Everyone is hoping for a resolution to the strike but
it might not be that easy to get people off
the picket lines central to the debates is payment for
episodes. People rewatch on streaming, otherwise known as
residuals and the use of artificial intelligence in script writing
. And both sides seem to be standing firm with
the WG A saying they need money and protections and
the studio saying they don't have the money to pay
up because they're still recovering from pandemic losses. Now
, this is the first time since the strike began
on May 2nd that the Writers Guild of America and
the alliance of motion picture and television producers have met
again and it can't come too soon because August 9th
will mark 100 days since the strike began as well
as the union that represents actors. Sag Afra has
also went on strike last month. So really there's
been a stoppage across entertainment in this. I know
this is a tough question but you've been reporting on
this for so long which side is more likely to
get. You're right, Hannah, it's a tough
one and right now, many analysts believe that the
studios may have the upper hand. So Streamers had
ordered more content than usual to prepare for an entertainment
industry strike. And they can also rely on international
shows to include a new programming television networks have stocked
up on reality TV because that doesn't require working with
union members. And on top of this, they're
kind of getting rewarded by Wall Street not having to
uh content to purchase. Has given some media companies
including Netflix and Warner Brothers discovering more cash and this
is helping them recover some of those massive losses due
the pandemic, as I mentioned and also due to
the cost of building up their streaming services. However
, today, the WG A recently said in a
letter to its members that these reports are quote calculated
disinformation. They called it a myth that the strikes
are benefiting the studios. They wrote union writers and
actors are. So in this industry that the companies
cannot even attempt to do the work without us is
not a viable business strategy for these companies to shut
down their business for three months and counting no matter
how hard they try and pretend it is. Now
, this is getting pretty heated in response to the
A MP TP called the sentiment quote. Unfortunate saying
its goal is not to try to put the studios
against the people. Its goal is to get people
back to work. And part of the strike rules
mean that union members can promote their own work.
We've seen that a lot of the networks, how
can this affect those upcoming movies and TV shows coming
up for the fall line up. This rule has
mostly affected actors who can't talk about their upcoming or
past project. Hanna, it's putting a lot of
marketing plans on hold and even social media influencers are
caught in the middle. They've been told by SAG
A. If they promote TV shows and movies during
this time, they will not be allowed into the
union in the future. So recently, Zachary Levi
who was in Shazam told a Manchester Comic Con crowd
that he thought it was quote dumb. He couldn't
talk about his projects. This of course has led
a firestorm online. He has since released a statement
to People magazine. He said what he was saying
was taken out of context, adding quote, I
fully support the union, the WG A and the
strike. I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative
system that artists are subject to work in since I
started my journey in this business 25 years ago.
And as more content is released that was filmed prior
to the strikes, this is even going to become
a bigger issue.