In today's episode, Ramin Setoodeh, Variety's co-Editor in Chief, breaks down the Power of Young Hollywood Issue and why Tyla, Sam Nivola and Finn Wolfhard are this year's honorees. And Gene Maddaus, Variety's senior media reporter, details the WGA West's upcoming election and the priorities that are emerging for the guild's 2026 contract talks.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Wednesday, August sixth, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
LA He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:30):
we'll talk with Ramin Setuda about our annual Power of
Young Hollywood issue and what it takes for rising stars
to make the cut. Then we'll hear from Gene Modis,
Variety's senior media reporter. He'll talk about what is shaping
up as the priority to do list for leaders of
the Writers Guild of America. Believe it or not, a
new round of AMPTP contract talks are just around the corner.
(00:55):
Before we get to that, here are a few headlines
just in this morning that you need to know. August
twenty first is the launch date for the ESPN standalone
streaming app. WrestleMania and other WWE live events are moving
to the ESPN app next year, after most recently being
on Peacock. No subscriber numbers for you. Disney is co
(01:19):
signing with Netflix on the idea of not releasing quarterly
subscriber numbers for its streaming platforms anymore. We'll still get updates,
just not quarterly. And finally, all roads lead through Disney Plus.
Hulu will be formally integrated into the Disney Plus app.
That means you won't have to back out of Disney
(01:39):
Plus to launch Hulu anymore. This is a big deal
because every streamer in studio is trying to offer viewers
seamless movement within their walled gardens of content. Our analysis
of Disney's fiscal third quarter and much more can be
found on Variety dot com. Right now, there was some
softness in the numbers that spooked Wall Street. Disney shares
(02:03):
were down this morning in the first few hours of trading.
Now we turn to conversations with Friday journalists about news
and trends in show business today. I'm so happy to
have my friend and my partner in journalism remain Stitute
of Righty co editor in chief join me. Ramen gives
us the lowdown on how we pull together every year
(02:23):
our Young Hollywood issue. This year, singer Tyler and actor
Sam Navola and Finn Wolfhart join a proud list of
folks that we have spotlighted as rockets to watch. Ramin Setuda,
my co editor in chief for three years, Thanks for
joining me today.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Hi, Cynthia. Yes, we celebrated our three year anniversary of
running Brady together on August first. It's very, very exciting
for me to be on the podcast and to talk
about our Young Hollywood issue, which is out on newsstands
this week.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's one of our biggest of the year, it's one
of our glossiest of the year. And remain one hundred
percent this is your baby, tell me the origin story
of power of Young Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's a chance for our editors at for I to
celebrate the future of Hollywood. So every other week of
the year, we're obviously covering all the big business stories
in the industry and what is happening and moguls in
the industry and the decision makers in the industry, and
this is the issue that looks forward to the people
in the entertainment industry who will be running Hollywood in
(03:24):
the future, and some of them already are. Some of
them have many empires and are producing art and work
that are reaching millions and millions of fans. Like our
three cover stars, we have Tayla on the cover, written
in a profile by Tanya Garcia, one of our music reporters.
We have Sam Novola from The White Lotus in a
(03:44):
really wonderful profile by Ethan Chanfield where they went to
an East Village restaurant and had a very long, engaging conversation.
And then we have Finn Wolfhard in a long form
profile by Tachiana Siegel that started actually in Sundance earlier
this year. Tatiana has been working on this profile for
the last eight months and he talks about Stranger Things
(04:06):
ending and the final scene in Stranger Things. I think
there's going to be a lot of interest in this story.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Just to use this year's class as an example, Tyla
has been on our radar for more than a year,
long before she was wearing sand at the met Ball
Finn Wolfhard. One stat that stuck with me from Tatiana's
profile is that inside of a couple of years, at
the age of twenty two, he has made seventeen won
seven features in his downtime from five seasons of Stranger Things.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Dam Navola talks about at the age of twenty one.
He has a production company and he wants to make
his own movies, which I found to be very impressive
because when I was twenty one, I wasn't thinking about that.
But some of our previous power of young Hollywood alumnis
include Zendeia was on the cover, Sean Mendes was on
the cover. We had Maluma, we had Magan the Stallion.
