struck productions during the strike, though it has clarified that journalists covering the entertainment industry are not scabbing or violating the strike by doing their jobs.
So I will continue to cover theme parks, including those from Disney and Universal, during the strike, though for now I will leave readers to talk about any theme park-related movies and TV on the discussion board rather than write about those myself. And I will, of course, mention the strike when it intersects with the theme park beat, as it did today.
Otherwise, I join just about everyone else in the Los Angeles area in hoping that the studios will return to the bargaining table and start talking with the unions again about how to end this strike and get everyone in the entertainment business back to work. If anyone cares enough to have questions about what's happening in the business right now, I will do my best to answer them, or to get answers, in the comments.
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Interesting that Kevin Smith got a waiver from the Screen Actors Guild to make his flick 'The 4:30 Movie'. Wondering how tight a grip that SAG has on its members.
@TH isn't that waiver specifically because it's being made outside the studio system with a completed script?
@Jacob - Not sure. Just an example that exceptions can be made.
Actually, Tim,David Zaslav, the rather loathed head of Warner Bros, has claimed the strikes have "saved us $100 million." Of course, given this is the guy who helped gut the CW of shows and axed movies that had wrapped filming his judgement might be off.
it's not so much an exception being made as it is an acknowledgment of who they're striking against, right?
@Jacob - Why can't it be both?
@MikeW - That's what I was thinking might be happening. Not good. Looks like a lot of my favorite shows aren't coming back until 2024 at the earliest.
Has it occurred to anyone else that Universal turned a couple of its entrances into something resembling a Six Flags queue?
The so-called "waivers" are actually an agreement to abide by all of SAG-AFTRA's demand in the strike. If you agree to give SAG everything the union wants, then you get to make your movie. Obviously, if the AMPTP studios would agree to that, then they could resume making movies, too. ;^)
Tim, you are spot on in identifying streaming at the primary issue in this strike. The studios radically underpriced their streaming services in an effort to gain market share from each other. But the actors and writers do not wish to bear the burden of covering the studios' losses. They want to get paid better for the work that is created for or re-run on streamers.
Gaming this out, I see no way that all the current streaming services survive. But in that shake-out it's likely that studios consolidate in order to consolidate their streamers. The top two rumors now are Apple buying Disney and NBCUniversal buying Warner Bros. Discovery.
Will those happen? Who knows? But who thought a few years ago that USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon would join the Big Ten? Capitalism makes crazy things happen.
No, MikeW, I think the WB exec is correct. By slowing down the releases of the DC garbage that WB has been releasing, they won’t lose money as fast. :)
From what I gather, the networks have been wanting to deal for a while. CBS, for example, is not happy that NCIS, FBI and Blue Bloods shows aren't going to air this fall. It's the Paramount bosses holding things back and same with other spots.
The situation is a complete mess, and I just don't see any pressure points coming up any time soon that will force any sort of compromise. There is enough backlogged content and reality-based alternatives to keep studios generating revenue through the end of the calendar year.
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This is far outside my area of expertise, Robert, but do you see the losses in the movie industry and the problems with the streaming services like Disney+ leading to an entrenchment on the part of the studios?
(On a side note: I'm waiting for Donald Trump to announce that if he were president, he would end this strike in one day.) ;)