July 14, 2023 • 41 mins
SAG-AFTRA has joined the WGA in going on strike as negotiations with film and TV studios and producers break down. What does this mean for our beloved podcast? And where to Ariel and Jonathan stand on the topic?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey, everybody. Welcome to the large ner Draun Collider podcast,
the podcast that is usually all about the geeky things
that are happening in the world that we love and
how excited we are about them. I'm Ariel Caston and
when he as always is the ever wonderful Jonathan Strickland.
Oh sorry, he.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Is? That just gonna be the thing?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Now, maybe I don't. I haven't decided, obviously, I'm really
committed to the bit. You can tell heyhow what were
you gonna say?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh no, I was just gonna say, hey, hey, ho ho.
Our normal podcast had to.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Go yeah yeah, so uh, if you haven't been following
the news, uh, sag AFTRA has just gone on strike.
They weren't able to negotiate their a good new contract
with the AMPTP. And that means because I am an
actor and because we both support the strike and what
(01:08):
they are trying to achieve in contract negotiations, that a
lot of the TV and movies and things that we
normally talk about we cannot talk about right now. Part
of it is good faith, and then part of it is,
you know, if I ever want to join the union
and I do stuff that is considered stricken work right now,
and they find out about that when I join the union,
(01:29):
then I can't join the union anymore. Don't know if
this podcast would even get on their radars. But we're
still figuring all of that out.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So and yeah, so what we're doing, Ariel is going
to be looking into and getting some more questions answered,
just so that we have an idea of the parameters.
We do plan to continue recording the show. It's just
that the show may end up having a slightly different
format in the short term while the the negotiations continue.
(02:02):
And honestly, I mean just I'm I don't have a
dog in this fight. I'm not SAG. I had the
opportunity to join, but I didn't because I didn't because
I don't do acting that often. I did one acting
gig that qualified me for SAG, but because I had
no other acting gig at all on my radar, it
(02:24):
just didn't make sense. So I didn't. But I fully
believe in the union. In fact, I do belong to
a union. I belong to the iHeartMedia Podcast Union. But
we want to be in solidarity and we also are
fully on the side of the writers and the actors
(02:45):
who are on strike and the studios, Like, if you
were on the side of the studios, then you must
just love cartoon villains because they have been doing everything
they can to come across as car tunishly greedy and callous.
Like it's it blows my mind. I mean one story
(03:08):
that was covered in Deadline, which by the way, is
owned by a company that in turn is run by
a guy who is part of the AMPTP. That's the
Association of Producers. Interesting, yeah, but Deadline ran an article
about how apparently people in the AMPTP do not plan
(03:29):
to sit down with the writers at all until October
at the earliest, because they figure that by then the
writers will be strapped for cash, they'll be struggling to
pay their mortgage, they'll be struggling to pay their rent,
and they will be in a position where, out of necessity,
they will settle for fewer concessions, which is just plain evil, right, Like,
(03:54):
that's not negotiating in good faith, that's trying. That's setting
a siege. It's like a medieval scene on a fortress.
You cut off all support and you wait for them
to start it out.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Now, I will say, and this is not me playing
Devil's advocate. You know there when you read through articles,
AMPTP has made no official announcement that that is that.
So it's that is their plan. So that's not the corroboration.
It is leaked information, not to say it isn't true.
I mean when you look at strikes and you look
at unions and the people who are negotiating with them
(04:26):
and a strike happens, yes, someone's trying to wait out
the other person to get them to give right, and
it's a sucky situation. Why can't everybody work together for
a better future. But you know, it is important just
to keep that in the back of your mind. For instance,
right before the strike deadline, the SAG negotiation deadline, a
(04:49):
picture popped up online of Frand Dresher, who is the
president of the SAG after a union currently in Italy
with Kim Kardashian I believe, yeah, and a bunch of people,
a bunch of people were like very upset about it
because they thought she was jet setting and partying instead
(05:11):
of negotiating. But what the actual story was, which was
corroborated by the rest of the negotiation board of SAG after,
was that she is also a clothing brand ambassador, which
is a separate job from being an actor, and she
was there doing her job for Dulce and Gabana. I
believe it is she had met Kim Kardashian like ten
minutes earlier, and when she wasn't out doing that job,
(05:33):
she was in her hotel room zooming and texting and
everything with the negotiation boards to be a part of it.
They knew about that conflict going into negotiations, so you know,
and that was obviously made to put out to make
her look bad, right Like, there was definitely media going
around and a bunch of people got really upset, and
rightfully so if I thought the person who was representing
(05:55):
my well being was not taking that seriously, I would
be upset. Took some of the people I know who
are upset are looking and going, oh, I misunderstood the situation.
That's a little bit. That is a large bit of
a bunny trail. But I wouldn't be surprised if the
AMPTP was planning on waiting out the writers. But again
(06:19):
they haven't confirmed it.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
They haven't confirmed it, but that's because you don't confirm
it when someone says the quiet part out loud, and
then you sit there and look and say, oh, everyone's
looking at us, like where the bad guys, because we're
totally acting like bad guys here. I'll say this. They
haven't sat down to renegotiate with the writers since the
strike began more than seventy days ago. That fact, I think,
(06:43):
seems to corroborate the allegations that they are trying. They
are purposefully stalling in order to make the writers desperate
enough to agree to whatever they want. And remember, Aeriel
and I have talked about this before as well. When
it comes to the actors, they're in the same sort
(07:04):
of boat as the writers. Like the vast majority of
actors out there are not necessarily making a living as
an actor, right They may have to hold down other
jobs while also being an actor. We think about the
ginormous Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise or something, but who,
by the way, was in Atlanta promoting one of his movies.
(07:26):
But we think of those folks. We think of the
big movie stars who are signed to multi million dollar
deals per film. But that's the exception. That's like the
half of percent representation of all the actors who are
out there. And so these strikes are really important because
otherwise it can turn acting into something that literally, unless
(07:53):
you're part of that point five percent, you're not going
to make a living doing it. And ultimately that hurts everybody.
It hurts the actors obviously because they can't make a living,
but it also hurts fans because and it even hurts
the studios because it means that people are disincentivized to
pursue a career in entertainment because there's no way to
(08:14):
make a living off of it. And if that happens,
then you don't have any entertainment to make anymore, and
the studios end up shooting themselves in the fund.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I think it might even be less than five percent
of actors. I've been seeing like a ninety seven point
whatever percent working actor thing going around. I think it's
somewhere closer to like three three and a half percent.
But I mean that is true, and a lot of
media outlets don't if they get the nuance, they don't
(08:43):
put it into that article. But I feel like maybe
a lot of them don't even get the nuance because
it's not about the celebrities wanting more money. It is
about the working actor. And if you think about the
fact that a lot of these streaming companies aren't transparent.
One of the things that they've been negotiating on is
and again I'm not a part of the union yet,
I don't qualify yet work in towards it, but you
(09:05):
know I support them. But one of the things I'm
working towards is better metrics for residuals for stream on
streaming shows, shows that show on streaming networks. Because we've
talked about it in the past, streaming networks are very,
very elusive when it comes to how many people watch
their show. When they watch the show, like that's very
private information to them. But when shows used to be
(09:31):
on network television and cable, we'd use things like I
think like Nielsen ratings right to see how many people
would tune into a show, and that's how residuals are based.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
The Nielsen ratings also helped dictate how expensive advertising rates
were for specific blocks of programming, and that's another major
difference with streaming, Like unless it's an ad supported streaming service,
then the revenue is not coming in through advertising, it's
coming in through subscriptions, and that's a massive difference for
(10:03):
the streaming platforms versus something like basic cable or network TV,
because you're making a flat amount based upon the number
of subscribers, and you want that number to go up,
but you will eventually, sooner or later, hit saturation and
you will not get more subscribers than you currently have.
