WGA/SAG-AFTRA 2023 Strike Post-Mortem

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > WGA/SAG-AFTRA 2023 Strike Post-Mortem

fart blood: Sep 13, 2008; by VideoGames

Jerusalem posted:

To bring things slightly more back on topic, Maude being killed off on The Simpsons was a direct result of a pay dispute wasn't it? To the point that there's a joke in one of the later seasons where Homer is sobbing about how he wishes he was rich and gets progressively more upset as he sees the names of the executive producers in the credits and is despairing at how rich they are.... then the voice actors names come up and he goes,"Oh those people are rich too.... not as rich as they should be...." before wailing in pure horror when Matt Groening's name comes up.

It was funny, but also... yeah, The Simpons - particularly back then - was a cultural juggernaut and merchandising machine creating enormous wealth and the voice actors deserved more than they were getting given the show's success was built off of their performances in addition to the phenomenal writing. Killing off one of them who stuck to her guns was a bullshit move designed to cow the rest of them into submission. Boo

Don�t forget Harry Shearer quit like three times

# ? Oct 16, 2023 04:09

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# ? May 23, 2024 21:06

Dawgstar: Jul 15, 2017

AlternateNu posted:

lol. They brought her back? I jumped ship around Maude dying, too.

It seemed to be a decision the writers regretted but this one instance they decided to stick to their guns, I guess possibly because of the transport fee her VA wanted mentioned above.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 04:22

Fezz: Aug 31, 2001; You should feel ashamed.

Yeah, she was basically losing money coming back to LA to record her lines. And Fox wouldn't pay up so she could have a livable wage.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 04:48

LividLiquid: Apr 13, 2002

Fezz posted:

Yeah, she was basically losing money coming back to LA to record her lines. And Fox wouldn't pay up so she could have a livable wage.

This is so weird. Nowadays they'd just build her a little recording booth in her closet or whatever. But even back then, there's no way they couldn't book a recording studio wherever she lived.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 05:34

muscles like this!: Jan 17, 2005

IIRC nowadays the primary cast all have special phone lines installed at their homes so they can literally phone in their performances.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 12:39

Pinterest Mom: Jun 9, 2009

You'd think they'd use "the internet" to transmit their performances at a distance.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 14:32

fart blood: Sep 13, 2008; by VideoGames

Looks like the AMPTP may come back to the table soon:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/12/23914915/ai-replicas-likeness-law-no-fakes-copyright

# ? Oct 16, 2023 18:23

thrawn527: Mar 27, 2004; Thrawn/Pellaeon
Studying the art of terrorists
To keep you safe

Jerusalem posted:

To bring things slightly more back on topic, Maude being killed off on The Simpsons was a direct result of a pay dispute wasn't it? To the point that there's a joke in one of the later seasons where Homer is sobbing about how he wishes he was rich and gets progressively more upset as he sees the names of the executive producers in the credits and is despairing at how rich they are.... then the voice actors names come up and he goes,"Oh those people are rich too.... not as rich as they should be...." before wailing in pure horror when Matt Groening's name comes up.

Oh god I remember this. "Rich! Rich!"

Edward Mass posted:

If you haven't seem the episode Lisa the Boy Scout, do so. The people who kept watching Fox after the late NFL game were treated to a brilliant piece of storytelling.

Yes, I watched this episode thanks to the TV Couch Chat thread, and it's a late season brilliant episode. Just amazing stuff all around, that I can't even talk about without spoiling.

muscles like this! posted:

IIRC nowadays the primary cast all have special phone lines installed at their homes so they can literally phone in their performances.

Ah, the Frank Welker clause.

# ? Oct 16, 2023 19:06

Timby: Dec 23, 2006; Your mother!

Variety posted:

Talks broke down last week between the major studios and SAG-AFTRA, with the studios saying that the gap between the two sides is �too great� to continue productive negotiations.

Until they can bridge the gap, SAG-AFTRA will remain on strike and the entertainment industry will remain shut down.

So how big is that gap?

About $480 million a year.

That�s the difference between what SAG-AFTRA wants in a new streaming residual formula � $500 million � and what the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is currently willing to pay � $20 million.

The two sides are at odds on other issues as well, including artificial intelligence and increases in minimum rates. But it was the vast gap on streaming residuals that prompted the breakdown in talks.

Union leaders have said they expected to keep negotiating, and were taken by surprise when the AMPTP walked away from the table. But according to the AMPTP, the union gave an ultimatum, demanding that the studios agree to its �untenable� proposal for a per-subscriber tax or else the strike would continue.

Streaming residuals have been central to both the writers and actors strikes.

The WGA won a bonus for the most-watched made-for-streaming shows. The WGA was able to establish the principle that successful shows on streaming should pay more. But to do that, it was willing to settle for a relatively small amount of money � around $5 million a year at the outset, according to sources. (The WGA did not respond to a request for comment.)