And it's been really exciting seeing the careers of some
(04:56):
of our cover stars evolve and watching them get even
bigger and bigger since we've profiled them.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Listeners, I just want to stress that the selection of
this is something that you work on all year. What
makes somebody stand out to you? There is that intangible something?
Can you try to define it? For us?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
We spend a lot of time discussing who should be
on the carver of this issue. We do a lot
of editorial meetings, people brainstorm, people pitch for this issue.
In particular, I always ask a lot of our reporters
who are in their twenties two weigh in and to
tell me who they think represents the future of Hollywood
and who they think is cool. And often they'll come
up with names, and sometimes I'm not as familiar with
(05:35):
some of the names that they pitch, but they always
have really good ideas and really good suggestions for this issue.
In addition to our three cover stars, we also have
our Impact List, so we look at the actors who
are really making a difference, the producers that are really
making difference, the artists that are really making a difference.
And for the first time, we have our New Leaders
List in this issue, so we have forty one executives
(05:56):
under the age of forty who are making big change
in big strides in Hollywood. And then we have our
ten assistants to watch. So this issue is full of
names that you should know. Maybe you're not familiar with
every single name in this week's issue, but you will
be for sure in the months and years to come.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And the New Leaders is also a very competitive process.
We've had incredible people come through that and it really
is something that we all take very seriously, we talk about,
we argue about sometimes. Again, I cannot believe the number
of career opportunities and avenues. Everybody is the Finn wolf
Hard model of doing so much at such a young age.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I think what's really changed that for this generation is
the way in which they can express their artistic point
of view and their work on social media. Tyla released
Water online and then became a huge phenomenon. And now
she's released her first album and was at Coachella and
she was at Paris Fashion Week, and so she's obviously
become huge, but without the access to being able to
(06:59):
release her music online it used to be the avenues
were very limited, and so now you can have a
lot of our artists talk about the way in which
they're doing their art on social media or posting their
work on Instagram or YouTube and getting people excited about
their work and getting deals through those means. So it's
(07:20):
interesting to see the way in which the talent and
our issue they've come up and their pathway to success
is very, very different and very than it used to be.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
And it's very interesting too if you read the profiles,
each of them talk about their relationship with social media,
their relationship with fans, and of course no two people
come to it at the same way, so it really
is a fascinating glimpse. It's a fantastic issue. It really
is like watch this space and look at these names,
because in ten years time they're going to be running
(07:49):
the business. Not surprisingly, Power of Young Hollywood is one
of our most banging parties of the year. What are
you looking forward to at this year's event on Thursday
in La.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I really really love this party. It is a great
networking opportunity and it's a great chance for everyone on
our lists to meet in person. And I just have
so much great memories of the years in which we've
done this party and the way in which we've brought
everyone in the industry together to celebrate the future of Hollywood,
and the Red Carpet is always really really fun. Angela
(08:21):
Jackson will be hosting our Red Carpeate live show and
encourage everyone to check that out.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I remember very well last year Sabrina Carpenter was one
of our honorees and she was just ascendant at that moment.
It's a cliche, folks, but there is something about star power.
There is something about that indefinable it and Sabrina Carpenter
had as she walked into our event and just watching
how she could command the room and turn heads.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Thank you so much. I want to thank Variety, and
I want to thank Ramin, and I want to thank
my mom and my dad for getting me to earth,
and I want to thank my team for how hard
they work and myself for how hard I work.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Ramin, thank you for all that you've done to keep
us on the razor's edge of the cutting edge.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Appreciate it, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Next up, Gene Madison, I put our heads together to
read some tea leaves related to the Writers Guild of America.