(10:25):
You'll hit a point, if you're lucky, where you're adding
as many as you're losing quarter to quarter. And that,
I think is what has a lot of studios scared
is the thought that, well, it's not like when we're
talking about Must see TV, where we can call for
really high ad rates to run commercials during that block
(10:46):
of programming because it's so popular, and then that revenue
ends up being part of the residuals, and so they're
scared about more costs going out than they're getting revenue
coming in, or rather cutting into profit. It's because, as
Ariel is saying, like, we don't even necessarily know how
many people are subscribed to some of these streaming services.
(11:08):
But that's the problem, right If a whole bunch of
people watch a specific product on a specific streaming platform,
and your residuals are based on the number, but your
revenue is based on subscribers, that's where you start to
run into some really tricky math as well.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, yeah, and you know I talked about back when
we were first looking at the writers might strike about
the fact that, like some of these streaming networks are
losing money where they weren't initially, and so yeah, they're
looking at their profits and what their losses are. And
(11:47):
while I don't feel like that's a good excuse for
not paying your labor what they're due, and I won't
go into some of the anecdotes I've heard from people
who have done stuff for very streaming networks and the
troubles they've had with it outside of that, because that's
all hearsay unless we get one of them on the show.
But yeah, you're right, it's probably more how much they're
(12:12):
gonna make versus making a profit at all. But I
was going to say with the residual argument, like sometimes
I think I talked about this before, Like if you're
gonna qualify for health insurance through the Union, there is
like a hard minimum you have to hit to qualify,
and sometimes those little residual payments, because often they're not
(12:33):
a lot, are like the nickels and dimes that get
you over that border.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So, and for the working actor, that's that's so important
because a lot I heard a quote somewhere and I
haven't haven't confirmed it, but a lot of working actors
aren't even middle class in their wages, right, you know.
And insurance is expensive, so.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, and if something happens to you, then you need
to have that insurance to be able to rely upon it,
especially when you know your job is not a not
a steady gig, but a gig to gig kind of thing.
And there are a lot of elements that are factors
in this. We talked with the Writers Guild about how
(13:15):
AI is one of the concerns because of studios potentially
using AI to generate ideas and then paying writers to
punch up a treatment, and because they didn't come up
with the original treatment, they could end up working at
a lower rate than they would if they had just
been hired to you know, put together the thing in
(13:36):
the first place. But the Screen Actors Guild they're also
concerned about AI. And one of the other big stories
that came out this week was that apparently the AMPTP
wanted to have a clause that would allow them to
do a digital scan of day actors. So these are
(13:57):
people who come in like background and that kind of stuff,
like extras, essentially paid extras, but to be able to
scan them, and then the studio would own that digital
scan in perpetuity, meaning that those folks would get paid
for their one day of work. Then they would not
be called back in to do any additional shooting. The
(14:18):
studio would just use the digital scan and they could
continue to use that digital scan for future productions. So
you know, you would after you scan a certain number
of people, you're like, well, we don't need day actors
anymore because we've got all these digital scans of folks
and they all signed over their their likeness, so we
don't have to pay them anymore. And now we've got
(14:40):
this huge cast of background characters we can have who
are free. And obviously that's a huge, huge problem. There
are a lot of actors who get their start as
extras or day day players or whatever, and that that's
kind of their foot in the door, and without that
(15:02):
then it becomes even harder to manage to make a
living in the industry. And so yeah, that's the kind
of thing that these unions are really guarding against. Are
these policies that would take advantage of people who can't
afford to be taken advantage of. And meanwhile, you're looking
(15:23):
at the salaries for some of these studio heads and
they're in the you know, double digits in the millions,
like twenty million or more, and it really starts to
raise a lot of ugly questions.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Yeah, and like day Player doesn't, Just like Day Player doesn't.
Just that doesn't just mean background and background gets paid
a lot less than an actor with lines, yes, or
a featured actor. Sometimes you can be a guest star
or a co star without any lines. It depends on
the size of your role and the importance of your
(15:59):
role within the film. But yeah, that that is legitive
thing that has come up. I've actually heard one or
two people who have said they've seen it come through
on one of their contracts. That's not okay. I mean
when you think about that, that's a good way to
like get your face put depending on whatever perpetuity clauses
they have to get your face put on. Let's say
a product you don't want to promote, or you know,
(16:20):
get your your head put on an adult star's body
for something.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You know it's or even even just appearing in a
project you never would have agreed to, right, Like, let's say, yeah,
let's say it was a movie that ends up having
like like it's meant to be a mockumentary or even
a documentary, and they decided to use your likeness, and
they're the point of view of the film is one
(16:47):
hundred and eighty degrees in opposite direction of how you feel.
That would stink you would you would be so upset, Like,
you know, if you'd sit there and see, like if
I saw a video a movie of me and uh,
it's a movie that was glorifying violence against animals, I
would be livid.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yes, yes, exactly. It takes away your agency as a person,
which is beyond just a work thing, that's just a
general like civil kindness, kindness, human thing, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, And and that is obviously one of the huge,
huge problems with the deep fake technology that you were referencing,
where you know, putting someone's face on top of a
different performer's body. Uh, that's you know, that's obviously something
that is a problem right now, Like that has been
a problem for a couple of years. Once the deep
fake text started to h to be developed and then
(17:45):
was you know, distributed, and that's terrible on its own.
Like there are entire you know, articles and books and
podcasts that tell the story of how terrible that can
be and how traumatic it can be to the people
that it happens to. And you know, that's kind of
like the nuclear example of the issues we're talking about here.
(18:10):
But yeah, it's like you can see why there's a
need for the unions and for the unions to be
able to take collective action because no single performer has
the leverage to be able to, you know, push back
against this, at least not collectively. And if you were
to determine that every single person had to do this individually,
(18:33):
the vast majority would be unable to do that, either
because they'd be intimidated that they would never get work
or they're just desperate for work because they need to
earn a paycheck. So you know, you have to have
things like unions in order to protect the the you know,
the bottom line, like both the above the line and
(18:54):
below the line performers and crew involved in entertainment or
else they're left to hang out and dry. And yeah,
so anyway, that's me rambling on like crazy, just to
say that that I am one percent in support of
both WGA and SAG. I know Ariel is too, but
I wanted to say it because I don't have I mean,
(19:16):
technically the union i'm in is related to WGA East,
but it's not. We're not on strike. My union is
not on strike. So but I am and I do
support them in solidarity. And I really really hope that
with SAG joining the picket lines, that's going to put
more pressure on the studios to budge a bit, because obviously,
(19:38):
if we're to believe that earlier deadline article, they were
ready to just starve out the writers. But they can't.
You know, they can't do anything now with both actors
and writers on strike, Like you can't develop anything new,
and you can't shoot anything that was in production.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, and they can't even promote things that are coming out.
If this goes on for a long time, there are
a lot of actors that are not going to be
going to like San Diego Comic Con, which is about
to happen. It might affect Dragon Con even you go, well,
that's not a that's more of a fan convention. But
(20:16):
they aren't allowed to talk about their project's past, current
or future if they're attached to the AMPTP is my
understanding Again, I'm trying to get better clarification. But if
that's the case, they can sign autographs, but the panels
might just be right.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Out yeah yeah, which would be kind of weird. I mean,
it's totally understandable, but weird in the sense of like
if you're an attendee and you know it just it
boggles the mind. And also, like imagine things like the Emmys.
