Abigail--You're right, in some ways this is just another example of companies moving production to the cheapest market they can find. And in TV, that increasingly means Eastern Europe. At least for now.
I've spoken to a lot of people over the past few months and this is a very common thread in the conversations. How can streamers cut production costs, where can you an "American" look for the least possible costs?
I don't think the Hollywood unions have fully realized how much these global conversations play into how the studios are approaching the WGA strike. They need the unions to get as little as possible, because they are already facing pressure from writers & other creatives in everywhere from India to the Nordics.
I don’t know if this exec is aware of just how clear he/she explains the real problem. The “assembly line” of the entertainment industry and it’s “not personal” it’s just about “profit/loss” just like any company moving its operations overseas...That mode of thinking IS the problem. And not just with the entertainment industry, but most of the industries across the country (if not the world). Of course profit is important if not essential, but at what cost? The entire business model of how humans have been functioning in business isn’t working anymore. Sure it’s not personal that clothing companies move overseas...to sweatshops...this mode of thinking of financial profit above all else is what has lead to human/labor trafficking, exploitation and so on and so forth. Sure it’s not personal when switching to a cheaper wholesaler and using cheaper (and likely toxic) materials - that has lead us too the environmental issues we are currently facing. We want it all, we want it our way, and we want it now. Profit above all else, right?
And I don’t know about you, but entertainment that’s created on an assembly line would seem to be sorely lacking in intellectual, educational, cultural and artistic value. And I think that’s apparent today with the lack of originality and thought-provoking programming. Exhibit A-White Men Can’t Jump and Fatal Attraction...the remakes. So that’s the best we can come up with Hollywood? If no one else has noticed, this strike is bigger than just being about writers being paid fairly. It seems humanity is calling for a shift in our values in how we function and do business across the board. Just ask the workers in the Amazon warehouses...
« But truthfully, thinking about the future doesn't mesh all that well with the need to drive revenue and cut costs. »
Truthfully, this explains shrinking salaries, hollowed out industries, burn-out level workloads, degraded products, product shortages, shitty healthcare, the opioid and housing crises, etc etc.
To put it language that execs can understand, maybe industries that exist only to enrich shareholders and employ a bunch of executives focused on profits aren’t a viable business model?
Here's an article by a tech guy who argues that venture capital's goal is to make money by "treating workers badly" by threatening then with bogus AI and "making products worse". He mentions the Writer's Strike. VC doesn't care about good product or workers. They are driven purely by stock price and looking smart. They are not disruptors, they are grifters, he conjectures. Rob Long in "The Martini Shot" makes the point that people need to stay in their lanes. Show business people are gamblers who love the movies. Hollywood is more than a place. It is "The Glamour Factory". They know how to create stars. They should make the product. They should get money as they always have from the beginning of film; ticket prices. It is one of the last of the American made products. Don't let it go the way of Maytag and RCA. https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2023/06/03/crypto-collapse-get-in-loser-were-pivoting-to-ai/
Let me try to understand. It’s not personal because personal considerations are sensible exclusions by the Media Utilities because the business now, per exec, boils down to a numerical calculation. If that’s the case, why is this exec necessary? AI isn’t necessary either if it’s a calculation, just a calculation. So may I suggest Apple cut this exec and their salary. Then Apple will make more money. After all, what we’re seeing is an accountant’s version of the scene where Henry Hill explains how you ‘bust out’ a business - steal all the value from human work and set the dry husks of the desiccated enterprise alight. Nothing personal. But thinking back, ‘Goodfellas’ was a great movie, one of the last of its kind. What’s made now is just a calculation, nothing personal.
It's a business. Shareholders expect to make money. Execs expect to make money. There is a reason Levi's and Harley Davidson moved manufacturing out of the USA. To make more money. It is our job as "creatives" to secure as much of their pie as we possibly can. Period.
Here’s a history of vulture capitalism at Warners which better articulates the strip mining of value to which our nameless Exec attempts to give a human face:
I heard a secondhand story. An acquaintance was talking to the then CEO of Apple who said when they found out their factory workers in China were getting sick from the ventilator systems. The new filters would cost five cents more each. So the CEO said no. That it was outside of the budget. Just keep that in mind.
‘It’s not personal’ is an argument bereft of value. It merely points at the rapacity of corporate thinking. Less for you, so there’s more for me. Nothing personal. So, why the furrowed brow when the workers who make your product go on strike? That’s not personal either. What matters is what’s fair. And sustainable. For both parties.
It sounds like the biggest concern for executives is cutting costs, and it’s coming out of the budget for writers. So what are the biggest expenses? What costs are they unable or unwilling to cut which is leading them to sacrifice parts of the writing budget?
Abigail--You're right, in some ways this is just another example of companies moving production to the cheapest market they can find. And in TV, that increasingly means Eastern Europe. At least for now.
I've spoken to a lot of people over the past few months and this is a very common thread in the conversations. How can streamers cut production costs, where can you an "American" look for the least possible costs?
