Hollywood Must Change—But How?
Join Reason on YouTube Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about the Hollywood strikes with television writer and political commentator Rob Long.
"Despite my misgivings about nearly every single labor action the Writers Guild has undertaken during my three decades of membership…as I tick through the issues of today, in 2023, I can't help but, God help me, support the union," wrote Rob Long in a column for Commentary shortly before the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the major Hollywood studios on May 1.
Long is a Hollywood veteran who wrote for Cheers, co-created and wrote for many other network shows such as the Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch–starring sitcom George & Leo, and served as executive producer of the Kevin James sitcom Kevin Can Wait. He also co-founded Ricochet, a conservative news and culture website and podcasting network where he co-hosts The Ricochet Podcast and the GLoP Culture podcast.
Watch on YouTube this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a conversation between Long and Reason's Nick Gillespie and Zach Weissmueller about the ongoing writers and actors strike in Hollywood, where they'll analyze the strikers' grievances, react to comments about artificial intelligence and capitalism from actors Bryan Cranston and Alan Ruck, dive deep into the changing economics of show business, and discuss what might be next for an industry undergoing massive changes in the wake of the streaming revolution.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
react to comments about artificial intelligence and capitalism from actors Bryan Cranston
CRT Bot Bryan Cranston whines about bots?
I'm making $90 an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning sixteen thousand US dollars a month by working on the connection, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply. Everybody must try this job now by just using this website... http://www.Payathome7.com
Great article, Mike. I appreciate your work, I’m now creating over $35,300 dollars each month simply by doing a simple job online! I do know You currently making a lot of greenbacks online from $28,300 dollars, its simple online operating jobs.
.
.
Just open the link———————————————>>> http://Www.OnlineCash1.Com
Is he going to give the money back?
There should be no such thing as a rich socialist.
Hollywood must change? Why? Hollywood must change ... or what? Hollywood is a "private" industry sector insofar as any industry can be called private in America any more. Hollywood's employment relationships are as heavily regulated as any other industry sector. Hollywood, as a purely entertainment industry is not nearly as important as, say, the steel industry or the transportation industry. So why does Hollywood have to change? What bad thing happened to me during the last Hollywood strike that I hardly even noticed?
They must change to stay relevant.
They must change if they want to continue making lots of money.
The two highest grossing movies of the year were all hype, no beef, but some other really successful movies this year (Across the Spiderverse, Oppenheimer, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Sound of Freedom) had less hype but more beef.
But most other movies this year had little hype AND little beef, and they failed. Most movies this year either lost money or made very little.
The actors do not care as long as they make enough money to fill ten armored cars!
Think of it as a golden parachute or something.
They could just fail completely and go away. That is an old standard.
That works for me.
I haven't been to the movies in close to 20 years. I enjoyed some television for a while, but very few tv shows have caught my attention the last half dozen years.
I can't be the only one.
You are not. I feel the same way. Too little focus on the story. The writing is formulaic and dull. CGI does nothing for me.
They need to adapt to *checks notes* modern audiences.
Note: for maximum effect imagine "modern audiences" with a booming echoing voice of a drunken Scotsman.
Between that guy and Plinkett dissecting the Phantom Menace, Hollywood writers have all they need to make much better art.
They don't care. Movies are for export, not for Americans. They can't offend China, they can't be based on American or even European tropes, they have to have a minimum of dialog that is easy to localize, and they have to be tied to a "franchise" that allows peripheral marketing and brand recognition.
Likewise, if you want to have a "real" movie, you have to meet CRT quotas in cast, story, and even the film workers -- like the skin color of the fucking gaffers has anything to do with anything -- or you can't even be in consideration for an award.
I'm not their demographic (nobody looking for story driven, humerous, insightful filmmaking is), and I haven't been in more than 15 years.
Since we're here, this should be required viewing for any aspiring writer or filmmaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI
Wait, what? A strike? By whom? Where?
Must be a local news story.
One trucking company fails; 22,000 teamster members find out the minimum wage is zero.
Hollywood unionized writers strike, 11,500 involved.
But the strikers are still waiting tables and working at Home Depot.
Or like Sarc, sucking cocks for cash at the local transit authority.
If the socialist ass-hat writers and actors want to be Luddites, let's see them boycott all means of recording and distribution. Imagine all the work available if they had to deliver all shows live, in every county across the country.