We just had the Emmy nominations right, like those just
came out this week, and then you're like, wow, what
(20:53):
if you threw an Emmy's and no one was allowed
to go?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
So there, Yeah, I don't know. Oh, I guess that
wouldn't be There are some things that are I think,
I think are still able to be done, and that's
and I'm not going to give a full list because
some of it's very confused. A lot of it's very confusing.
Quite honestly, I'm pretty sure intol like you're in it
and you start working in those specific contracts, you're like,
what is this? But sagafter and agents and managers are
(21:21):
all very willing to help actors if you're an actor
listening to this, reach out to them even if you're
non union, because they want your help and support too.
So like variety shows, game shows, news. Even though I
think broadcasts like news reporters are under SAGAFTRA, you still
need to report the news. Soaps surprisingly can happen. Certain
(21:44):
smaller podcasts and then commercials are things that can all
still happen, So you might see those, but they won't
be talking about any of their other projects.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Well. The other thing is that you know, remember the
reason why the top were allowed to go forward was
that there was an agreement that no one would write
for it, right Like, like the Tonys was essentially an
improvised awards ceremony. Well that's still going to be true
for the Emmys, so like, it's just that's why I'm like,
(22:17):
why even bother holding them, especially right now, like it
would seem so weird to celebrate stuff when you also
aren't supposed to be promoting anything. It just I think
it doesn't doesn't look good.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
I suspect it'll be canceled because they also I do
recall seeing that for your consideration, campaigns cannot be done,
and those are usually what people do to like promote
things for awards, right, yeah, but also like some smaller
some smaller platforms like for instance, well, there are some
(22:56):
smaller platforms out there that are streamers that are not
a part of the AMPTP, and right now they're also
trying to figure out how to navigate this because most
of them also want to support the strike. So it'll
be very interesting to see how everything shakes out in
the interim, right.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I know that they're like independent streamers and stuff, and
SAG has already released a couple of different statements, or
at least people on behalf of SAG. I don't know
if SAG itself has, but I've seen messages on behalf
of SAG urging like influencers and streamers, people who are
(23:30):
part of the entertainment sphere, but they're not part of
traditional entertainment, right, They're not part of the Hollywood scene,
but they're reaching out and saying, hey, you know, don't
cross picket lines. Like if you're asked to be someone
who would say host an event or show up to
her premiere to help promote a premiering work, don't do
(23:54):
it because the reason why these producers will be reaching
out to you is largely to undermine the effects that
we're trying to have on the industry. So I have
seen those messages going out. Again, I don't think it
was necessarily an official SAG statement, but more like people
who are thinking ahead and that I was seeing it
mostly on social media because obviously that's like the marketplace
(24:19):
and town hall for influencers. So that will be interesting
to see if that actually moves forward, because I could
definitely see Hollywood trying to lean in on that. I'm
very curious if we're going to get any independent little
projects because you know, the last time there was a
(24:41):
strike and it wasn't it wasn't a combined strike because
we haven't had one of those since nineteen sixty. But
when the last time there was one, that's when we
got like Doctor Horrible, and it's because it was completely
outside the normal Hollywood production yes sphere.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
And they are they are making interim agreements for stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, So it'll be interesting to see if anything like
that emerges as a result of this. I will also say,
just out of curiosity and no shame in not knowing
this if you don't, Ariel, because I didn't know it
until I happened to look it up. So Fran Dresher's
president of SAG right. Now, do you know who was
president of SAG back in nineteen sixty, the last time
(25:25):
there was a WGA and SAG combined strike.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Probably not fran Dresher because she's not that old.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
You're right, it is not Fran Dresher. So if that's
your answer, you are technically correct.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
It was Fran Dresher's mother.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
No, No, it was former President of the United States
Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Oh. Interesting, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Because he was a former actor. He was an actor
at the time and by the time he was elected
president he was a former actor, in which a lot
of people of younger generations. Well, first of all, you
may not even know the name Ronald Reagan if you're
young enough. But assuming you're old enough to know the
name Ronald Reagan, you might not have been aware that
he was an actor, mostly in stuff like westerns and such.
(26:13):
But yeah, he was the president of SAG back in
nineteen sixty. There was a lot more that we could
say about Reagan and his time as an actor, but
I'm not gonna because it's not it gets into things
like the Red Scare and it gets ugly. So I'm
just gonna I'm just gonna back away from that time bomb.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah. So, I think I think we've talked a lot about,
you know, the strike. We'll definitely keep everybody updated on it.
You know, we'll try to have some conversations about some
other things as well. You know, I don't I haven't
had a lot of time to read books, but who knows,
maybe I'll have more time now. You can still go
out and you can see theater, you can. I saw
(26:52):
one person say you still go out and watch movies
because you're supporting your local movie theater, you know, But
I don't. I don't know about that, but yeah, you
can still go see live theater, independent things. Yeah, so
should support the local non budget stuff you can.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, well, I mean there's like theaters, there's museums, there's
all sorts of stuff that, you know, especially like local
local houses, like whether it's a local theater or a
local museum or whatever, they can always use the support.
It's you know, depending on where you are, the arts
may or may not receive a lot of financial support
(27:34):
from your local government. Here in Georgia, it can get
pretty darn grim, So supporting local theater is always a
great thing. Plus you are going to discover stuff that
you didn't even know existed. I saw a show here
in Atlanta that is now a Broadway or is going
to be a Broadway show very soon, and that that
(27:56):
it's Gutenberg. The musical they did came out of the
Upright Citizens Brigade and was slowly developed into a full
length musical, and a local theater down here in Atlanta
did a production of it, and I absolutely loved it,
to the point where I really thought about going to
New York to catch it. And then I saw how
much the tickets were, and I said, well, I don't
think I can pay three hundred bucks a seat to
(28:17):
see this show. And if I don't pay three hundred
bucks a seat and I go sit in the back,
I won't be able to read what's written on the
trucker hats. And that's important.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
It's not even that it doesn't even cost that much
to go to see Billy Boyd and Dominic Monagahan do
some spin off Shakespeare.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh, which I will be doing because I got that
for my birthday. Yes, you know, we will try and
see how we can work around this and talk about
things without encroaching upon the unions because we respect them,
we want them to get as much out of the
negotiations as they possibly can. No one ever walks away
(28:59):
from these things getting everything they wanted. That just never happens.
But to get the important things covered is really what
we're hoping for. It can also get real ugly, Like,
it could get real ugly if the negotiation team ends
up agreeing to stuff that the larger union is not
super happy about. We saw that with the IATSI actually
(29:21):
in the last round. So my hope is that whatever
concessions they're able to get will be agreeable to the
vast majority of the union because it would really stink
if it were otherwise. That would just be really painful. Yeah,
and it'll be interesting to see how this impacts everything else,
(29:44):
like not just TV and film, but podcasts and all
these other related things that are kind of much younger
forms of media, and whether or not we actually see
that kind of come to a stop. Like I was
sitting there thinking, man, I bet Sean Evans of hot
Ones is real nervous right now, because the whole reason
(30:08):
people come on hot ones is to promote something that
they're doing at the time, and it may mean that
he's just gonna have to really focus on things like
sports and music.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, which he's done before. He could bring you on.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
He could be bring me on one. I will put
away those hot wings and too, I'll be one of
the most boring guests that I've ever been on that show.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I doubt that. I doubt that I had more points
to say, but I have forgotten a lot of them.