I don't think the Hollywood unions have fully realized how much these global conversations play into how the studios are approaching the WGA strike. They need the unions to get as little as possible, because they are already facing pressure from writers & other creatives in everywhere from India to the Nordics.
I don’t know if this exec is aware of just how clear he/she explains the real problem. The “assembly line” of the entertainment industry and it’s “not personal” it’s just about “profit/loss” just like any company moving its operations overseas...That mode of thinking IS the problem. And not just with the entertainment industry, but most of the industries across the country (if not the world). Of course profit is important if not essential, but at what cost? The entire business model of how humans have been functioning in business isn’t working anymore. Sure it’s not personal that clothing companies move overseas...to sweatshops...this mode of thinking of financial profit above all else is what has lead to human/labor trafficking, exploitation and so on and so forth. Sure it’s not personal when switching to a cheaper wholesaler and using cheaper (and likely toxic) materials - that has lead us too the environmental issues we are currently facing. We want it all, we want it our way, and we want it now. Profit above all else, right?
And I don’t know about you, but entertainment that’s created on an assembly line would seem to be sorely lacking in intellectual, educational, cultural and artistic value. And I think that’s apparent today with the lack of originality and thought-provoking programming. Exhibit A-White Men Can’t Jump and Fatal Attraction...the remakes. So that’s the best we can come up with Hollywood? If no one else has noticed, this strike is bigger than just being about writers being paid fairly. It seems humanity is calling for a shift in our values in how we function and do business across the board. Just ask the workers in the Amazon warehouses...
« But truthfully, thinking about the future doesn't mesh all that well with the need to drive revenue and cut costs. »
Truthfully, this explains shrinking salaries, hollowed out industries, burn-out level workloads, degraded products, product shortages, shitty healthcare, the opioid and housing crises, etc etc.
To put it language that execs can understand, maybe industries that exist only to enrich shareholders and employ a bunch of executives focused on profits aren’t a viable business model?
Here's an article by a tech guy who argues that venture capital's goal is to make money by "treating workers badly" by threatening then with bogus AI and "making products worse". He mentions the Writer's Strike. VC doesn't care about good product or workers. They are driven purely by stock price and looking smart. They are not disruptors, they are grifters, he conjectures. Rob Long in "The Martini Shot" makes the point that people need to stay in their lanes. Show business people are gamblers who love the movies. Hollywood is more than a place. It is "The Glamour Factory". They know how to create stars. They should make the product. They should get money as they always have from the beginning of film; ticket prices. It is one of the last of the American made products. Don't let it go the way of Maytag and RCA. https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2023/06/03/crypto-collapse-get-in-loser-were-pivoting-to-ai/
Exactly.
Let me try to understand. It’s not personal because personal considerations are sensible exclusions by the Media Utilities because the business now, per exec, boils down to a numerical calculation. If that’s the case, why is this exec necessary? AI isn’t necessary either if it’s a calculation, just a calculation. So may I suggest Apple cut this exec and their salary. Then Apple will make more money. After all, what we’re seeing is an accountant’s version of the scene where Henry Hill explains how you ‘bust out’ a business - steal all the value from human work and set the dry husks of the desiccated enterprise alight. Nothing personal. But thinking back, ‘Goodfellas’ was a great movie, one of the last of its kind. What’s made now is just a calculation, nothing personal.
Like all of the other corporate industrial complexes, the entertainment industrial complex is putting shareholder profit over the suffering of labor.
Hold the line #WGA.
#SAGAFTRAStrong
BigPharma Industrial Complex
BigAg Industrial Complex,
Media Industrial Complex
Military Industrial Complex
Etc…
Over the suffering of labor.
And over the quality of the product.
And over the long-term viability of the industry.
And over the health of the society generating the audience.
#pitchforksandtorches2023
It's a business. Shareholders expect to make money. Execs expect to make money. There is a reason Levi's and Harley Davidson moved manufacturing out of the USA. To make more money. It is our job as "creatives" to secure as much of their pie as we possibly can. Period.
Here’s a history of vulture capitalism at Warners which better articulates the strip mining of value to which our nameless Exec attempts to give a human face:
https://twitter.com/theredterra/status/1669838367998214144?s=61&t=nTJL_r9Pe8xmUaS-pTKAmQ
I heard a secondhand story. An acquaintance was talking to the then CEO of Apple who said when they found out their factory workers in China were getting sick from the ventilator systems. The new filters would cost five cents more each. So the CEO said no. That it was outside of the budget. Just keep that in mind.
‘It’s not personal’ is an argument bereft of value. It merely points at the rapacity of corporate thinking. Less for you, so there’s more for me. Nothing personal. So, why the furrowed brow when the workers who make your product go on strike? That’s not personal either. What matters is what’s fair. And sustainable. For both parties.
It sounds like the biggest concern for executives is cutting costs, and it’s coming out of the budget for writers. So what are the biggest expenses? What costs are they unable or unwilling to cut which is leading them to sacrifice parts of the writing budget?
The source nicely breaks down the situation--even though the situation sucks. Insightful!