Some time ago, screenwriters and directors of Hollywood went on strike. Over the course of the past 2 weeks, actors (TV and movie) have joined them for the first time in 43 years. Hollywood has been searching for someone to help broker peace between the two sides, so that production can go on. Sadly, it appears as if that person does not exist.
“Back in the day, it was Lew Wasserman who would enter the talks and move them along,” said Jason E. Squire, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, to the New York Times. He’s referring to Lew Wasserman as the guy who would be the “mediator” in this current situation. “Today, it is different. Traditional studios and the technology companies that have moved into Hollywood have different cultures and business models. There is no studio elder, respected by both sides, to help broker a deal.” Wasserman held great power, thus he was able to make both sides bend, commanding both fear and respect.
As of now, neither side is willing to give in first and ask for a talk, so nothing is happening at the moment. Both sides insist that the other make the first move, refusing to give up the high ground. Many important and influential people have been called in, including Bryan Lourd, the Creative Artists Agency heavyweight, and Gov. Gavin Newsom about the cinematic crisis. Two federal mediators are studying the issue, and agents and lawyers alike have been going on back-channel phone calls.
An entertainment lawyer working to solve the issue has said that emotions must cool before talks can begin. When is that rolling around? Hard to say. Perhaps tomorrow or all the way until the end of the year.
The last time a Hollwood strike occurred was in the 1960’s (going into the 1990’s) when there was a feared and effective Wasserman to help settle things down. Wasserman had the respect of both sides and could deal with the colorful personalities found in either camp. And back then, it was an era of relatively less complicated entertainment, where studios didn’t have to deal with lucrative toy deals or giant conglomerates.
After Wasserman died in 2002, Bob Daly, the man who ran Warner Bros in the 80’s and 90’s, took on his mantle. He said on the phone that he’s no longer involved in Hollywood strife, having moved on to run the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he did offer some advice. As the New York Times reports, Mr. Daly first said on the phone that one thing he thought was a mistake was that things had gotten personal. It’d be best if everyone just sat down and negotiated until compromises were made.
The last Hollywood strike took place in 2007-8. The Writers Guild of America talked over a bunch of things, including compensation for shows distributed online on streaming platforms, which was a big sore point. That strike took over 100 days to resolve (the current one is already at around 88-90 days old.) Peter Chernin, then president of News Corporation, and Roger A. Iger, then relatively new chief executive of Disney, had to do some hands-on roles to fix it. Barry M. Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros at the time and Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animations back then also played key roles. The latter 3 are busy with other things or are viewed as villains by actors, with the possible exception of Mr Chernin.
Mr. Katzenberg has largely left the entertainment circle after the collapse of Quibi, his streaming startup. Mr. Meyer retired from Hollywood in 2013 and now sits on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He says he has nothing to do with negotiations this year, but he is still very sad about the way the current state of things. Mr. Chernin, who left the corporate ranks of Hollywood, had his spokeswoman decline to comment, but according to an unstated source from the New York Times, he told a senior associate that if he was asked to help, he would be hard pressed to say no. Mr. Iger is perhaps the most controversial, as he became a picket line pinata due to telling CNBC that, while he respected “their right and their desire to get as much as they possibly can,” union leaders were not being “realistic.” Needless to say, that did not go over well.
Now, the studios need to solve one thing: how to get everyone back. Everyone says the same thing, that they want to resolve the strikes. Some, like Warner Bros. Discovery, are more willing to sit down and talk while others, like Disney, draw a harder line. Both declined to comment. Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, was involved with this movie mess, and so was Governor Gavin Newsom, who commented in May that he would intervene “when called in by both sides.” There are still tons of problems left unsolved, and many extremely dissatisfied actors, writers and executives. One thing lingers on most uninvolved peoples’ minds: “When will we get movies and TV shows again?”
David, wonderful draft. One thing I’d think about is getting into the specifics of the demands being made by screenwriters and actors. Why do they feel it be necessary to strike, giving up their own jobs and paycheck to protect what?
“Back in the day, it was Lew Wasserman who would enter the talks and move them along,” said Jason E. Squire, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, to the New York Times. He’s referring to Lew Wasserman as the guy who would be the “mediator” in this current situation. “Today, it is different. Traditional studios and the technology companies that have moved into Hollywood have different cultures and business models. There is no studio elder, respected by both sides, to help broker a deal.” Wasserman held great power, thus he was able to make both sides bend, commanding both fear and respect.
As of now, neither side is willing to give in first and ask for a talk, so nothing is happening at the moment. Both sides insist that the other make the first move, refusing to give up the high ground. Many important and influential people have been called in, including Bryan Lourd, the Creative Artists Agency heavyweight, and Gov. Gavin Newsom about the cinematic crisis. Two federal mediators are studying the issue, and agents and lawyers alike have been going on back-channel phone calls.
An entertainment lawyer working to solve the issue has said that emotions must cool before talks can begin. When is that rolling around? Hard to say. Perhaps tomorrow or all the way until the end of the year.
The last time a Hollwood strike occurred was in the 1960’s (going into the 1990’s) when there was a feared and effective Wasserman to help settle things down. Wasserman had the respect of both sides and could deal with the colorful personalities found in either camp. And back then, it was an era of relatively less complicated entertainment, where studios didn’t have to deal with lucrative toy deals or giant conglomerates.
After Wasserman died in 2002, Bob Daly, the man who ran Warner Bros in the 80’s and 90’s, took on his mantle. He said on the phone that he’s no longer involved in Hollywood strife, having moved on to run the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he did offer some advice. As the New York Times reports, Mr. Daly first said on the phone that one thing he thought was a mistake was that things had gotten personal. It’d be best if everyone just sat down and negotiated until compromises were made.
The last Hollywood strike took place in 2007-8. The Writers Guild of America talked over a bunch of things, including compensation for shows distributed online on streaming platforms, which was a big sore point. That strike took over 100 days to resolve (the current one is already at around 88-90 days old.) Peter Chernin, then president of News Corporation, and Roger A. Iger, then relatively new chief executive of Disney, had to do some hands-on roles to fix it. Barry M. Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros at the time and Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animations back then also played key roles. The latter 3 are busy with other things or are viewed as villains by actors, with the possible exception of Mr Chernin.
Mr. Katzenberg has largely left the entertainment circle after the collapse of Quibi, his streaming startup. Mr. Meyer retired from Hollywood in 2013 and now sits on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He says he has nothing to do with negotiations this year, but he is still very sad about the way the current state of things. Mr. Chernin, who left the corporate ranks of Hollywood, had his spokeswoman decline to comment, but according to an unstated source from the New York Times, he told a senior associate that if he was asked to help, he would be hard pressed to say no. Mr. Iger is perhaps the most controversial, as he became a picket line pinata due to telling CNBC that, while he respected “their right and their desire to get as much as they possibly can,” union leaders were not being “realistic.” Needless to say, that did not go over well.
Now, the studios need to solve one thing: how to get everyone back. Everyone says the same thing, that they want to resolve the strikes. Some, like Warner Bros. Discovery, are more willing to sit down and talk while others, like Disney, draw a harder line. Both declined to comment. Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, was involved with this movie mess, and so was Governor Gavin Newsom, who commented in May that he would intervene “when called in by both sides.” There are still tons of problems left unsolved, and many extremely dissatisfied actors, writers and executives. One thing lingers on most uninvolved peoples’ minds: “When will we get movies and TV shows again?”
David, wonderful draft. One thing I’d think about is getting into the specifics of the demands being made by screenwriters and actors. Why do they feel it be necessary to strike, giving up their own jobs and paycheck to protect what?
