 Welcome to the Adam Dills Movies podcast. We're gonna be talking about the writer's strike, the actor's strike, and how it's finally come to a close. After nearly six months and hundreds, if not thousands, well, it's over thousands. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people took to the picket lines and they made their voice loud and clear. We want some money. We don't want to be replaced by AI. And maybe Netflix and other streaming services could share some of the massive wealth, some of the massive gains they've been making. I can speak for myself, but my subscription has gone up like 100% over the last few years. So that money's going somewhere. Money's going somewhere and apparently it's not to the actors. Some of them have come forward prolific actors like Aaron Paul and probably the girl from Blossom have come forward at some point and said, hey, you know what? I'm not receiving any money for this show. And I think that that's bullshit. I think that Hollywood maybe could throw a little bit our way. And the problem really does stem for that and that's where we can start, which is that for the longest time actors relied on getting these residual checks. Getting their monthly stipend or six months or whatever it is for working on a show in the past that has since been in syndication. So they get their initial fee, which could be really impressive or it could be very small depending on the role they have on the show. And then from there, they kind of wait and see how it does. And if it's popular, you're going to get paid for it, son. You might have a negotiation upfront that says, hey, every time this show is played, you get a dollar or you get 2% or you get whatever. It's completely randomized, I believe, depending on the deal that's made. And this is coming from someone that doesn't know what he's talking about. So you can take my word for it. But people have come out and said, listen, since streaming has taken over and television is on its last legs, that check's not coming in the mail anymore. Or if it is, it's like $5. It's embarrassing. This was the same for writers who worked on shows. They might have had a decent first paycheck, but after that it's just, it's gone. And a lot of people, you know, a lot of regular Joe Schmoes will say, hey, I don't get paid for a job I did six months ago. That job's done. I made my money and I move on. I'm not expecting to keep getting paid for it. Well, it depends on the industry you're in. My brother, for instance, and a few of my uncles actually are insurance salesmen. And they see residual checks every single time, every single month, someone renews their bill. They, you know, oh, you're paying for your car insurance? Well, you probably have an agent who gets a couple of those dollars while the rest of it goes to all state or progressive or whatever. There's plenty of industries that work just like that. And you make good money doing them too. And so that's kind of what the actors relied on. And unlike an insurance salesman or whoever, you know, whatever other field there is that works this way. I mean, hell, it kind of works that way for me on YouTube as a YouTube creator. I put out a video and I still make revenue off that video as long as it's getting played and circulated around. Granted, it's incredibly unimpressive numbers. But for a big creator, like a Mr. Beast or whatever, he's popping videos out that are getting millions of views. And those keep garnering him money week to week, month to month, year to year even. It all depends on the popularity. Well, that's no longer the case for these actors. And I can guarantee you Mr. Beast would be on the picket line too if one day, well, he doesn't need the money. But he might do it for the little man, which is what a lot of these actors are doing. If YouTube one day said, hey, we're not a thing anymore or we're going to be pivoting or people aren't watching us anymore. So we're going to start selling off of our shows and you're going to have to go watch it over on this new thing. And that new thing doesn't have to pay you because it's technically not their content. It's YouTube's content. Well, then you get screwed. You are still providing the material. You are still providing the service and the show and the talent. But now someone completely separate is making that money off of you. And you could argue and say, well, it was YouTube's, you know, you signed up with YouTube and then it moved. And so that's really, you know, it's just up in the air. Well, actors are trying to prevent that from happening. They want, they still want a good deal. They still want to be in the industry and make good money. The average pay for a worker in Hollywood, an actor or whatever is $60,000 a year for an actor. That can go from low as $23,000 a year up to, of course, millions if you're a Chris Pratt or whatever, whoever's the big ticket item right now. I think I lost my train of thought before I apologized. I kind of flew off the handle in the southern tangent, but that's okay. We're kind of getting back to it. Anyway, my point of the matter is this, these actors don't have typical insurance jobs. They're actors. They might be on the set for a couple hours a day, or they might be on the set all day or they're on call. So it's also very hard to have a nine to five job. Some of them do, especially in that lower bracket of pay, but it's a lot more Wild West out there. So there has to be some sort of umbrella, something to like hold a parachute of sorts. And when they have to pay for Cobra health insurance, you know, because they're not part of a company to be, you know, for sure, then that's even more dicey. Now that's where SAG After comes in. That's the Screen Actors Guild, hyphen, whatever after is it's like associate film and television, radio, something or another. I don't, I don't know the acronym. But they do provide some of that. They're a union and you can sign up to be part of that union, which then you get some health insurance, you get some dental, but you're paying out of pocket