What do you think about the two strikes going on right now, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood Writers' strike?

I don’t know all of the reasons why, but I do think they absolutely should be striking over using AI generated actors. That is putting actors out of jobs and food out of their mouths.
It’s taking away their insurance and any retirement benefits they may have. Next AI will take over the background music in movies and musicians will be out of jobs.

As much as we like to think of Fran Drescher as the goofy nanny, her speech is worth watching. https://youtu.be/J4SAPOX7R5M
I think this action is long overdue, and she makes a few very telling points: that most SAG- AFTRA members are not earning millions (while the CEOs are earning obscenely), that it is wildly stupid that the Hollywood industry has not changed it’s business plan to reflect the changing times and technologies, and that the concept of using AI, the way it stands, is absurd.

My friends in the industry are on the lines, when they’re not at their second jobs.

I fully support the strikers. The studios want to scan actors, paying the actors only one day’s salary, and then own that scan for eternity using it any way they want. It’s evil.

I agree with all of the above and also support most strikes. They are painful for the strikers and the bosses and consumers but almost always not undertaken except for very compelling reasons.

Ape together strong.

Maybe Fran will be the US president in the future.~ Seriously though, Fran has always seemed to me to very smart and very serious about serious issues. I don’t really follow her, but I have seen her in interviews over the years and I found her impressive.

I record all The View episodes and for a few months now Whoopi always apologizes if they are a little unorganized since they don’t have their writers and they are doing all of the work. She says they support the writers in their strike. Since day one of that, I felt like if you support the writers, why are you still coming into work? For three months they have proven they don’t need the writers.

I have more questions than opinions, because I don’t know enough about it. If the writers are very underpaid, then I think they have a right to strike. My guess is the people at the top are making multi-millions. Not only the executives at the top, but there are probably a few select writers at the top doing very well, just like there are a few mega star actors making a fortune.

This kind of reminds of the car manufacturers in the 1980’s though. Through the 70’s and 80’s the unions fought for very high wages for people working on the production line. The argument was if they were doing the work why shouldn’t they be making high wages too, why were just the executive making big money. The union was powerful and had a lot of wins. Car prices were high compared to the Japanese cars at one point, and the Japanese had much better quality and then eventually the US public shifted over towards Japanese cars. The US auto industry got lucky that the US government helped to fund the companies to stay alive. A ton of people lost their jobs though in the meantime. factories closed down, lots of people lost jobs and pensions and it was really horrible for a lot of people. At that time the best thing to do would have been to improve car quality, not pay mega millions to the c-level people, not pay cray cray super high wages and very high pensions to staff, and make cars for less and be competitive. My point is people need to be reasonable on all sides and also focus on preserving the business.

The entertainment industry is going through some change now. I think the US government has to put in laws forbidding anyone from using someone else’s image without their consent. The idea that they can take film of a person and then create a whole new scene or dialogue is terrifying for the average person, actors, politicians, it is so scary to me, and we have to put in protections.

Fran said the actors should get residuals for streaming, I didn’t know they didn’t. It sounds right to me that it should be addressed.

Wouldn’t it be nice if actors and writers made very good salaries, and our cable and streaming were cheaper? Or seeing a movie was cheaper? If all the industries that pay super high salaries just stopped then maybe some things would be so much better, like housing prices and all these extremes we have in our society today.

I love TV, so I hope they come up with a settlement. I would guess a lot of my favorite shows will not happen next season if everyone is on strike. No new shows either.

I support the strikers. That said, I really don’t miss TV at all and would not mind if it went on indefinitely.

I’m getting more exercise; I’m accomplishing more; and I’m sleeping better. Life is better.

A plague on both their houses.

Content providers (which in this case are BOTH the studios and the writers/actors) have been placing a stranglehold on how content and entertainment is distributed and produced in the US. It isn’t just the studios; it’s the writers and actors that, because of high pricing due to absurd wages, are making media less and less available to the masses.

Sure, the little guy is hurting – the poor schmuck who is an extra or a sound technician. But the bigger picture is that there is no reason for a Julia Roberts to make $20 million/film, or George Clooney $20 million plus residuals.

Neither the strikers nor the studios get my support here.