🎧 A Hollywood 'Depression' the Strike Couldn't Fix

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🎧 A Hollywood 'Depression' the Strike Couldn't Fix

Inside what the writers strike wrought (and didn't) one year later

Sep 27

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An Industry ‘Depression’ the Strike Couldn’t Fix

The Ankler Podcast

37:28

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Sept. 27 marked the first anniversary of the end of the writers strike and while pay bumps and streaming bonuses (for two blockbuster shows) are great, the business remains in a world of hurt. Elaine Low, Richard Rushfield and David Lidsky explore the seismic production pullback, newly instated minimums as maximums — and why Richard wants negotiators from both sides in a penalty box for three years. Plus: John Malone’s master plan for WBD, and the gang tries to make a movie using AI.

Transcript here.

ICYMI

The Wakeup Dish sale to DirecTV nears finish line
Disney CEO Rivals: Judging Performance vs. Performance Bergman, Walden, Pitaro, D’Amaro: Entertainment Strategy Guy digs into each’s data to handicap the horse race
WBD Mystery Solved: Why John Malone Keeps Backing David Zaslav Richard Rushfield explores how the cable cowboy revealed the WBD endgame; women disappear from Hollywood C-suites
Fear and Unease: What Happened to VFX-Killer Sora? OpenAI’s generative AI video tool shocked Hollywood at the start of the year. Since then, writes Erik Barmack, it’s been laying low — even as new iterations reveal quiet progress
How Showbiz Makes Monsters Diddy is the latest worst-case example. Richard Rushfield laments how our business continues to fawn over the powerful who make on-screen terror look amateur
Was the Strike Worth It? What Writers Say Out Loud vs. in Whispers As the labor action hits a one-year anniversary, a dozen writers, showrunners and agents tell Elaine Low how they really feel
Screaming, Shouting, NDAs: Video Game Realism and New Danger for Actors While SAG-AFTRA continues its strike against the sector, U.K. talent tells Manori Ravindran of the pressure they’re under to meet the needs of hyper-violent, sophisticated play — but not without a fight
5 More Films to Watch: The Best Picture Fight Starts Now Katey Rich on Conclave, Saturday Night, The Wild Robot, The Brutalist and The Piano Lesson
📸 Todd on the Town The Substance, Nightbitch, Paulson & Pitt
🎧 You Must Answer the Questions About Feet Rob Long salutes the vital ‘middler’ role of agents
🎧 Will Ferrell and Harper Steele: Friendship Without Limits The old pals and collaborators tell Katey Rich about their bonding road trip doc, Will & Harper. Plus: Richard Rushfield's early Oscar predictions