If you listen to the show, and I'm guessing most
of our listeners do not fall into this category. But
if you're listening to the show and you're like, gee,
I just have all this extra income and I'd like
to help support Saya after in the Writer's Guild and
(30:53):
I can't attend to pick it, you can go to
the Entertainment Community to Entertainment Community dot org and donate
some money to the Entertainment Community Fund that helps the
writers and actors and things like that. I won't get
any of it. I'm not in the union. I don't
need any of it because I'm very fortunate to have
a side hustle that also allows me to act. But yeah,
(31:19):
you know, that's that's the thing you could do if
you're wanting to help and you aren't sure how and
you can't be boots on the ground. Yeah, and mean
and if you want to go picket, go join a
picket line.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, but that contribution could mean like someone is able
to get groceries when otherwise they wouldn't. Like it's it's
a big deal because again, like we're not talking about
the multi bazillionaires like Robert Donnie Junior. You know, we're
not talking about those folks. We're talking about the people
who have you know, appeared on TV and film and
(31:51):
have played an important part in productions, but aren't at
that echelon. They're not considered to be like a box
office raw so they've never necessarily enjoyed huge financial success.
Maybe maybe they've managed to eke out a living, but
it's not like they're you know, staying in a multimillion
dollar mansion in Beverly Hills. So I think it is
(32:15):
you know, important to remember because again, like our perceptions
can be so twisted. If you sit there and think,
like support actors, good grief, those folks can they're always
jet setting around the globe. Again, that's like the top
percentage of actors. Most of them, are you know, checking
their their car cushions to see if they have enough
(32:35):
change to go and get a coffee.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yeah, it's it's it's something you definitely do for the
love of it. And that doesn't even count all of
the like education and resources an actor has to put
in to their work to get work. Yeah, you have
to pretty much constantly be training. And no, you don't
have to pay for training classes, but it does help,
especially if you're trying trying to start off. You got
(33:00):
to get you got to up get your headshots regularly.
You've got to pay for you know, uh site site
accounts for various things. So and not all actors, but
at least in Atlanta you do.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Yeah, you'd be surprised how many of the actors that
you would recognize who have had recurring roles on very
popular shows still just get base rate for everything they do.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah, if and if they're lucky, they're on a really
popular show where they might get some residuals that will
make things a little easier down the line, which again
brings us back to why it's so important to support
these strikes so that the same thing is true in
the new era of streaming because if the studios get
their way, then you're going to see a totally different
(33:48):
approach to entertainment that is not sustainable and that ultimately
is going to lead to a really chaotic and messy time.
And again it's gonna hurt everybody, like including the studios.
So it blows my mind that people are so bad
at looking at long term issues, like they focus so
(34:11):
much on the short term and the immediate term that
they have difficulty even getting their heads wrapped around, Oh,
if we do this, what does that mean in five years?
It becomes really hard to see that. But I truly
believe that unless things are changed properly, what we're going
to look at is the opposite of what we've had
(34:35):
for the last two decades, where we had, like think
of all the prestige television that came out, all these
amazing shows on various channels. Like if we talk about
a future where more and more stuff is on streaming,
but there are fewer incentives for people to get into
writing and acting, say goodbye to all those prestige shows
(34:59):
that were so f nominal. We won't get them anymore
because there'll be no one to write them or act
in them.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
And I've heard some people say, well, just cancel all
your seeming streaming subscriptions and hiate the media you want.
I if you want to cancel your subscription to a
streaming service, I know some I've seen some actors say, hey,
that would really stick it to them. Just go without,
(35:27):
just go without that media. I still can't can doone piracy.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
No, I can't either.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, I just just go without for a while.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
You know, I would be lying if I said I
had never hirated anything in my in my misspent youth,
I certainly was guilty of occasionally getting hold of some
song tracks that I did not purchase. Uh and uh
now I'm like, no, I would never do that. I
(35:54):
fully believe in paying for the stuff I want. I
also believe that just because something exists doesn't immediately give
you the right to have it, right, Like you have
to someone put in work and effort and investment in
that thing, and they deserve compensation for all of that.
So it's a it's a dance that we do. And yeah,
(36:17):
I agree, I think you know, eschewing streaming services, if
that feels like that's something that you could do that uh,
you know, that's your way of helping support the cause.
It certainly sends a message. Like companies pay attention to
that sort of thing if they see that their numbers
are declining. I mean, that is a huge concern, especially
(36:39):
when it comes round time for them to talk to
their investors when they those shareholder earnings calls come up.
Saying yeah, we have fewer people subscribe to our service
than we did last quarter. Not a good message.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, and I will say again, I don't think that
is an official call by sag after or anyone else.
I've just seen it go around on social media. But
if you're going to do it, when they ask why
are you unsubscribing, tell them it's because you support the strike. Yeah,
that we They'll know.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
If you're in a car and you're driving by and
you see a picket line out in front of what
would have been a production, give a couple of little
hanks and say woo, good job, keep it up, solidarity,
good job. I mean, like I know that if I
were on a picket line and I heard someone say woo,
good job, I'd be like, oh, that's nice. That'll keep
(37:31):
me going another like hour. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Yeah, So I think that's all we have for this week.
Hopefully next week we'll have some better idea of things
we can and can't talk about, you know, and and
try to dive into some gee geeky genres we haven't
touched in a while, so that could be fun.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, and you know, we've also got some discussion topics
that we'd love to to touch on, one of them
being something we kind of hinted at here where it's
that idea of vanishing media. So we may end up
having some episodes that are are more like geek adjacent
in that there are discussions about things that relate to
(38:15):
geek culture without specifically being about upcoming projects. We may
do that some more of that. But yeah, we're not
going anywhere, so it's not like we're having the podcast
go on hiatus. We're just trying to be respectful and
still have great conversations.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yes, and thank you to everybody who's been chatting about
the things they love on discord. We've heard some great
book recommendations and some fun anecdotes and it's always a delight.
If you've enjoyed listening to us, If you've got a
non TV film sort of topic you'd like us to cover,
(38:54):
if we can. You should write us and tell us, Jonathan,
how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
So what you're going to have to do is you're
going to have to go out there and you're going
to have to establish a media empire. And you're going
to sit at the head of this media empire, and
it will grow in importance and relevance and wealth, and
you will find ways to wring every single cent out
of it. And that includes making certain that you don't
(39:24):
pay the people who work under you too much, until
ultimately they reach a point where they can't take it
anymore and they rise up against you, and you swear
that you won't give an inch. And then as you
stare out over the masses who are roiling at your
feet with their signs and their chance, and you're looking
(39:46):
out in your penthouse suite, you'll see on the horizon
a figure and it's me, and you'll suddenly realize all
the terrible things you have done and feel awful about it.
It'll make the journey humbled as people around you yell shame, shame, shame,
and you walk all the way until you see me
(40:07):
and I says, what's it worth it? And then you're
like no, but I've got a question for you and
I'll answer it.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
And if you want to go through a little less trauma,
you can contact us on social media on Twitter or
LLNC Underscore podcast on threads, Instagram, and Facebook. We are
Larger Drunk Collider. That's also our website www dot Larger
Drunk Collider dot com. I will post some of the
strike news and maybe the community fund link there sometimes
(40:40):
this weekender week and yeah, you can check us out
on discord too. Until next time, I have been aerial.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Castin, and I have been Jonathan. I'm waiting on you,
Bob Iger, to walk over here and ask me your question.
