Mainstream productions halted is a blessing for independent films

Comment - Arina Kosareva

When American actors joined hands with screenwriters in a strike against rapacious media moguls (capitalistic money-hoarding is getting on everyone’s nerves these days), the intricate machinery of the dream factory aka Hollywood stopped dead in its tracks. Be that as it may, the postponement of tentpole productions and releases does not mean that film buffs are to be indefinitely deprived of fresh content.

Photo: Liam Edwards / Unsplash

Boomers were cool once, apparently – the last time actors went on strike hand in hand with screenwriters was more than half a century ago. In 1960, SAG (Screen Actors Guild, now SAG-AFTRA – Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and WGA (Writers Guild of America) successfully negotiated to be payed residuals for the reruns of films and series on TV. With streaming services disrupting the industry in 2010s and AI blooming in 2020s, it is now millennials and Gen-Z taking on the crusaders’ mantle (prediction: in another 50 years, some spoiled media-student-brat will also roast our generations for an array of imperfections).

In 2023, the fight is for labor rights yet again. The whole ordeal began when screenwriters realized – while Netflix and Co. made big bucks off of their subscribers, those behind the production remained severely underpaid. “The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels. On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini-rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season,” asserted WGA in their March bulletin and two months later put down their proverbial pens.

Actors’ demands are similar – the bottom line is, creators have had a basinful of corporate exploitation. And no wonder: when Disney CEO – earns millions of dollars per year, of course, – says that the strikers’ goals are “not realistic,” the only thing left to do is pull a Howard Beale and yell “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” And people rally in support, booing yet another media multi-millionaire/preacher of the American dream. Fairness first, pompous speeches after.

What makes this strike truly momentous is its newfound focus on the potential reverberations of the AI revolution. Copyright is the central issue here, and for good reasons. If AI can cook up parts of a script within seconds or conjure up a previously captured actors’ image, do productions really need to employ flesh-and-blood people? Imagine the budget cuts!

The position of AMPTP, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who are on the other side of the strike, is unwavering for now. It is, essentially, a zero-sum game for all parties involved. Media corporations are more insulated though, and this gives them enough room to sit back, relax, and simply wait until actors and producers come begging – after all, they need to pay the bills, and not everyone has a safety net to fall back on in case the dispute drags on and on.

For movie goers, this means that many long-awaited premiers are going to be pushed back – again, as if COVID-19 wasn’t enough of a bummer. Among the obvious candidates for the postponement are Deadpool 3, Gladiator 2, Avatar 3, Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part Two… The premiere of Dune: Part Two is already rescheduled from November 3, 2023, to March 15, 2024, since neither Zendaya nor Timothée Chalamet are allowed to market the film per the conditions of the strike.

What is notable about this particular list is that it features nothing but sequels. Hollywood has been recycling the same plot lines for decades now, and perhaps the halt of the industry brought about by the strike is exactly what’s needed to jolt American creators out of the vicious circle or repetitiveness. SAG-AFTRA is inadvertently helping the process, as it has already approved the production of a total of 39 independent films and TV series – the companies behind them are not associated with AMPTP, so no conflict of interest there. It is certainly an opening for emerging directors, writers, and actors to showcase their talent and finally tell different, new stories to audiences.