SAG-AFTRA is aiming significantly higher. The guild has proposed that each streaming platform should pay 57 cents per subscriber per year. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union�s chief negotiator, has said the sum amounts to less than a postage stamp per subscriber � a first-class stamp now costs 66 cents � or $500 million annually across all platforms.

That money would go into a jointly administered fund. The trustees of the fund would distribute it to actors whose projects appear on the platforms. According to the union, the funds would presumably be allocated based on viewership of each of the shows.

SAG-AFTRA has discarded an earlier proposal that would rely on Parrot Analytics, a third-party data provider, to assign value to each of the shows. Instead, the trustees would use the platforms� viewership data, which the platforms have already agreed to provide to the WGA.

The trustees would also have to determine how to divide the residuals among the cast of each show. Under current structures, residuals are paid out based either on �time and salary units� or a �ratable distribution formula,� otherwise known as a �3-2-1� formula. Under either method, series regulars get more than guest stars, who get more than day players.

The AMPTP, meanwhile, is offering essentially the same proposal approved by the WGA. Under the WGA contract, which was ratified two weeks ago on a 99% vote, writers on successful shows a 50% bonus on their fixed residual. Shows will qualify if their domestic views reach the equivalent of 20% of the domestic subscriber base within 90 days.

About a quarter of made-for-streaming shows would get the bonus, according to data the studios shared with the WGA.

According to Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, it would cost four to five times as much to apply that provision to the actors. SAG-AFTRA has said it understands that the studios� offer would pay out about $20 million a year.

This isn't ending anytime soon.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:22

Edward Mass: Sep 14, 2011; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
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I give it another month before the networks buckle. Spring�s coming soon, and if there isn�t a new lineup for television the ad revenue is going to make heads roll.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:40

Mordiceius: Nov 10, 2007; If you think calling me names is gonna get a rise out me, think again. I like my life as an idiot!

Edward Mass posted:

I give it another month before the networks buckle. Spring�s coming soon, and if there isn�t a new lineup for television the ad revenue is going to make heads roll.

Spring is already hosed. We're not getting anything new on TV until next fall.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:40

Pinterest Mom: Jun 9, 2009

It's interesting that the unions don't seem to be settling for what the previous one got. This AMPTP ask is a lot bigger and more significant than what the WGA asked for streaming. It's only like 0.3% of revenue, but the AMPTP successfully avoided giving the WGA a direct cut and I assume they really want to avoid doing that here too.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:44

Tree Reformat: Apr 2, 2022; by Fluffdaddy

And The ~~Beat~~ Strike Goes On, Dun-Na-Na-Naaah

Mordiceius posted:

Spring is already hosed. We're not getting anything new on TV until next fall.

It's gonna be amazing to have the 2024 election year and have the usual distraction stream cut-off during it.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:50

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Pinterest Mom posted:

It's interesting that the unions don't seem to be settling for what the previous one got. This AMPTP ask is a lot bigger and more significant than what the WGA asked for streaming. It's only like 0.3% of revenue, but the AMPTP successfully avoided giving the WGA a direct cut and I assume they really want to avoid doing that here too.

I'm fairly certain it's illegal for the unions to compare notes on what they're negotiating for. Which is bullshit.

# ? Oct 18, 2023 01:55

Pinterest Mom: Jun 9, 2009

Soonmot posted:

I'm fairly certain it's illegal for the unions to compare notes on what they're negotiating for. Which is bullshit.

The deals that the DGA and WGA got are public, it'd be hard for SAG-AFTRA to not know what was in the WGA contract!

And in practice, some of the elements of the WGA deal, especially the wage increases, were explicitly justified as "this is what DGA got so it's what you get too". I bet the AMPTP assumed that SAG-AFTRA would accept mechanisms similar to what the writers got and negotiate hard on issues specific to their members, I'm not surprised they were taken aback by that proposal, it's pretty ambitious.

Pinterest Mom fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Oct 18, 2023

# ? Oct 18, 2023 02:08

theflyingexecutive: Apr 22, 2007

Mordiceius posted:

Spring is already hosed. We're not getting anything new on TV until next fall.

Network shows could spin up and deliver episodes in under a month for hourlong dramas. I've worked on network shows where post would get (rightfully) antsy if there wasn't a midday film drop because that half day represented a significant amount of their lead time.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 06:28

VorpalBunny: May 1, 2009; Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

Mordiceius posted:

Spring is already hosed. We're not getting anything new on TV until next fall.