In Strickland The Large Nerdron Collider was created by Ariel
Caston and produced, edited, published, deleted, undeleted, published again. Cursed
(41:14):
Act by John Strickland. Music by Kevin MacLeod of incomptech
dot com
Hey, everybody. Welcome to the large ner Draun Collider podcast,
the podcast that is usually all about the geeky things
that are happening in the world that we love and
how excited we are about them. I'm Ariel Caston and
when he as always is the ever wonderful Jonathan Strickland.
Oh sorry, he.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Is? That just gonna be the thing?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Now, maybe I don't. I haven't decided, obviously, I'm really
committed to the bit. You can tell heyhow what were
you gonna say?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh no, I was just gonna say, hey, hey, ho ho.
Our normal podcast had to.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Go yeah yeah, so uh, if you haven't been following
the news, uh, sag AFTRA has just gone on strike.
They weren't able to negotiate their a good new contract
with the AMPTP. And that means because I am an
actor and because we both support the strike and what
(01:08):
they are trying to achieve in contract negotiations, that a
lot of the TV and movies and things that we
normally talk about we cannot talk about right now. Part
of it is good faith, and then part of it is,
you know, if I ever want to join the union
and I do stuff that is considered stricken work right now,
and they find out about that when I join the union,
(01:29):
then I can't join the union anymore. Don't know if
this podcast would even get on their radars. But we're
still figuring all of that out.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So and yeah, so what we're doing, Ariel is going
to be looking into and getting some more questions answered,
just so that we have an idea of the parameters.
We do plan to continue recording the show. It's just
that the show may end up having a slightly different
format in the short term while the the negotiations continue.
(02:02):
And honestly, I mean just I'm I don't have a
dog in this fight. I'm not SAG. I had the
opportunity to join, but I didn't because I didn't because
I don't do acting that often. I did one acting
gig that qualified me for SAG, but because I had
no other acting gig at all on my radar, it
(02:24):
just didn't make sense. So I didn't. But I fully
believe in the union. In fact, I do belong to
a union. I belong to the iHeartMedia Podcast Union. But
we want to be in solidarity and we also are
fully on the side of the writers and the actors
(02:45):
who are on strike and the studios, Like, if you
were on the side of the studios, then you must
just love cartoon villains because they have been doing everything
they can to come across as car tunishly greedy and callous.
Like it's it blows my mind. I mean one story
(03:08):
that was covered in Deadline, which by the way, is
owned by a company that in turn is run by
a guy who is part of the AMPTP. That's the
Association of Producers. Interesting, yeah, but Deadline ran an article
about how apparently people in the AMPTP do not plan
(03:29):
to sit down with the writers at all until October
at the earliest, because they figure that by then the
writers will be strapped for cash, they'll be struggling to
pay their mortgage, they'll be struggling to pay their rent,
and they will be in a position where, out of necessity,
they will settle for fewer concessions, which is just plain evil, right, Like,
(03:54):
that's not negotiating in good faith, that's trying. That's setting
a siege. It's like a medieval scene on a fortress.
You cut off all support and you wait for them
to start it out.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Now, I will say, and this is not me playing
Devil's advocate. You know there when you read through articles,
AMPTP has made no official announcement that that is that.
So it's that is their plan. So that's not the corroboration.
It is leaked information, not to say it isn't true.
I mean when you look at strikes and you look
at unions and the people who are negotiating with them
(04:26):
and a strike happens, yes, someone's trying to wait out
the other person to get them to give right, and
it's a sucky situation. Why can't everybody work together for
a better future. But you know, it is important just
to keep that in the back of your mind. For instance,
right before the strike deadline, the SAG negotiation deadline, a
(04:49):
picture popped up online of Frand Dresher, who is the
president of the SAG after a union currently in Italy
with Kim Kardashian I believe, yeah, and a bunch of people,
a bunch of people were like very upset about it
because they thought she was jet setting and partying instead
(05:11):
of negotiating. But what the actual story was, which was
corroborated by the rest of the negotiation board of SAG after,
was that she is also a clothing brand ambassador, which
is a separate job from being an actor, and she
was there doing her job for Dulce and Gabana. I
believe it is she had met Kim Kardashian like ten
minutes earlier, and when she wasn't out doing that job,
(05:33):
she was in her hotel room zooming and texting and
everything with the negotiation boards to be a part of it.
They knew about that conflict going into negotiations, so you know,
and that was obviously made to put out to make
her look bad, right Like, there was definitely media going
around and a bunch of people got really upset, and
rightfully so if I thought the person who was representing
(05:55):
my well being was not taking that seriously, I would
be upset. Took some of the people I know who
are upset are looking and going, oh, I misunderstood the situation.
That's a little bit. That is a large bit of
a bunny trail. But I wouldn't be surprised if the
AMPTP was planning on waiting out the writers. But again
(06:19):
they haven't confirmed it.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
They haven't confirmed it, but that's because you don't confirm
it when someone says the quiet part out loud, and
then you sit there and look and say, oh, everyone's
looking at us, like where the bad guys, because we're
totally acting like bad guys here. I'll say this. They
haven't sat down to renegotiate with the writers since the
strike began more than seventy days ago. That fact, I think,
(06:43):
seems to corroborate the allegations that they are trying. They
are purposefully stalling in order to make the writers desperate
enough to agree to whatever they want. And remember, Aeriel
and I have talked about this before as well. When
it comes to the actors, they're in the same sort
(07:04):
of boat as the writers. Like the vast majority of
actors out there are not necessarily making a living as
an actor, right They may have to hold down other
jobs while also being an actor. We think about the
ginormous Hollywood stars like Tom Cruise or something, but who,
by the way, was in Atlanta promoting one of his movies.
(07:26):
But we think of those folks. We think of the
big movie stars who are signed to multi million dollar
deals per film. But that's the exception. That's like the
half of percent representation of all the actors who are
out there. And so these strikes are really important because
otherwise it can turn acting into something that literally, unless
(07:53):
you're part of that point five percent, you're not going
to make a living doing it. And ultimately that hurts everybody.
It hurts the actors obviously because they can't make a living,
but it also hurts fans because and it even hurts
the studios because it means that people are disincentivized to
pursue a career in entertainment because there's no way to
(08:14):
make a living off of it. And if that happens,
then you don't have any entertainment to make anymore, and
the studios end up shooting themselves in the fund.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I think it might even be less than five percent
of actors. I've been seeing like a ninety seven point
whatever percent working actor thing going around. I think it's
somewhere closer to like three three and a half percent.
But I mean that is true, and a lot of
media outlets don't if they get the nuance, they don't
(08:43):
put it into that article. But I feel like maybe
a lot of them don't even get the nuance because
it's not about the celebrities wanting more money. It is
about the working actor. And if you think about the
fact that a lot of these streaming companies aren't transparent.
One of the things that they've been negotiating on is
and again I'm not a part of the union yet,
I don't qualify yet work in towards it, but you
(09:05):
know I support them. But one of the things I'm
working towards is better metrics for residuals for stream on
streaming shows, shows that show on streaming networks. Because we've
talked about it in the past, streaming networks are very,
very elusive when it comes to how many people watch
their show. When they watch the show, like that's very
private information to them. But when shows used to be
(09:31):
on network television and cable, we'd use things like I
think like Nielsen ratings right to see how many people
would tune into a show, and that's how residuals are based.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
The Nielsen ratings also helped dictate how expensive advertising rates
were for specific blocks of programming, and that's another major
difference with streaming, Like unless it's an ad supported streaming service,
then the revenue is not coming in through advertising, it's
coming in through subscriptions, and that's a massive difference for
(10:03):
the streaming platforms versus something like basic cable or network TV,
because you're making a flat amount based upon the number
of subscribers, and you want that number to go up,
but you will eventually, sooner or later, hit saturation and
you will not get more subscribers than you currently have.