Of course, the "stars" might have to spend more time on the road to earn that first million.
That would create work. I like it. They should also ban the use of printers. All plays must be manually transcribed. Think of the out of work scribes.
And in Latin.
Now hold on there, pope boy.
I don’t think it makes one a Luddite to say it’s bullshit that the studios want to own your likeness in perpetuity so they can digitally add you into any scene they choose and not compensate you for it.
"But How?"
Go back to telling stories instead of preaching woke homilies and filling out DEI checklists.
>>Bryan Cranston
anti-Dentite!
But how
Mostly by disappearing. Or largely restructuring for television budgets. It's not art. It's entertainment. And it's the last century's entertainment, at that. This isn't to knock it. I love a good movie as much as the next guy. But, if your business model means you have to pull in the high eight figures to break even, you've got a problem. And no anti-capitalist pabulum from Bryan Cranston or Alan Ruck is going to change that.
Bryan Cranston is anti-capitalist? So did he distribute his cash from Breaking Bad equally to everyone involved in the production?
Nothing is greedier than a socialist.
Hollywood Must Change—But How?
They should try adding more leftist/feminist virtue signaling into their shitty movies, see how that works.
The funny part is that I really like The Day After Tomorrow regardless of the fact that it is an in your face propaganda film. I somewhat liked Don't Look Up as well.
Yes they need to stop being such politically charged woke garbage, but I also think the writing for movies and tv has gone to absolute shit. I can enjoy media that doesn't align with my moral and political positions so long as it's written well.
Seems most stuff these days is written by children for children. I don't think it's just because I'm getting older. I think more stuff "back in the day" was written with a much higher maturity level and with more real substance.
I don’t think it’s just because I’m getting older. I think more stuff “back in the day” was written with a much higher maturity level and with more real substance.
Compare some of the old Star Trek TOS or TNG episodes, especially ones that dealt with serious topics like A Taste of Armageddon or The Drumhead to episodes of Discovery, Picard (S1 & 2 especially), or Strange New Worlds where you've got people who are supposed to be adults serving in a military organization acting like hyperactive children. It's not your imagination.
More like it's written by groomers for children.
And maybe a few more classic male hero characters getting the “Jake Skywalker” treatment and being turned into sad, pathetic old losers who – of course – just need to get out of the way so that a younger more “diverse” female can take over and put things right. Yeah, that’ll do the trick for sure…
"Female" is passé.
Feminism is problematic now.
How can you be a feminist if you deny the existence of women?
2020 - every show must have a token lesbian
2024 - every show must have a token trans
2060 - cis people are banned from appearing in recorded performances
They could start by maybe not producing endless streams of shitty content.
CGI/AI kiddie porn is the next big thing.
*Light the Pluggo signal*
But then how will they get the rush of feeling total power over someone and knowing they’re hurting real people to which they’re so addicted?
I guess I didn't think it through...
Which is practically no different than crude drawings of stick figures, or a trashy romance novel with an explicit sex scene involving at least one underage person.
State laws regard them as different. Expect constitutional fights over hyper-realistic CGI kiddie porn coming soon.
What Hollywood is going to have to do is get WAY smaller.
Churning out way too much product for anybody to watch, even if it was high quality. But they are confusing quantity and quality pretty substantially here.
Same thing goes for popular music. We don't need every half-ass garage band putting out albums.
That's what YouTube is for.
Biden is asking for $24B MORE for Ukraine.
Also adding in $4B for the US borders/fetanyl/etc
Nice of him to think of us.
Can we start sending illegal immigrants to Ukraine?
For sound economic perspective go to https://honesteconomics.substack.com/
The writers’ (and now actors’) strike is speeding up the needed change: AI will take over both roles. AI can read the scripts of every movie ever made, and cross reference it to critical acclaim and box office receipts, then write a good movie people actually like, or infinite varieties of them. Then AI can animate and dub the movie using the likenesses and voices of retired or deceased actors the movie-going public actually liked (and whose families or estates need the cash). AI could churn out dozens of such movies a day, and another AI could watch them all and pick the best 2 or 3 to release. Movie studios will make a fortune and the public will be much better entertained.
In three years, I predict. Five years tops.