for that. It's not good. I actually looked into it out of curiosity. It's not a good, it's not a good situation. Just to kind of put a pin in the problems they had going to the negotiating table, I got some quotes here from some of the actors. This is from Mara Wilson. She's an adult actor who came back after being a very popular child actor. When I said adult actor, that makes it sound like she's a porn actor. That's not what I meant. She's a grown person. Here's what she says. Wilson began acting as a child. Well, she doesn't say this. The article does from insider. Wilson began acting as a child and started in hit movies, including Matilda, Miracle on 34th Street, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Now you know who I'm talking about. In 2000, she took a break from acting but returned years later to guest-starring shows such as Bojack Horseman and Big Hero 6, the series. So those are animated, so she did voice acting, it sounds like. In July, Wilson tweeted that she had not made enough to qualify for SAG after healthcare despite acting in these shows. Numerous actors have said that the minimum an actor must earn to qualify is $26,000. She says, I haven't acted much as an adult, but I was a recurring character on one of the most critically acclaimed animated shows of all time, as well as playing an actual Disney villain. But thanks to streaming, I have never once made enough to qualify for healthcare. Kamiko Glenn reshared a TikTok video from 2020 showing her meager residuals from Orange is the New Black. Let's see what she had to say. The article referred to a TikTok video Glenn posted. In the video, Glenn showed a letter notifying her of the residuals she received from appearing in 44 episodes of the show. The total was $27.37. That's a solid meal at Chipotle and she could treat herself with a Starbucks afterwards. And that's really as much as you're gonna ever get. And even that, that's pushing it. The article also reported that Emma Miles, another actor on the show, was paid less than $900 for each day of filming. However, in an Instagram post, Glenn said that half of that paid and actually go to the actors. We don't make 900 a day, 900 per day of shooting. That happened about twice every two weeks. So takeaway taxes, commissions, that nets you about $450 for that one day of shooting. And assuming you work four days a month, we're talking 1800 for a month work and you live in New York City that doesn't make rent. That's the other problem is obviously these shows take place in some of the most expensive places to live. And flying back and forth to shoot is just as ridiculous. So there's really no win there. You got to get yourself on a super popular, steady job. And I don't envy that at all for struggling actors trying to make it. What a tough situation. Yikes. Let's go to a couple others. I'm moving down to find my boy Aaron Paul here. Oh, let's go to Sean Gunn. Sean Gunn slammed Netflix for the lack of residuals he received on Gilmore Girls. Honestly, Sean Gunn should be a millionaire off Gilmore Girls based on how many times my wife has watched that show alone. And my daughter Olivia loves it too. They have gone through that thing. My wife has probably gone through all of Gilmore Girls 40 times over the course of her life. And Olivia is on her fourth or fifth already as well. I've watched it once all the way through. It's a great show. Gunn slammed Netflix in July for the lack of residuals he has received for his role in the show. But the series continues to be a success on the streamer. Gunn told the Hollywood Reporter on the first day of the SEGA after strike. I was on a television show called Gilmore Girls for a long time that has brought in massive profits for Netflix. It has been one of their most popular shows for a very long time, over a decade. It gets streamed over and over and over and I see almost none of the revenue. While Warner Brothers, which produced the show and licensed it to Netflix, is responsible for residual payments to those who qualify, Gunn clarified on Twitter that he thought the cast should get a share of the millions of dollars in profits the streamer has made from the show. And we'll do one more and that's from Aaron Paul. He doesn't get a piece of Netflix revenue from Breaking Bad. I don't get a place from... And what does he say? Aaron Paul says, I don't get a piece from Netflix on Breaking Bad, bitch. He didn't add that. I threw that in. If we're being totally honest. And that's insane to me, Paul told Entertainment Tonight in Canada. Shows live forever on these streamers and it goes through waves. I just saw the other day that Breaking Bad was trending on Netflix. Breaking Bad is one of the greatest shows of all time. It is pretty pathetic if Aaron Paul isn't getting a little bit of revenue from that show playing because the dude is one of the main stars. Wow. Okay. And again, these are the prominent actors. These are big actors on big shows. But think of the small actors on decent sized shows or even on small shows. They're not seeing shit. And there's been plenty of photo proof of that where celebrities show their paycheck from Disney or whoever and it'll be for like 10 cents. The 10 cent rev share from Disney. The YouTubers. I'm making more than that off of some of my videos. I guess that's something I could put my... I could put that feather in my cap. Hey, I'm making more than Aaron Paul is on Breaking Bad in 2023. Suck on that. Okay. But there is good news. There is a Silver Linings playbook. And that is on the ninth, I believe. Maybe don't quote me, but somewhere just recently. November 9th, 2023. The actor strike has come to a close. The writer strike ended in September. The actors made an agreement and they're cool with it. And it is not really public knowledge as to what is all inside of that agreement. But we can get some clarification from this article from what site is this? This is APR news. I don't know what APR news is, but let's just pretend they're credible. Los Angeles on Thursday. For the first time in