The WGA West is preparing to elect a new president
next month, and believe it or not, it's almost time
for AMPTP contract talks again. There's not much suspense around
the WGA election. Gene explains why. Gene maddis Thanks for
(09:39):
joining me, Happy to do it well. Gene, the story
you filed this week, it was literally a matter of time,
just as sture as the leaves turn in the fall
in the east, there as the calendar starts to needge
towards twenty twenty six, hard to believe the guild contract
talks are coming up next year. You wisely went out
and shook the trees and talked to people about how
(10:01):
are people feeling. Jeane, tell us what's going on with
the WGA West election for president and officers in some
board seats. That will be held in September.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Sure, the current president, Meredith Steam is termed out. She
served two terms and you can't serve three in a row,
so she is termed out. The incumbent Vice president, Michelle mulroney,
is the only candidate for president, so she will be
the president of the guild once the election is concluded.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Right there, though, the fact that Michelle is running unopposed,
does that indicate that this is a fairly rare moment
of harmony, that there's no competing vision of what the
guild needs to do in the coming contract in the
coming years.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
It is interesting all these different guilds have different cultures,
and for instance, Iotzi Matt Loeb was just re elected
president by acclamation. They didn't even take a vote, and
he will have that job until he dies or until
he decides he wants to do something else, because that's
just how that work work. But in the WGA, they
do take the elections quite seriously and they do have
(11:05):
a sort of pro competition policy. We really would like
to see at least two candidates in these races, and
they have a committee whose job is to go out
and find candidates. If they don't have enough people volunteering
to do it this year is unusual, and that they
only have one candidate for president, and it's Michelle mulroney,
but the other candidates, the other contest, they do have
multiple candidates for.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
One of the big issues that people are going to
be talking about is that there has been such a
sharp drop in employment and you have data in your
story to show it. Can you talk about that dynamic
and how you think that's going to play out in
this election and when the contract talks next year.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
One of the candidates put it in his statement, there's
three issues, and its jobs, jobs, jobs. The peak of
PEAKTV in twenty twenty two is the almost seven thousand
paid writing jobs in the TV in film, and now
it's down to fifty two hundred, and that's only in
two years, and that is as low as it's been
since twenty thirteen. So there was just a massive build
(12:05):
up over ten years and it's all evaporated in the
last two years. And so that is just the overriding
factor in everything. Just a huge issue. It's not news.
We've known for a couple of years that the industry
was struggling in a serious way, but it's just obviously
reconfirmed by the WGA data and by just what people
are saying and feeling and talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
We rode the boom and now we are absolutely feeling
the bust. It's also coming amid this seismic generational shift
in the way people consume entertainment. For people that are
in the business of writing long form movies and TV show,
all of this has to give them some pause in
terms of long term future. One response to the changing landscape,
(12:47):
mulroney and others are talking about a need to generate
an organizing campaign around YouTubers, which that is a new
frontier for the WJA West. The WJA East, of course,
has spent a lot of time in the last ten
years organizing digital writers and that has, you know, not
without some storm and draw within that union that has
formerly been old school television writers, film writers, TV newswriters,
(13:11):
some sports writers. Let's talk specifically what they want to
do in terms of a YouTube organizing drive.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
It was surprising how many folks brought this up in
their candidate statements, that that was a focus that they
need to go look at YouTube and start talking about
organizing YouTube. And you would look at YouTube and not
instantly think there's a whole bunch of TV writers here
waiting to be organized, like that's just not a format,
doesn't really look like that. But the argument is actually
(13:37):
a lot of this stuff is written, and more and
more of it is more and more professional. Traditionally, the
concern would be, these people are not making that much
money compared to a TV writer, compared to a film writer.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Even five years ago, the economic basis for a YouTube show,
there would be no world in which you could have
a union contract with residuals. The money just wasn't there.
But we have seen and we report on it, you know,
almost daily, and writing brand deals brand money coming directly
into content is changing that game, right.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But still, if you're like a writer for Mister Beast,
like you're not making what a TV writer is making.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
You don't have a thick contract that says this is
the minimum before I write five words. You definitely don't
have that.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
So I think that would be historically a concern, but
not currently a concern. I think people are really focused
on that as if this is what television is going
to be. If Netflix thinks YouTube is its number one competitor,
then you know we're organized at Netflix, but we're not
organized at YouTube and we need to be so I
think that's something that bears a lot of attention going forward.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It raises sort of a socratic question. Are all YouTubers creators?
