• Bilb!@lem.monster
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    1 year ago

    There is an alternative “cruel but necessary evil” forming in my mind.

  • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    Given that the actors’ guild will probably start their own strike tomorrow, I think they might get a good bump in solidarity soon. Holywood corporations are willing to just let their workers starve rather than cede to their breadcrumb demands. This is no longer about “pay raise too high”, it’s about control because they know a victory here means momentum for the workers.

    Even if you can’t contribute to the Entertainment Community Fund (you likely can’t), if you know people who like movies, series and stuff like that, you should probably remember them that this is going on. The media blackout on it is ridiculous.

  • Black AOC@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    “Agree to our terms or starve, freeze, and basically die”; at what point do the housebroken of the west decide enough is enough and start breaking out the gas cans?

  • signofzeta@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    The last time this happened in America, we got reality TV. One such reality show involved an orange NYC landlord playing the lead character where he was depicted as a strong and unchallenged leader. Some can argue that it was enough PR for him to begin yet another run for the presidency, one that culminated in what Jello Biafra summed up with the sentence, “Are we fucking serious?”

  • 201dberg@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    So the unions have until October to start stringing up these executives is what I hear.

  • relay@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    Will AI generated actors and AI voices with stories written by AI become the new standard of entertainment in the USA?

    • DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      Sooner or later for sure. The first ever “AI generated tv show” will probably draw a lot of curiosity views, and every network will scramble to make their own.

      It really wouldn’t be that different from the same recycled plots and characters Hollywood has been using for decades now, just that occasionally a character will make some random nonsense statement instead of a quip and the audience will still laugh.

      • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        just that occasionally a character will make some random nonsense statement instead of a quip and the audience will still laugh.

        Marvel movies went ahead their time it seems.

        • cayde6ml@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          As much as I hate marvel’s neoliberalism, I think they get way too much shit for “marvel dialogue”.

          • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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            1 year ago

            Usually it’s not that bad, when they have actual topic. But the banter is the worst thing i seen short of polish “moral anxiety cinema”.

      • Addfwyn@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        Isn’t there an AI-generated never-ending Seinfeld-clone on twitch already that gets a regular amount of viewers? Not sure if the novelty wore off for people or not yet.

    • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      Considering some extreme and very unsolved problems current generative AI has with anything cohesive for long generations, it’s probably going to be just as bad as most Unitedstadian TV.

    • Justice@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      I admit to not looking it up, but as you stated, yes that is the normal union practice and kind of most of the point of paying dues. To pay for the administration needed for an organization (lawyers, media PR people, records keepers and all that stuff) but also a massive portion is meant as a “not only can we withhold our labor collectively and shut your profit-making down completely, but we can pay the workers to NOT work for [whatever amount of time].” Withholding labor indefinitely obviously forced management and owners to either decide that they legitimately cannot give in to worker demands (which is never the case. They always choose to not do so, but they obviously CAN) and pack it up ie shut some location down or give in and hammer out a deal and contract to end the strike. There’s also the fun third options of trying to hire a fuckload of scabs or, the best option, having the government come in and and shot a few strikers and the rest get the message. Obviously I’m being sarcastic calling those “good” just in case anyone misreads that.

      So, I to assume this is a mixture of workers’ private savings and such + union funds and the owners have identified a general timeline for when the money will simply be gone.

      • doublenut@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Incorrect. Most unions these days do not have strike funds intended or capable of paying its members.

  • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    So could someone explain this to me about the strikes, what happens if one of the companies that has employees striking agrees to the demands? Does the group of employees stop striking or is it until a certain percentage does it or something? I looked it up and was confused on this because I don’t know as much about multi-employer strikes and was confused on it.

    • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 year ago

      The biggest corporations form what is basically a “corporation union” called the AMPTP to take part in the collective bargaining. I’m not sure how exactly is their voting procedure, but the strike will go on so long as the WGA and AMPTP don’t agree to a deal on a collective level. Now, after that contract is settled, I think (but am not sure) that members of the AMPTP and other USA corporations can provide even better contracts individually (like how a couple rail companies agreed to the sick day demands after Biden forced the bad deal through).

      However they aren’t allowed to make an individual contract that doesn’t safeguard the demands agreed upon by the WGA, and they frequently issue “do not work” orders to union members about specific companies they have issues with.

      I’m not from the United Stadia though, so I could be wrong about some of that.

      • rjs001@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        Ah, that makes sense. So are the employees of companies that aren’t part of the AMPTP striking or no?

        • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          Yes, from my understanding every single member of the WGA is striking even if they weren’t working AMPTP (which includes giants like Disney, WBD, Universal, Paramount, ViacomCBS, FOX, Netflix, Amazon and a bunch of others). They are still allowed to work in areas that don’t fall into the WGA’s representation such as personal youtube channels, podcasts or other forms of non-writing work, but they are advised to consult with the guild if the line is blurry. For example, Adam Conover is a member of the board and negotiating committee, and he is still doing his podcast since it’s mostly a self-employed interview podcast, but has directed it towards talking about the strike itself. I think they may even be allowed to direct given the DGA quick agreement, but I’m not sure how one would direct without a writer.

          Edit: punishment can range between fines to outright expulsion, but it’s rare for something like that to go through because you also get known as “that shitty scab” to all your coworkers and nobody wants to be both poor and hated.