The Hollywood strikes are set to continue, as the union and studios cannot find common ground toward ending the now months-long shutdown. The fall television season has been scuttled, and late-night talk shows have been non-existent as the two sides still remain far apart on terms.
There is much speculation that the studios and streamers actually want the strike to continue. Subsequently, they can use artificial intelligence to supplement writers, and the networks can replace expensive star-driven content with dirt-cheap reality shows and game shows.
The majority of the streaming services, through no fault of the actors and writers, have been bleeding cash and subscribers. The reasons why vary, from poor quality, woke content to having far too many services for the average family to juggle and pay for.
It is not uncommon for people to cancel a service en mass when a popular show ends, only to restart the subscription when it returns. While that is good for consumers, it is very bad for the streamers. As if the services were blind to the reasons many people cancel, they still roll out unimaginative, stale, and often woke programming that people simply don’t want to pay for.
Now that the strike is entering its third month, the union representing Hollywood actors is taking aim at another industry to attempt to drive its point home. Video game makers are now coming under fire as the strike intensifies.
SAG-AFTRA leaders announced Friday that they will seek authorization for a strike against major video game companies, which would presumably include giants Activision and Electronic Arts. EA, which makes the popular Madden line of NFL games, and Activision are the two biggest companies on the block, and the union is now coming straight for them.
The SAG-AFTRA president, Hollywood veteran Fran Drescher, released a statement about the union’s intentions. “Once again artificial intelligence is putting our members in jeopardy of reducing their opportunity to work. And once again, SAG-AFTRA is standing up to tyranny on behalf of its members.”
It is not uncommon for rank-and-file members of the union to draw lucrative paychecks from video game makers to do motion-capture performances and voiceovers. Like conventional studios, video game makers are seeking to trim costs by instituting artificial intelligence in lieu of using actual people.
It isn’t an unexpected move by the video game makers, as just like Hollywood studios, costs must be kept under control to ensure profitability. However, the union also has a valid position, as its member must be paid fairly for their work and not replaced by machines.
Certainly, if there is a compromise, it has yet to be discovered. The advent and use of AI will undoubtedly water down an already poor pool of content for viewers, who will be the ultimate losers in the dispute. As users flee the services due to poor content, the studios will be forced even further to find ways to control costs, which will likely lead to even cheaper, worse content.
For now, neither side shows any sign of bending to the will of the other. So, while actors and writers walk the picket line, viewers are left to stream reruns and reality shows in the stead. No one is winning in this scenario, as entertainment is on the verge of making a hard reset back to networks and cable. Is this a bad thing? Considering most people who cut the cord of cable now spend just as much on a myriad of streaming services, maybe a hard reset is in order. Either way, neither side is budging, and the viewer at home is left holding the bag.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video
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