Are all creators writers? Where's the line in the YouTuber
between the writer and the performer? And does it even
matter in this day and age?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
This came up a decade ago where trying to organize
reality TV writers, what is the line do you have
to figure out in this complicated production process? What of
that is writing and that because that's the part that
they can represent.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And we know that there's nothing touchy at all about
the question of where the writing and the directing and
the producing stops. Jean, Let's talk a little bit more
about the health plan. It's very clear from the statements
that members that are engaged know that there is a
need for some serious books and an influx. And that's
going to mean that, you know, the guild is going
to have to go to the companies and say, Okay,
how much are you going to kick in? And that
(15:34):
inevitably is going to change some of the dynamic of
the negotiation. What's going on here this time?
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Yeah, and I think what's interesting is usually when you're
talking about the health and pension plan, that's something you
hear coming from the employer side. The employer is the
one saying, well, we'd like to give you more of
a raise, but look at your health plan. It's really struggling.
We're going to have to put a lot of money
into the health plan. But for the union to say
we really need to focus on shoring up our health plan,
(16:00):
to me, it sounds like expectation setting from the leadership
to the members.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Well, Gene, plenty of stuff to watch here as we
get into the fall. Thank you as always for tracking
it all for us.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
YEP, happy to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
As we close out today's episode, here are a few
things we're watching for Warner Brothers. Discovery releases its second
quarter earnings before the bell Thursday morning. We'll be up
early with all the news. The Stand Up to Cancer
TV special will be back on August fifteenth. Once again,
it will run on more than thirty channels across the
(16:35):
TV dial starting at eight pm. This year's performers include
Jelly Roll, The Jonas Brothers, and Gavin de Grau, And
of course Thursday will be a momentous day in Hollywood.
Skydance Media is set to take the keys of Paramount
Global as the eight billion dollar transaction formally closes. We'll
have a special Paramount themed episode of Daily Variety for
(16:57):
you tomorrow, looking at the company's path, fast, present, and
future before we go. Congrats to Nikki Kazakos, she's been
promoted to VP of Global Corporate Communications for Mattel. She
worked at Netflix, NBC Universal, and Discovery before joining the
toymaker in twenty twenty one. Thanks for listening. This episode
(17:18):
was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton, with contributions
from Ramine Setuta and Gene Mattis. It was edited by
Aaron Greenwald stix Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a
review at the podcast platform of your choice, and please
tune in tomorrow for another episode of Daily Variety
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Wednesday, August sixth, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
LA He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:30):
we'll talk with Ramin Setuda about our annual Power of
Young Hollywood issue and what it takes for rising stars
to make the cut. Then we'll hear from Gene Modis,
Variety's senior media reporter. He'll talk about what is shaping
up as the priority to do list for leaders of
the Writers Guild of America. Believe it or not, a
new round of AMPTP contract talks are just around the corner.
(00:55):
Before we get to that, here are a few headlines
just in this morning that you need to know. August
twenty first is the launch date for the ESPN standalone
streaming app. WrestleMania and other WWE live events are moving
to the ESPN app next year, after most recently being
on Peacock. No subscriber numbers for you. Disney is co
(01:19):
signing with Netflix on the idea of not releasing quarterly
subscriber numbers for its streaming platforms anymore. We'll still get updates,
just not quarterly. And finally, all roads lead through Disney Plus.
Hulu will be formally integrated into the Disney Plus app.
That means you won't have to back out of Disney
(01:39):
Plus to launch Hulu anymore. This is a big deal
because every streamer in studio is trying to offer viewers
seamless movement within their walled gardens of content. Our analysis
of Disney's fiscal third quarter and much more can be
found on Variety dot com. Right now, there was some
softness in the numbers that spooked Wall Street. Disney shares
(02:03):
were down this morning in the first few hours of trading.