(10:25):
You'll hit a point, if you're lucky, where you're adding
as many as you're losing quarter to quarter. And that,
I think is what has a lot of studios scared
is the thought that, well, it's not like when we're
talking about Must see TV, where we can call for
really high ad rates to run commercials during that block
(10:46):
of programming because it's so popular, and then that revenue
ends up being part of the residuals, and so they're
scared about more costs going out than they're getting revenue
coming in, or rather cutting into profit. It's because, as
Ariel is saying, like, we don't even necessarily know how
many people are subscribed to some of these streaming services.
(11:08):
But that's the problem, right If a whole bunch of
people watch a specific product on a specific streaming platform,
and your residuals are based on the number, but your
revenue is based on subscribers, that's where you start to
run into some really tricky math as well.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, yeah, and you know I talked about back when
we were first looking at the writers might strike about
the fact that, like some of these streaming networks are
losing money where they weren't initially, and so yeah, they're
looking at their profits and what their losses are. And
(11:47):
while I don't feel like that's a good excuse for
not paying your labor what they're due, and I won't
go into some of the anecdotes I've heard from people
who have done stuff for very streaming networks and the
troubles they've had with it outside of that, because that's
all hearsay unless we get one of them on the show.
But yeah, you're right, it's probably more how much they're
(12:12):
gonna make versus making a profit at all. But I
was going to say with the residual argument, like sometimes
I think I talked about this before, Like if you're
gonna qualify for health insurance through the Union, there is
like a hard minimum you have to hit to qualify,
and sometimes those little residual payments, because often they're not
(12:33):
a lot, are like the nickels and dimes that get
you over that border.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So, and for the working actor, that's that's so important
because a lot I heard a quote somewhere and I
haven't haven't confirmed it, but a lot of working actors
aren't even middle class in their wages, right, you know.
And insurance is expensive, so.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, and if something happens to you, then you need
to have that insurance to be able to rely upon it,
especially when you know your job is not a not
a steady gig, but a gig to gig kind of thing.
And there are a lot of elements that are factors
in this. We talked with the Writers Guild about how
(13:15):
AI is one of the concerns because of studios potentially
using AI to generate ideas and then paying writers to
punch up a treatment, and because they didn't come up
with the original treatment, they could end up working at
a lower rate than they would if they had just
been hired to you know, put together the thing in
(13:36):
the first place. But the Screen Actors Guild they're also
concerned about AI. And one of the other big stories
that came out this week was that apparently the AMPTP
wanted to have a clause that would allow them to
do a digital scan of day actors. So these are
(13:57):
people who come in like background and that kind of stuff,
like extras, essentially paid extras, but to be able to
scan them, and then the studio would own that digital
scan in perpetuity, meaning that those folks would get paid
for their one day of work. Then they would not
be called back in to do any additional shooting. The
(14:18):
studio would just use the digital scan and they could
continue to use that digital scan for future productions. So
you know, you would after you scan a certain number
of people, you're like, well, we don't need day actors
anymore because we've got all these digital scans of folks
and they all signed over their their likeness, so we
don't have to pay them anymore. And now we've got
(14:40):
this huge cast of background characters we can have who
are free. And obviously that's a huge, huge problem. There
are a lot of actors who get their start as
extras or day day players or whatever, and that that's
kind of their foot in the door, and without that
(15:02):
then it becomes even harder to manage to make a
living in the industry. And so yeah, that's the kind
of thing that these unions are really guarding against. Are
these policies that would take advantage of people who can't
afford to be taken advantage of. And meanwhile, you're looking
(15:23):
at the salaries for some of these studio heads and
they're in the you know, double digits in the millions,
like twenty million or more, and it really starts to
raise a lot of ugly questions.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Yeah, and like day Player doesn't, Just like Day Player doesn't.
Just that doesn't just mean background and background gets paid
a lot less than an actor with lines, yes, or
a featured actor. Sometimes you can be a guest star
or a co star without any lines. It depends on
the size of your role and the importance of your
(15:59):
role within the film. But yeah, that that is legitive
thing that has come up. I've actually heard one or
two people who have said they've seen it come through
on one of their contracts. That's not okay. I mean
when you think about that, that's a good way to
like get your face put depending on whatever perpetuity clauses
they have to get your face put on. Let's say
a product you don't want to promote, or you know,
(16:20):
get your your head put on an adult star's body
for something.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You know it's or even even just appearing in a
project you never would have agreed to, right, Like, let's say, yeah,
let's say it was a movie that ends up having
like like it's meant to be a mockumentary or even
a documentary, and they decided to use your likeness, and
they're the point of view of the film is one
(16:47):
hundred and eighty degrees in opposite direction of how you feel.
That would stink you would you would be so upset, Like,
you know, if you'd sit there and see, like if
I saw a video a movie of me and uh,
it's a movie that was glorifying violence against animals, I
would be livid.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yes, yes, exactly. It takes away your agency as a person,
which is beyond just a work thing, that's just a
general like civil kindness, kindness, human thing, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, And and that is obviously one of the huge,
huge problems with the deep fake technology that you were referencing,
where you know, putting someone's face on top of a
different performer's body. Uh, that's you know, that's obviously something
that is a problem right now, Like that has been
a problem for a couple of years. Once the deep
fake text started to h to be developed and then
(17:45):
was you know, distributed, and that's terrible on its own.
Like there are entire you know, articles and books and
podcasts that tell the story of how terrible that can
be and how traumatic it can be to the people
that it happens to. And you know, that's kind of
like the nuclear example of the issues we're talking about here.
(18:10):
But yeah, it's like you can see why there's a
need for the unions and for the unions to be
able to take collective action because no single performer has
the leverage to be able to, you know, push back
against this, at least not collectively. And if you were
to determine that every single person had to do this individually,
(18:33):
the vast majority would be unable to do that, either
because they'd be intimidated that they would never get work
or they're just desperate for work because they need to
earn a paycheck. So you know, you have to have
things like unions in order to protect the the you know,
the bottom line, like both the above the line and
(18:54):
below the line performers and crew involved in entertainment or
else they're left to hang out and dry. And yeah,
so anyway, that's me rambling on like crazy, just to
say that that I am one percent in support of
both WGA and SAG. I know Ariel is too, but
I wanted to say it because I don't have I mean,
(19:16):
technically the union i'm in is related to WGA East,
but it's not. We're not on strike. My union is
not on strike. So but I am and I do
support them in solidarity. And I really really hope that
with SAG joining the picket lines, that's going to put
more pressure on the studios to budge a bit, because obviously,
(19:38):
if we're to believe that earlier deadline article, they were
ready to just starve out the writers. But they can't.
You know, they can't do anything now with both actors
and writers on strike, Like you can't develop anything new,
and you can't shoot anything that was in production.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, and they can't even promote things that are coming out.
If this goes on for a long time, there are
a lot of actors that are not going to be
going to like San Diego Comic Con, which is about
to happen. It might affect Dragon Con even you go, well,
that's not a that's more of a fan convention. But
(20:16):
they aren't allowed to talk about their project's past, current
or future if they're attached to the AMPTP is my
understanding Again, I'm trying to get better clarification. But if
that's the case, they can sign autographs, but the panels
might just be right.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Out yeah yeah, which would be kind of weird. I mean,
it's totally understandable, but weird in the sense of like
if you're an attendee and you know it just it
boggles the mind. And also, like imagine things like the Emmys.
