Studios are terrified that the strikes will reveal the truth about streaming. Per Kayleigh Donaldson: “Think of the two major possibilities here: Either the studios owe untold millions to their talents and paying it out will decimate their stock prices, or they owe so little because there really is no money in streaming and the bubble of their entire 21st century business model will burst in spectacular fashion. And make no mistake: this is a bubble.” [Pajiba]
Maluma is posting pics in his underwear! [OMG Blog]
Daniel Craig & Rachel Weisz are so friggin’ hot. [LaineyGossip]
How did the dudes look at the Oppenheimer premiere last week? [Tom & Lorenzo]
Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS saves lives! [Jezebel]
Oprah admits she only has three close friends – me, Gayle King and who?? [JustJared]
The latest Gaurav Gupta collection is great! [GFY]
Did Brad Pitt have plastic surgery? Yes. He did. [Towleroad]
Ralph Lauren dressed so many people at Wimbledon. [RCFA]
Cat’s outta the bag on that one. I admit I didn’t know much several weeks ago, but that ignorance is past tense now.
I feel so archaic. I don’t stream. I have never watched Netflix or any of the other services. I don’t have unlimited internet…I don’t own a smart TV either. I watch what’s on TV. How many shows can you watch? How do you keep up? If streaming isn’t good for actors/writers, etc., then why support it? I’m good with my ancient way of living.
I really didn’t know until this strike that streaming is hurting writers and actors. Maybe it’s on me that I didn’t know, but what I was seeing is that streaming has unleashed unprecedented creativity, raising the the bar on writing, and creating challenging, meaningful parts for a much more representative population of actors. I don’t think I could ever go back to watching commercial television where standards are set by mass marketing rather than than subscriptions.
That said, I cancelled my Max subscription for the duration of this strike, while my mom is keeping hers because she has cable. We’re both very pro union, but her cable subscription isn’t contributing to theft in royalties like my online subscription. None of that addresses the Ai issue, though. If studio execs decide that Ai can write shows that make the same or higher profits as prestige written shows, we’ll all lose. Ai can write absolutely write shows like Cheers or Murder She Wrote or any other primetime hits of the ad-driven 1980s. Despite my love of streaming, I still feel that HBO is producing the highest quality shows on tv, and HBO has always been subscription driven, but it’s the streaming era that has driven HBO to keep up with high quality original programming, which is not likely to continue if they stop being challenged by streaming services.
No commercials. No rushing to meet a tv schedule (watch what you want, whenever you want). Binging a whole series instead of waiting a week between each episode. Starting, stopping, rewatching. Did I mention no commercials? Honestly, I’d NEVER go back to the TV model.
But of course I want the talent paid properly. I’m just responding to BettyRose about why streaming is so great.
Binging is only possible on Netflix or if you wait for weeks until the entire series has has been released. Otherwise. all the other streaming services do the whole one episode a week schedule.
I didn’t realize that streaming in particular was so badly screwing over the writers and actors.
I like the option of binging, and most streamers have a large enough catalog to choose full series from, but I also still enjoy the weekly drop. Occasionally I join a Facebook group for a show I’m hooked on to analyze plot developments between episodes, which is a lot of fun. Streaming definitely not about the binge for me. I’d about the quality and diversity of programming.
Wonder what will happen when the bubble bursts? Strength to the union bc I cannot imagine coming to a compromise with these execs. Am really curious to see how this plays out.
A writer named Ben Paddon posted the following that gave me food for thought re: continuing to stream and go out to movies:
“Continuing to go see your movies, watch your shows, stream your favorites is one of the best ways to support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA right now. This content has been made, and it makes money. It helps immensely to show the studios the value of the work that writers and actors do.
If you don’t go, it hurts writers and actors. Studios can say, “Well, actually, Barbie only made $X dollars, Oppenheimer only made $Y dollars, only so-many thousands of people watched Good Omens 2, obviously there isn’t enough money to go around. Sadface emoji.”
See the stuff you want to see with reckless abandon.”
Ha, Ben Paddon’s a friend of mine. Weird…sounds like something he’d write though.
You are not alone. I only got a smart phone last year because I had no choice (with covid and institution of MFAs in workplaces). Dont have netflix, enough subscriptions to pay for, dont need another.