Now we turn to conversations with Friday journalists about news
and trends in show business today. I'm so happy to
have my friend and my partner in journalism remain Stitute
of Righty co editor in chief join me. Ramen gives
us the lowdown on how we pull together every year
(02:23):
our Young Hollywood issue. This year, singer Tyler and actor
Sam Navola and Finn Wolfhart join a proud list of
folks that we have spotlighted as rockets to watch. Ramin Setuda,
my co editor in chief for three years, Thanks for
joining me today.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Hi, Cynthia. Yes, we celebrated our three year anniversary of
running Brady together on August first. It's very, very exciting
for me to be on the podcast and to talk
about our Young Hollywood issue, which is out on newsstands
this week.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's one of our biggest of the year, it's one
of our glossiest of the year. And remain one hundred
percent this is your baby, tell me the origin story
of power of Young Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
It's a chance for our editors at for I to
celebrate the future of Hollywood. So every other week of
the year, we're obviously covering all the big business stories
in the industry and what is happening and moguls in
the industry and the decision makers in the industry, and
this is the issue that looks forward to the people
in the entertainment industry who will be running Hollywood in
(03:24):
the future, and some of them already are. Some of
them have many empires and are producing art and work
that are reaching millions and millions of fans. Like our
three cover stars, we have Tayla on the cover, written
in a profile by Tanya Garcia, one of our music reporters.
We have Sam Novola from The White Lotus in a
(03:44):
really wonderful profile by Ethan Chanfield where they went to
an East Village restaurant and had a very long, engaging conversation.
And then we have Finn Wolfhard in a long form
profile by Tachiana Siegel that started actually in Sundance earlier
this year. Tatiana has been working on this profile for
the last eight months and he talks about Stranger Things
(04:06):
ending and the final scene in Stranger Things. I think
there's going to be a lot of interest in this story.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Just to use this year's class as an example, Tyla
has been on our radar for more than a year,
long before she was wearing sand at the met Ball
Finn Wolfhard. One stat that stuck with me from Tatiana's
profile is that inside of a couple of years, at
the age of twenty two, he has made seventeen won
seven features in his downtime from five seasons of Stranger Things.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Dam Navola talks about at the age of twenty one.
He has a production company and he wants to make
his own movies, which I found to be very impressive
because when I was twenty one, I wasn't thinking about that.
But some of our previous power of young Hollywood alumnis
include Zendeia was on the cover, Sean Mendes was on
the cover. We had Maluma, we had Magan the Stallion.
And it's been really exciting seeing the careers of some
(04:56):
of our cover stars evolve and watching them get even
bigger and bigger since we've profiled them.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Listeners, I just want to stress that the selection of
this is something that you work on all year. What
makes somebody stand out to you? There is that intangible something?
Can you try to define it? For us?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
We spend a lot of time discussing who should be
on the carver of this issue. We do a lot
of editorial meetings, people brainstorm, people pitch for this issue.
In particular, I always ask a lot of our reporters
who are in their twenties two weigh in and to
tell me who they think represents the future of Hollywood
and who they think is cool. And often they'll come
up with names, and sometimes I'm not as familiar with
(05:35):
some of the names that they pitch, but they always
have really good ideas and really good suggestions for this issue.
In addition to our three cover stars, we also have
our Impact List, so we look at the actors who
are really making a difference, the producers that are really
making difference, the artists that are really making a difference.
And for the first time, we have our New Leaders
List in this issue, so we have forty one executives
(05:56):
under the age of forty who are making big change
in big strides in Hollywood. And then we have our
ten assistants to watch. So this issue is full of
names that you should know. Maybe you're not familiar with
every single name in this week's issue, but you will
be for sure in the months and years to come.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And the New Leaders is also a very competitive process.
We've had incredible people come through that and it really
is something that we all take very seriously, we talk about,
we argue about sometimes. Again, I cannot believe the number
of career opportunities and avenues. Everybody is the Finn wolf
Hard model of doing so much at such a young age.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
I think what's really changed that for this generation is
the way in which they can express their artistic point
of view and their work on social media. Tyla released
Water online and then became a huge phenomenon. And now
she's released her first album and was at Coachella and
she was at Paris Fashion Week, and so she's obviously
become huge, but without the access to being able to
(06:59):
release her music online it used to be the avenues
were very limited, and so now you can have a
lot of our artists talk about the way in which
they're doing their art on social media or posting their
work on Instagram or YouTube and getting people excited about
their work and getting deals through those means. So it's
(07:20):
interesting to see the way in which the talent and
our issue they've come up and their pathway to success
is very, very different and very than it used to be.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
And it's very interesting too if you read the profiles,
each of them talk about their relationship with social media,
their relationship with fans, and of course no two people
come to it at the same way, so it really
is a fascinating glimpse. It's a fantastic issue. It really
is like watch this space and look at these names,
because in ten years time they're going to be running
(07:49):
the business. Not surprisingly, Power of Young Hollywood is one
of our most banging parties of the year. What are
you looking forward to at this year's event on Thursday
in La.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I really really love this party. It is a great
networking opportunity and it's a great chance for everyone on
our lists to meet in person. And I just have
so much great memories of the years in which we've
done this party and the way in which we've brought
everyone in the industry together to celebrate the future of Hollywood,
and the Red Carpet is always really really fun. Angela
(08:21):
Jackson will be hosting our Red Carpeate live show and
encourage everyone to check that out.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I remember very well last year Sabrina Carpenter was one
of our honorees and she was just ascendant at that moment.