We just had the Emmy nominations right, like those just
came out this week, and then you're like, wow, what
(20:53):
if you threw an Emmy's and no one was allowed
to go?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
So there, Yeah, I don't know. Oh, I guess that
wouldn't be There are some things that are I think,
I think are still able to be done, and that's
and I'm not going to give a full list because
some of it's very confused. A lot of it's very confusing.
Quite honestly, I'm pretty sure intol like you're in it
and you start working in those specific contracts, you're like,
what is this? But sagafter and agents and managers are
(21:21):
all very willing to help actors if you're an actor
listening to this, reach out to them even if you're
non union, because they want your help and support too.
So like variety shows, game shows, news. Even though I
think broadcasts like news reporters are under SAGAFTRA, you still
need to report the news. Soaps surprisingly can happen. Certain
(21:44):
smaller podcasts and then commercials are things that can all
still happen, So you might see those, but they won't
be talking about any of their other projects.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Well. The other thing is that you know, remember the
reason why the top were allowed to go forward was
that there was an agreement that no one would write
for it, right Like, like the Tonys was essentially an
improvised awards ceremony. Well that's still going to be true
for the Emmys, so like, it's just that's why I'm like,
(22:17):
why even bother holding them, especially right now, like it
would seem so weird to celebrate stuff when you also
aren't supposed to be promoting anything. It just I think
it doesn't doesn't look good.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
I suspect it'll be canceled because they also I do
recall seeing that for your consideration, campaigns cannot be done,
and those are usually what people do to like promote
things for awards, right, yeah, but also like some smaller
some smaller platforms like for instance, well, there are some
(22:56):
smaller platforms out there that are streamers that are not
a part of the AMPTP, and right now they're also
trying to figure out how to navigate this because most
of them also want to support the strike. So it'll
be very interesting to see how everything shakes out in
the interim, right.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I know that they're like independent streamers and stuff, and
SAG has already released a couple of different statements, or
at least people on behalf of SAG. I don't know
if SAG itself has, but I've seen messages on behalf
of SAG urging like influencers and streamers, people who are
(23:30):
part of the entertainment sphere, but they're not part of
traditional entertainment, right, They're not part of the Hollywood scene,
but they're reaching out and saying, hey, you know, don't
cross picket lines. Like if you're asked to be someone
who would say host an event or show up to
her premiere to help promote a premiering work, don't do
(23:54):
it because the reason why these producers will be reaching
out to you is largely to undermine the effects that
we're trying to have on the industry. So I have
seen those messages going out. Again, I don't think it
was necessarily an official SAG statement, but more like people
who are thinking ahead and that I was seeing it
mostly on social media because obviously that's like the marketplace
(24:19):
and town hall for influencers. So that will be interesting
to see if that actually moves forward, because I could
definitely see Hollywood trying to lean in on that. I'm
very curious if we're going to get any independent little
projects because you know, the last time there was a
(24:41):
strike and it wasn't it wasn't a combined strike because
we haven't had one of those since nineteen sixty. But
when the last time there was one, that's when we
got like Doctor Horrible, and it's because it was completely
outside the normal Hollywood production yes sphere.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
And they are they are making interim agreements for stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, So it'll be interesting to see if anything like
that emerges as a result of this. I will also say,
just out of curiosity and no shame in not knowing
this if you don't, Ariel, because I didn't know it
until I happened to look it up. So Fran Dresher's
president of SAG right. Now, do you know who was
president of SAG back in nineteen sixty, the last time
(25:25):
there was a WGA and SAG combined strike.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Probably not fran Dresher because she's not that old.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
You're right, it is not Fran Dresher. So if that's
your answer, you are technically correct.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
It was Fran Dresher's mother.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
No, No, it was former President of the United States
Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Oh. Interesting, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Because he was a former actor. He was an actor
at the time and by the time he was elected
president he was a former actor, in which a lot
of people of younger generations. Well, first of all, you
may not even know the name Ronald Reagan if you're
young enough. But assuming you're old enough to know the
name Ronald Reagan, you might not have been aware that
he was an actor, mostly in stuff like westerns and such.
(26:13):
But yeah, he was the president of SAG back in
nineteen sixty. There was a lot more that we could
say about Reagan and his time as an actor, but
I'm not gonna because it's not it gets into things
like the Red Scare and it gets ugly. So I'm
just gonna I'm just gonna back away from that time bomb.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Yeah. So, I think I think we've talked a lot about,
you know, the strike. We'll definitely keep everybody updated on it.
You know, we'll try to have some conversations about some
other things as well. You know, I don't I haven't
had a lot of time to read books, but who knows,
maybe I'll have more time now. You can still go
out and you can see theater, you can. I saw
(26:52):
one person say you still go out and watch movies
because you're supporting your local movie theater, you know, But
I don't. I don't know about that, but yeah, you
can still go see live theater, independent things. Yeah, so
should support the local non budget stuff you can.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, well, I mean there's like theaters, there's museums, there's
all sorts of stuff that, you know, especially like local
local houses, like whether it's a local theater or a
local museum or whatever, they can always use the support.
It's you know, depending on where you are, the arts
may or may not receive a lot of financial support
(27:34):
from your local government. Here in Georgia, it can get
pretty darn grim, So supporting local theater is always a
great thing. Plus you are going to discover stuff that
you didn't even know existed. I saw a show here
in Atlanta that is now a Broadway or is going
to be a Broadway show very soon, and that that
(27:56):
it's Gutenberg. The musical they did came out of the
Upright Citizens Brigade and was slowly developed into a full
length musical, and a local theater down here in Atlanta
did a production of it, and I absolutely loved it,
to the point where I really thought about going to
New York to catch it. And then I saw how
much the tickets were, and I said, well, I don't
think I can pay three hundred bucks a seat to
(28:17):
see this show. And if I don't pay three hundred
bucks a seat and I go sit in the back,
I won't be able to read what's written on the
trucker hats. And that's important.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
It's not even that it doesn't even cost that much
to go to see Billy Boyd and Dominic Monagahan do
some spin off Shakespeare.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Oh, which I will be doing because I got that
for my birthday. Yes, you know, we will try and
see how we can work around this and talk about
things without encroaching upon the unions because we respect them,
we want them to get as much out of the
negotiations as they possibly can. No one ever walks away
(28:59):
from these things getting everything they wanted. That just never happens.
But to get the important things covered is really what
we're hoping for. It can also get real ugly, Like,
it could get real ugly if the negotiation team ends
up agreeing to stuff that the larger union is not
super happy about. We saw that with the IATSI actually
(29:21):
in the last round. So my hope is that whatever
concessions they're able to get will be agreeable to the
vast majority of the union because it would really stink
if it were otherwise. That would just be really painful. Yeah,
and it'll be interesting to see how this impacts everything else,
(29:44):
like not just TV and film, but podcasts and all
these other related things that are kind of much younger
forms of media, and whether or not we actually see
that kind of come to a stop. Like I was
sitting there thinking, man, I bet Sean Evans of hot
Ones is real nervous right now, because the whole reason
(30:08):
people come on hot ones is to promote something that
they're doing at the time, and it may mean that
he's just gonna have to really focus on things like
sports and music.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, which he's done before. He could bring you on.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
He could be bring me on one. I will put
away those hot wings and too, I'll be one of
the most boring guests that I've ever been on that show.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I doubt that. I doubt that I had more points
to say, but I have forgotten a lot of them.