more than six months, neither Hollywood's actors nor its writers will be on strike. The long-awaited clearing in the industry. Stormy a season in decades comes to a deal late Wednesday. After nearly four months, the longest... Wait, whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on. Was at nearly four months. Oh, okay. Both strikes combined were six months. And the writers were longer than the actors. So the actors were on strike for four. The three-year contract must be approved by the board of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. What a beautiful sentence. And it's members in the coming days. But Union leadership declared that the strike will end at 12.01 a.m. on Thursday. It's a real Cinderella story, isn't it, folks? Duncan Crabtree, Ireland. This is a person's name. Duncan Crabtree hyphen Ireland. SAG, after his executive director and chief negotiator, said the gains made in the deal justified the struggle. Duncan Crabtree Ireland is one of the greatest names ever. It sounds like something AI built. I love it. It's an agreement that our members can be proud of. I'm certainly very proud of it. Crabtree Ireland told the Associated Press. Oh, that's what AP is. Oh, my God. Does it say AP? Oh, it's AP news. I don't know where I got the R from. I just pulled that out of my ass. AP news. APR, my God. I need glasses. I need to enhance my vision. We said we would only accept a fair, equitable, and respectful deal. And that's precisely what this deal is. So I think our members, as we are able to release more of the details of it, will look at them and say, now this is something that was worth being on strike for. What did we get? More than 60,000 SAG after members went on strike on July 14th. Okay. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Let's keep going. The union valued the deal at over a billion dollars. This is like a Dr. Evil deal. Crabtree Ireland said the deal includes boost to minimum payments to actors, a greater share of streaming revenue going forward, and bolstering benefit plans and protections against the unfettered use of AI, the evil artificial intelligence in recreating performances. Details of the terms will not be released until after a meeting Friday when board members review the contract. The AI protections were a sticking point in the negotiations that had been moved, I can never say that word methodically, with both long breaks for both sides to huddle since they restarted in October 24th. It is something that has evolved. Even while we've been in the negotiation process, Crabtree Ireland said, God, that name is sick. Yeah, the AI thing is just a topsy-turvy situation, some real Mickey Mouse shit with the AI. Basically, since it was so new and there was no, you know, rails for this at all, Hollywood, it was like carte blanche, they could do whatever they wanted with it, which meant, oh, if we have an actor signed up, we can just use his or her likeness going forward on this program, we don't have to pay them to dick. We can just use their face, we can mimic their voice with the computer, bada bing bada bang bada boom, we have a picture. That's no longer the case. Actors now have to sign on approval to use their likeness in some sort of a weird Frankenstein's monster AI version. And some of that crap, some of that deep fake stuff is, it's impressive. You ever seen those Tom Cruise things on Instagram or TikTok or whatever? It's wild. How real it looks. It's almost one-to-one. It's scary stuff. Which is weird because whenever I see an actual movie like Indiana Jones 5, the deep fake, the AI-built version of Harrison Ford doesn't look near as impressive as that Tom Cruise stuff does. Done by, I would assume, more amateur creators. Not someone working for Disney. Let's see what else we got on here. The Writers Guild of America applauded Wednesday's deal. We're thrilled to see SAG Aftermembers win a contract that creates new protections for performers. And I don't know, I said it like that. Performas and gives them a greater share of the immense value they create. The union said in a statement, when workers are united, they win. Although the Writers Strike had immediate visible effects for viewers, it also had immediate effects for me because I remember when the Writers Strike ended, it wasn't two days later Netflix jacked up the price. So when the creators win, we lose. It's kind of what I'm getting out of it because do you think the executives, do you think the top brass at Paramount or Netflix or Disney or anywhere is going to take a hit on this? Now, they have their golden parachutes firmly intact. They're not losing a dime. So they say, oh, the actors want a little bit more rev share on this. Well, then we just up our pay. We just up our, I guess, our fee to the end user by two more bucks. We'll just say two more bucks. What do we have 50 million people on this platform? Yeah, we'll be okay. We'll do just fine. We're not going to lose anyone. And if we do, what do we do next? Oh, I know, we'll just force people to get their own accounts. Remember when you used to be able to share devices, you used to have the family plan. You could sneak it to your coworker down the street. Hey, Peggy, you want to jump on this with us? We're already paying 25 bucks a month. Why don't you kick us a little bit every month and you can share a plan? Or you know what? Out of the goodness of my heart. Just come on over. Come aboard. Not anymore Peggy. Get your own account. Netflix did it. Disney did it. They'll all do it eventually. And that's another way that these companies will find more revenue to bring in. What do we got here at the end? Okay. Although the writer's strike had immediate visible effects for the viewer, including the months long suspension of late night talk shows and Saturday Night Live, the impact of the actor's absence was not as immediately apparent, but it's ripple effects. Delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons could be felt for months or even years. Actors should quickly return to movie sets where