They're buying Canadian shows!
https://deadline.com/2023/10/the-cw-picks-up-wild-cards-sight-unseen-canadian-dramas-1235571688/

Or making them in Canada!
https://deadline.com/2023/10/law-order-toronto-criminal-intent-cast-1235573063/

# ? Oct 19, 2023 06:49

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

...Why Criminal Intent specifically? Like half the point of that show was D'Onofrio or Goldblum doing TV.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 15:09

Fezz: Aug 31, 2001; You should feel ashamed.

It probably has something to do with CI being Rene Balcer's baby and he's Canadian. Fingers crossed, he brings back Olivia D'Abo.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 15:21

Pinterest Mom: Jun 9, 2009

Excited for Americans getting intrigued by everybody referring to prosecutors as "the Crown".

# ? Oct 19, 2023 15:56

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

https://youtu.be/5JDHYvu403s?si=y2Be5f6iyFThsnj6

Already done.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 20:37

Lovely Joe Stalin: Jun 12, 2007; Our Lovely Wang

Bradley Walsh being the first name in those credits is hilarious and will go over the head of any non-UK viewer.

He's regional theatre Christmas panto-level actor who somehow ended up on terrible prime time soap operas. The idea of him in a gritty police procedural is both very funny, and kind of offensive to the concept of acting.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 21:03

Gaz-L: Jan 28, 2009

He's actually a totally competent actor and was probably the best part of L&O: UK. He was basically playing Briscoe.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 21:04

Island Nation: Jun 20, 2006; Trust No One

I recogize him mostly from The Chase but Wikipedia he started both at roughly the same time.

I suppose Brits have to be a lot more versatile in talent with regard to work whereas one can be pigeonholed quickly in America.

# ? Oct 19, 2023 21:25

Lovely Joe Stalin: Jun 12, 2007; Our Lovely Wang

Gaz-L posted:

He's actually a totally competent actor

I will fight you !

# ? Oct 19, 2023 21:26

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

Bradley Walsh was one of the best things about the last 3 seasons of Doctor Who (which sadly isn't saying much, they wasted Jodie Whittaker :smith:

)

# ? Oct 20, 2023 00:41

Anticheese: Feb 13, 2008; $60,000,000 sexbot

This just came up on my timeline.

https://twitter.com/sagaftra/status/1715854531874210186

# ? Oct 22, 2023 08:04

fart blood: Sep 13, 2008; by VideoGames

That walkout from AMPTP didn�t last long at all. I guess they realized the bluff wasn�t working? What happened?

# ? Oct 22, 2023 19:14

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

It's just posturing more than likely.

# ? Oct 22, 2023 19:17

Dawgstar: Jul 15, 2017

AMPTP using Michael Scott's rules for negotiating. Next they will try mumbling their offer so Fran Drescher can't hear it very well.

# ? Oct 22, 2023 19:30

LividLiquid: Apr 13, 2002

It blows my mind that if they were just a little less greedy, they could've hurt the actors and writers. But since none of them were making any loving money anyway, striking wasn't that big a change, giving them SO much more power than they would've had otherwise.

Reminds me of how this great societal awakening to how capitalism sucks, actually, could've been prevented by the ultra wealthy if they all just decided to be 1% less wealthy and enfranchised enough people to keep believing a ridiculous system is merely broken and in need of a fix than rotten to its core.

# ? Oct 22, 2023 21:03

fart blood: Sep 13, 2008; by VideoGames

Talks today didn�t go all that great apparently.

# ? Oct 25, 2023 03:50

Mordiceius: Nov 10, 2007; If you think calling me names is gonna get a rise out me, think again. I like my life as an idiot!

https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1717577368326246507

# ? Oct 26, 2023 18:45

OldSenileGuy: Mar 13, 2001

lol how many times are they gonna try this tactic

# ? Oct 26, 2023 18:45

Dawgstar: Jul 15, 2017

They couldn't even, as their stated goal said, starve out the writers and the writers were even more broke.

# ? Oct 26, 2023 19:17

Tree Reformat: Apr 2, 2022; by Fluffdaddy

The American Media Propaganda Machine is sabotaging itself just before a presidential election year, and I am so here for it.

# ? Oct 26, 2023 22:36

Khanstant: Apr 5, 2007

I hope you're right because I'm seeing next year to be a wasteland of reruns and exploring ancient shows yet unseen to avoid seeing whatever cursed crap they put out.

# ? Oct 26, 2023 22:44

feedmyleg: Dec 25, 2004

Exploring ancient shows yet unseen is the best, though

# ? Oct 26, 2023 22:54

fart blood: Sep 13, 2008; by VideoGames

OldSenileGuy posted:

lol how many times are they gonna try this tactic

Studio executives are incredibly stupid.

# ? Oct 27, 2023 00:31

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# ? Oct 27, 2023 03:53

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > WGA/SAG-AFTRA 2023 Strike Post-Mortem

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