If you listen to the show, and I'm guessing most
of our listeners do not fall into this category. But
if you're listening to the show and you're like, gee,
I just have all this extra income and I'd like
to help support Saya after in the Writer's Guild and
(30:53):
I can't attend to pick it, you can go to
the Entertainment Community to Entertainment Community dot org and donate
some money to the Entertainment Community Fund that helps the
writers and actors and things like that. I won't get
any of it. I'm not in the union. I don't
need any of it because I'm very fortunate to have
a side hustle that also allows me to act. But yeah,
(31:19):
you know, that's that's the thing you could do if
you're wanting to help and you aren't sure how and
you can't be boots on the ground. Yeah, and mean
and if you want to go picket, go join a
picket line.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, but that contribution could mean like someone is able
to get groceries when otherwise they wouldn't. Like it's it's
a big deal because again, like we're not talking about
the multi bazillionaires like Robert Donnie Junior. You know, we're
not talking about those folks. We're talking about the people
who have you know, appeared on TV and film and
(31:51):
have played an important part in productions, but aren't at
that echelon. They're not considered to be like a box
office raw so they've never necessarily enjoyed huge financial success.
Maybe maybe they've managed to eke out a living, but
it's not like they're you know, staying in a multimillion
dollar mansion in Beverly Hills. So I think it is
(32:15):
you know, important to remember because again, like our perceptions
can be so twisted. If you sit there and think,
like support actors, good grief, those folks can they're always
jet setting around the globe. Again, that's like the top
percentage of actors. Most of them, are you know, checking
their their car cushions to see if they have enough
(32:35):
change to go and get a coffee.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Yeah, it's it's it's something you definitely do for the
love of it. And that doesn't even count all of
the like education and resources an actor has to put
in to their work to get work. Yeah, you have
to pretty much constantly be training. And no, you don't
have to pay for training classes, but it does help,
especially if you're trying trying to start off. You got
(33:00):
to get you got to up get your headshots regularly.
You've got to pay for you know, uh site site
accounts for various things. So and not all actors, but
at least in Atlanta you do.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Yeah, you'd be surprised how many of the actors that
you would recognize who have had recurring roles on very
popular shows still just get base rate for everything they do.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah, if and if they're lucky, they're on a really
popular show where they might get some residuals that will
make things a little easier down the line, which again
brings us back to why it's so important to support
these strikes so that the same thing is true in
the new era of streaming because if the studios get
their way, then you're going to see a totally different
(33:48):
approach to entertainment that is not sustainable and that ultimately
is going to lead to a really chaotic and messy time.
And again it's gonna hurt everybody, like including the studios.
So it blows my mind that people are so bad
at looking at long term issues, like they focus so
(34:11):
much on the short term and the immediate term that
they have difficulty even getting their heads wrapped around, Oh,
if we do this, what does that mean in five years?
It becomes really hard to see that. But I truly
believe that unless things are changed properly, what we're going
to look at is the opposite of what we've had
(34:35):
for the last two decades, where we had, like think
of all the prestige television that came out, all these
amazing shows on various channels. Like if we talk about
a future where more and more stuff is on streaming,
but there are fewer incentives for people to get into
writing and acting, say goodbye to all those prestige shows
(34:59):
that were so f nominal. We won't get them anymore
because there'll be no one to write them or act
in them.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
And I've heard some people say, well, just cancel all
your seeming streaming subscriptions and hiate the media you want.
I if you want to cancel your subscription to a
streaming service, I know some I've seen some actors say, hey,
that would really stick it to them. Just go without,
(35:27):
just go without that media. I still can't can doone piracy.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
No, I can't either.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, I just just go without for a while.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
You know, I would be lying if I said I
had never hirated anything in my in my misspent youth,
I certainly was guilty of occasionally getting hold of some
song tracks that I did not purchase. Uh and uh
now I'm like, no, I would never do that. I
(35:54):
fully believe in paying for the stuff I want. I
also believe that just because something exists doesn't immediately give
you the right to have it, right, Like you have
to someone put in work and effort and investment in
that thing, and they deserve compensation for all of that.
So it's a it's a dance that we do. And yeah,
(36:17):
I agree, I think you know, eschewing streaming services, if
that feels like that's something that you could do that uh,
you know, that's your way of helping support the cause.
It certainly sends a message. Like companies pay attention to
that sort of thing if they see that their numbers
are declining. I mean, that is a huge concern, especially
(36:39):
when it comes round time for them to talk to
their investors when they those shareholder earnings calls come up.
Saying yeah, we have fewer people subscribe to our service
than we did last quarter. Not a good message.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, and I will say again, I don't think that
is an official call by sag after or anyone else.
I've just seen it go around on social media. But
if you're going to do it, when they ask why
are you unsubscribing, tell them it's because you support the strike. Yeah,
that we They'll know.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
If you're in a car and you're driving by and
you see a picket line out in front of what
would have been a production, give a couple of little
hanks and say woo, good job, keep it up, solidarity,
good job. I mean, like I know that if I
were on a picket line and I heard someone say woo,
good job, I'd be like, oh, that's nice. That'll keep
(37:31):
me going another like hour. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Yeah, So I think that's all we have for this week.
Hopefully next week we'll have some better idea of things
we can and can't talk about, you know, and and
try to dive into some gee geeky genres we haven't
touched in a while, so that could be fun.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, and you know, we've also got some discussion topics
that we'd love to to touch on, one of them
being something we kind of hinted at here where it's
that idea of vanishing media. So we may end up
having some episodes that are are more like geek adjacent
in that there are discussions about things that relate to
(38:15):
geek culture without specifically being about upcoming projects. We may
do that some more of that. But yeah, we're not
going anywhere, so it's not like we're having the podcast
go on hiatus. We're just trying to be respectful and
still have great conversations.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Yes, and thank you to everybody who's been chatting about
the things they love on discord. We've heard some great
book recommendations and some fun anecdotes and it's always a delight.
If you've enjoyed listening to us, If you've got a
non TV film sort of topic you'd like us to cover,
(38:54):
if we can. You should write us and tell us, Jonathan,
how can they do that?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
So what you're going to have to do is you're
going to have to go out there and you're going
to have to establish a media empire. And you're going
to sit at the head of this media empire, and
it will grow in importance and relevance and wealth, and
you will find ways to wring every single cent out
of it. And that includes making certain that you don't
(39:24):
pay the people who work under you too much, until
ultimately they reach a point where they can't take it
anymore and they rise up against you, and you swear
that you won't give an inch. And then as you
stare out over the masses who are roiling at your
feet with their signs and their chance, and you're looking
(39:46):
out in your penthouse suite, you'll see on the horizon
a figure and it's me, and you'll suddenly realize all
the terrible things you have done and feel awful about it.
It'll make the journey humbled as people around you yell shame, shame, shame,
and you walk all the way until you see me
(40:07):
and I says, what's it worth it? And then you're
like no, but I've got a question for you and
I'll answer it.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
And if you want to go through a little less trauma,
you can contact us on social media on Twitter or
LLNC Underscore podcast on threads, Instagram, and Facebook. We are
Larger Drunk Collider. That's also our website www dot Larger
Drunk Collider dot com. I will post some of the
strike news and maybe the community fund link there sometimes
(40:40):
this weekender week and yeah, you can check us out
on discord too. Until next time, I have been aerial.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Castin, and I have been Jonathan. I'm waiting on you,
Bob Iger, to walk over here and ask me your question.
In Strickland The Large Nerdron Collider was created by Ariel
Caston and produced, edited, published, deleted, undeleted, published again. Cursed
(41:14):
Act by John Strickland. Music by Kevin MacLeod of incomptech
dot com
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