productions were paused, including Deadpool 3, Gladiator 2, that's right, Gladiator 2, and Wicked. Other movies and shows will restart shooting once returning writers finish scripts. What else do we have here? The only major awards show directly affected by the strike was the Emmys, which moved from September to January. Oh good, goody. I know we're all really craving some more awards shows where actors can celebrate being themselves, being great. But any feeling of industry normalcy could prove temporary. The circumstances that brought on the strikes, the shifts from traditional theatrical and broadcast media to streaming, and emerging tech like AI have not been slowed. And the gains made by the strikes may embolden other Hollywood unions or these same guilds and negotiations that will come up again in three years. Okay, well, doom and gloom scenario, I guess. Well, yeah, we have three years though where the actors seem to be okay. They seem to have struck a deal. The writers are back working again, writing again. I'm always going to be for the workers. It is funny how certain... It's interesting to me when you hear debates and certain people kind of move the conversation to a place where they're convincing those that are listening that, you know what, you could be in this very same boat as Jeff Bezos or this other billionaire guy. This could be you. They convince normal, common, regular Joe's that, hey, we shouldn't be taxing these guys or Netflix shouldn't be paying this much or look how much they're bringing back to everyone else. And then the person listens like, yeah, you know what, that's true. And the back of their mind thinking, yeah, what if I someday am a multi-billionaire? I don't want to be taxed like crazy or I don't want to have to pay back in or I don't want my company to suffer when in reality they don't have any idea how much money that even is, a billion dollars? Are you out of your fucking mind? That's insane. That's crazy box. That's insane. So yes, Netflix will on paper say things like, oh, we're making tons of money. Their investors are happy. Their stocks are up. And then they'll come out in front of the cameras and say, listen, we aren't making profit. You know, we have to invest in all these other things. When in reality is they're making tons of money. It's just they're using that money to buy back stocks. They're using that money for future projects. They're acquiring other companies. They're buying up other actors to use for their movies. And it's just they're using these funds for all these different practices, some of them more nefarious than others. Meanwhile, the writers, the actors, the people that actually care about the products that they're making are suffering for it. So yeah, I'm always in favor of the worker. I've been working my ass off my entire life. I'm not going to go, you know what the fat cat up top? Yeah, he deserves more. He deserves to make that money because he has just a vision. Right? No, there's no vision. These guys all just copy each other and they make tons of money off of it and the washrooms repeat. This is almost kind of the music industry scenario. But I think that Hollywood because of the union is covering their bases better. They have someone fighting on their behalf. Fran Drescher has got it covered. The nanny's on it, baby. Let Fran do her thing. Whereas in the music industry, Napster came along, Lime Wire, all these different things that you could download the music illegally. I loved it. I had tons of blank albums, tons of burnt CDs with all my favorite hits on them. But the artists struggled. They weren't making the money they were before on CD sales. They were basically dead in the water, so they relied on concerts. If something like this had come along and there was a union for them or someone that really had their back at the time, they might have been able to avoid that disaster, but we are where we are now. Spotify has come along, Apple Music. It eventually worked itself out, but there was this really ugly four or five year shit show, maybe longer where people didn't even know how to make albums anymore. Especially the lower guys, the dude that we're just trying to start out and get in the industry. There was basically no money to be made putting out an album, and that's tough. When it comes to the movie stuff, it is cool that they're able to rally together to see all these workers go out and protest and fight for what they believe in and to get the money that they think they earned because at the end of the day, just like movies themselves, it's subjective what you think that something's worth. And you should fight for what you think it is. All right, those are my thoughts. I'm happy that this is over. I'm happy that we can see some new stuff come out again. Hopefully, we see an uptick in quality because obviously there's stressors on these people when they're writing and not making the money that they think they deserve. I know that when I'm at a thankless job or a job that I don't think is appreciating what I bring to the table, my work suffers for it. The output that I provide is not my best foot forward because why would I? Why would I put it out there when I'm not getting it in return? And so I'm hoping because of these new deals, we are going to see better writing. We're going to see better stories and we're going to see better products. All right, that's the show. That's the podcast. Let me know your thoughts on this. Are you happy it's over? Do you think it's all bull crap? They shouldn't be doing this. It's ruining other industries and all that stuff. That's fine. You do you. Leave it in the comments. Let me know. Please like the video. If you liked it, subscribe if you're new here and you like what I'm doing. Podcast is up on Spotify. It's on Apple Podcast. It's on other podcast services and it's on YouTube. There's video versions everywhere, I think. Well, everywhere that it's available, I know Spotify offers it. Love to have you stick around. Thanks for watching and hopefully, I'll catch you next time.