It's a cliche, folks, but there is something about star power.
There is something about that indefinable it and Sabrina Carpenter
had as she walked into our event and just watching
how she could command the room and turn heads.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Thank you so much. I want to thank Variety, and
I want to thank Ramin, and I want to thank
my mom and my dad for getting me to earth,
and I want to thank my team for how hard
they work and myself for how hard I work.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Ramin, thank you for all that you've done to keep
us on the razor's edge of the cutting edge.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Appreciate it, thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Next up, Gene Madison, I put our heads together to
read some tea leaves related to the Writers Guild of America.
The WGA West is preparing to elect a new president
next month, and believe it or not, it's almost time
for AMPTP contract talks again. There's not much suspense around
the WGA election. Gene explains why. Gene maddis Thanks for
(09:39):
joining me, Happy to do it well. Gene, the story
you filed this week, it was literally a matter of time,
just as sture as the leaves turn in the fall
in the east, there as the calendar starts to needge
towards twenty twenty six, hard to believe the guild contract
talks are coming up next year. You wisely went out
and shook the trees and talked to people about how
(10:01):
are people feeling. Jeane, tell us what's going on with
the WGA West election for president and officers in some
board seats. That will be held in September.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Sure, the current president, Meredith Steam is termed out. She
served two terms and you can't serve three in a row,
so she is termed out. The incumbent Vice president, Michelle mulroney,
is the only candidate for president, so she will be
the president of the guild once the election is concluded.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Right there, though, the fact that Michelle is running unopposed,
does that indicate that this is a fairly rare moment
of harmony, that there's no competing vision of what the
guild needs to do in the coming contract in the
coming years.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
It is interesting all these different guilds have different cultures,
and for instance, Iotzi Matt Loeb was just re elected
president by acclamation. They didn't even take a vote, and
he will have that job until he dies or until
he decides he wants to do something else, because that's
just how that work work. But in the WGA, they
do take the elections quite seriously and they do have
(11:05):
a sort of pro competition policy. We really would like
to see at least two candidates in these races, and
they have a committee whose job is to go out
and find candidates. If they don't have enough people volunteering
to do it this year is unusual, and that they
only have one candidate for president, and it's Michelle mulroney,
but the other candidates, the other contest, they do have
multiple candidates for.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
One of the big issues that people are going to
be talking about is that there has been such a
sharp drop in employment and you have data in your
story to show it. Can you talk about that dynamic
and how you think that's going to play out in
this election and when the contract talks next year.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
One of the candidates put it in his statement, there's
three issues, and its jobs, jobs, jobs. The peak of
PEAKTV in twenty twenty two is the almost seven thousand
paid writing jobs in the TV in film, and now
it's down to fifty two hundred, and that's only in
two years, and that is as low as it's been
since twenty thirteen. So there was just a massive build
(12:05):
up over ten years and it's all evaporated in the
last two years. And so that is just the overriding
factor in everything. Just a huge issue. It's not news.