@Bettyrose, it didn’t hurt writers and actors when there was a ton of money to go around and they were given carte Blanche to create whatever they liked. Now that the outline of the bubble is becoming visible to all, all those movies/shows/documentaries that were greenlit will never see the light of day.
Also, I read that within the subscription model, there is virtually no discernible difference in profit/revenue between a hit and a flop, so…how do you justify paying someone the big bucks? Why make another “Don’t Look Up” when you can make a “Selling Sunset” for so much less?
It’s there for us all to see, but because streaming benefits the viewers the most (second to the founders/C-level predators, obviously), we don’t want to go back. Very happy this strike is taking place before the quality of a streamer’s entire catalogue falls off the cliff.
SAG-AFTRA is also striking about online auditions. NYMag explains it really well…how an actor can be out $300 per audition “video” and never hear back. That’s a lot more expensive than the gas money used for in-person auctions of the past.
I would like to point out that the American College of Surgeons has the Stop The Bleed campaign which teaches people how to stop life threatening hemorrhage.
You can find more -accurate- information here
https://www.stopthebleed.org/
And you can also look for a free class. If you can complete your own activities of daily living, there is an excellent chance you can learn these pre-hospital skills and be competent enough.
In the UK it’s Knife Savers.
I would also like to point out that the military, who’s members regularly get shot at, depend on body armor for abdominal and chest wounds. Torso wounds are some of the most difficult wounds to contain in a pre-hospital environment. They do not put their members in lady compression garments. Please do not expect a pair of anybody’s undergarment to protect you from gun violence.
It’s insane how many BP articles are out. When I say his PR team is working over time I mean they are working nonstop for anyone, everyone to stop bringing up the abuse case and Miraval.
Also, Leo’s looking like he’s had work done too, which surprised me.
Very Pro Union here.
I hope these strikes bring the studios and their overpaid Execs to their knees.
Every Union win helps other Unions stay strong.
Power to the Workers! Fair pay and affordable healthcare for all, in every job.
The big name actors need to come out in force on the picket lines. DeNiro, Streep, Leo, the stars of Broadway and tv also. Get those known faces on the picket line next to the other lesser known workers.
Amy, Seth, Fallon, Kimmel, Tina get out and be seen.
The entire cast of Senfeld and Larry Davids team should be seen as well.
FWIW Tina Fey was absolutely out there.
Brad Pitt is looking more like Maxwell Caulfield in ‘Grease 2’ than he does himself.
More like Maxwell Caulfield in Empire Records😉
I thought it was Rob Lowe the first time I saw the pics.
Brad is a man with many faces. Every quarter of the year he has new one. One day he will stop recognize himself.
Netflix is giving up their DVD business which is crazy. I do understand if they didn’t want to pay dvd royalties. Dvd royalties seem to be higher than streaming.
There is a reason big stars try to get us to go to the theatre. 1. The movies look better at a proper cinema. 2. There is no money in streaming long term. There is too much infrastructure and too many terrible movies. The success of “Stranger things” pays for how many bad shows”. I personally haven’t heard anyone in real life talk about the “squid game” full story/plot.
Trump has received his target letter for January 6! This is the big one, federally. If he’s charged with sedition, he can’t hold office. I’m also hoping that his congressional co conspirators are brought in under similar charges, at the least aiding and abetting (Ted Cruz! Tuberville! MTG!). Fingers crossed.
🤞
Re: streaming.
I suspect it’s a little of both. My understanding is streaming isnt as lucrative as older models. But at the same time, execs are hoarding wealth for themselves and their shareholders.
THIS!
Even Disney is trying to sell their Live linear tv assets.
I think it’s been known in industry for years that it’s hard to get profits from streaming. The ad revenues is just not the same. And it’s more expensive to produce and maintain your own content. I think this article finally is calling out the facts that’s been known for years .
I think streaming will just morph into cable — you pay a monthly fee, choose which services you do or do not want as part of your plan, and you’ll have to sit through commercials.
I’m not paying to sit through commercials. That’s why I never subscribed to cable television. If there is no commercial-free tier, then I’m done with them.
Bless us oh Lord Almighty, show us your love of mankind by having Donald J. Trump go to jail! Prevent him from ever being able to run for any elected office ever again.
Kindly hurry, we need some good news.
I will take a day of vacation to celebrate.
That dress with the horrible puff sleeves Zawe wore to Wimbledon was Ralph Lauren? Never would have guessed.
This all takes me back to the strike that delayed Lost.