We've known for a couple of years that the industry
was struggling in a serious way, but it's just obviously
reconfirmed by the WGA data and by just what people
are saying and feeling and talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
We rode the boom and now we are absolutely feeling
the bust. It's also coming amid this seismic generational shift
in the way people consume entertainment. For people that are
in the business of writing long form movies and TV show,
all of this has to give them some pause in
terms of long term future. One response to the changing landscape,
(12:47):
mulroney and others are talking about a need to generate
an organizing campaign around YouTubers, which that is a new
frontier for the WJA West. The WJA East, of course,
has spent a lot of time in the last ten
years organizing digital writers and that has, you know, not
without some storm and draw within that union that has
formerly been old school television writers, film writers, TV newswriters,
(13:11):
some sports writers. Let's talk specifically what they want to
do in terms of a YouTube organizing drive.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
It was surprising how many folks brought this up in
their candidate statements, that that was a focus that they
need to go look at YouTube and start talking about
organizing YouTube. And you would look at YouTube and not
instantly think there's a whole bunch of TV writers here
waiting to be organized, like that's just not a format,
doesn't really look like that. But the argument is actually
(13:37):
a lot of this stuff is written, and more and
more of it is more and more professional. Traditionally, the
concern would be, these people are not making that much
money compared to a TV writer, compared to a film writer.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Even five years ago, the economic basis for a YouTube show,
there would be no world in which you could have
a union contract with residuals. The money just wasn't there.
But we have seen and we report on it, you know,
almost daily, and writing brand deals brand money coming directly
into content is changing that game, right.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But still, if you're like a writer for Mister Beast,
like you're not making what a TV writer is making.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
You don't have a thick contract that says this is
the minimum before I write five words. You definitely don't
have that.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
So I think that would be historically a concern, but
not currently a concern. I think people are really focused
on that as if this is what television is going
to be. If Netflix thinks YouTube is its number one competitor,
then you know we're organized at Netflix, but we're not
organized at YouTube and we need to be so I
think that's something that bears a lot of attention going forward.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
It raises sort of a socratic question. Are all YouTubers creators?
Are all creators writers? Where's the line in the YouTuber
between the writer and the performer? And does it even
matter in this day and age?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
This came up a decade ago where trying to organize
reality TV writers, what is the line do you have
to figure out in this complicated production process? What of
that is writing and that because that's the part that
they can represent.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
And we know that there's nothing touchy at all about
the question of where the writing and the directing and
the producing stops. Jean, Let's talk a little bit more
about the health plan. It's very clear from the statements
that members that are engaged know that there is a
need for some serious books and an influx. And that's
going to mean that, you know, the guild is going
to have to go to the companies and say, Okay,
how much are you going to kick in? And that
(15:34):
inevitably is going to change some of the dynamic of
the negotiation. What's going on here this time?
Speaker 4 (15:39):
Yeah, and I think what's interesting is usually when you're
talking about the health and pension plan, that's something you
hear coming from the employer side. The employer is the
one saying, well, we'd like to give you more of
a raise, but look at your health plan. It's really struggling.
We're going to have to put a lot of money
into the health plan. But for the union to say
we really need to focus on shoring up our health plan,
(16:00):
to me, it sounds like expectation setting from the leadership
to the members.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Well, Gene, plenty of stuff to watch here as we
get into the fall. Thank you as always for tracking
it all for us.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
YEP, happy to do it.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
As we close out today's episode, here are a few
things we're watching for Warner Brothers. Discovery releases its second
quarter earnings before the bell Thursday morning. We'll be up
early with all the news. The Stand Up to Cancer
TV special will be back on August fifteenth. Once again,
it will run on more than thirty channels across the
(16:35):
TV dial starting at eight pm. This year's performers include
Jelly Roll, The Jonas Brothers, and Gavin de Grau, And
of course Thursday will be a momentous day in Hollywood.
Skydance Media is set to take the keys of Paramount
Global as the eight billion dollar transaction formally closes. We'll
have a special Paramount themed episode of Daily Variety for
(16:57):
you tomorrow, looking at the company's path, fast, present, and
future before we go. Congrats to Nikki Kazakos, she's been
promoted to VP of Global Corporate Communications for Mattel. She
worked at Netflix, NBC Universal, and Discovery before joining the
toymaker in twenty twenty one. Thanks for listening. This episode
(17:18):
was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton, with contributions
from Ramine Setuta and Gene Mattis. It was edited by
Aaron Greenwald stix Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a
review at the podcast platform of your choice, and please
tune in tomorrow for another episode of Daily Variety
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