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Andrew (bookseller era)'s posts Post Back to profile
Andrew (bookseller era)

I haven't talked a lot about the writer's strike recently (mostly because I've been dealing with small implosions within my little community, as relationships have ended and people have drawn battle lines, and I've had to come to the defense of people I previously believed unassailable. So it goes.)

But I've been thinking about the writer's strike a lot, both because I care deeply about workers issues and because the outcome of the writers strike will directly impact the success of the company I am joining on Monday.

Yesterday, there were a lot of stories about the studios plans to drag the strike on as long as possible, in order to hurt the striking writers, and these were reported on uncritically as if it was some surprise.

I found this frustrating and naïve, and I'd like to talk about it a bit in between other things today.

13 Jul 2023 at 13:29 | Open on retro.social
6 comments
Andrew (bookseller era)

Of course the studios want to drag the writer's strike on for as long as they can afford to. It is the only way they can make writer's suffer.

But, more importantly, they want to project the idea that the writers need a paycheck more than the studios need writers. It's classic fearmongering.

"We'll ruin you. Our pockets are deeper. You'll run out first."

It's disgusting, and it's frustrating that so many otherwise progressive news organizations and publications parroted it without any deeper examination.

These organizations, in attempting to scoop a story about how evil these studios are, in fact participated in that evil. They brandished studio propaganda as fact.

Of course the studios want to drag the writer's strike on for as long as they can afford to. It is the only way they can make writer's suffer.

But, more importantly, they want to project the idea that the writers need a paycheck more than the studios need writers. It's classic fearmongering.

"We'll ruin you. Our pockets are deeper. You'll run out first."

13 Jul 2023 at 13:47 | Open on retro.social
Andrew (bookseller era)

Now, I don't have any inside track on the studios, and I don't currently work in the media industry, beyond the work I'm doing to destroy it with the power of community media production re: #NewEllijayTelevision #netv.

I don't *know* that the studios are scared, running out of money, and so desperate for the writers to take a deal that they would do basically anything, and that they are attempting to shift the narrative to make it seem like that is not the case in order to bluff at least some of the writers in to accepting a bad deal and returning to the table.

I don't Know that, but I strongly suspect it, and I've played poker often enough to know the kinds of hunches I can trust.

Now, I don't have any inside track on the studios, and I don't currently work in the media industry, beyond the work I'm doing to destroy it with the power of community media production re: #NewEllijayTelevision #netv.

I don't *know* that the studios are scared, running out of money, and so desperate for the writers to take a deal that they would do basically anything, and that they are attempting to shift the narrative to make it seem like that is not the case in order to bluff at least some of...

13 Jul 2023 at 13:53 | Open on retro.social
Andrew (bookseller era)

When I say that the current story in the news cycle about extending the strike until people go homeless feels like cheap fearmongering in support of a simple bluff, I'm basing that on years of studying workers movements, and examining previous media industry strikes.

For the studios, this is professional. For the writers, it is both professional and personal.

For the studios, it's about their bottom line. For the writers, it's about the roofs over their heads and the food on their tables.

This recent bit of fearmongering is about convincing the writers that they have more to lose that the studios.

Here's the thing, though, that's simply not true.

When I say that the current story in the news cycle about extending the strike until people go homeless feels like cheap fearmongering in support of a simple bluff, I'm basing that on years of studying workers movements, and examining previous media industry strikes.

For the studios, this is professional. For the writers, it is both professional and personal.

13 Jul 2023 at 13:56 | Open on retro.social
Andrew (bookseller era)

Studios absolutely depend on new movies and television shows to survive.

In this vertically integrated world of streaming services, this is because new content retains current subscriptions and attracts new ones.

These studios also have huge backlogs of content that they can depend on to generate some small amount of revenue. They can make endless remakes. They can reissue the same tired and staid movies and television shows again and again.

Eventually, these things run out, and the studios will have to start paying interest on their loans.

Netflix, for example, is probably in a hole too deep to climb out of.

Studios absolutely depend on new movies and television shows to survive.

In this vertically integrated world of streaming services, this is because new content retains current subscriptions and attracts new ones.

These studios also have huge backlogs of content that they can depend on to generate some small amount of revenue. They can make endless remakes. They can reissue the same tired and staid movies and television shows again and again.

13 Jul 2023 at 14:03 | Open on retro.social
Mr. Eldrich

@ajroach42 So, time to cancel some subscriptions.

13 Jul 2023 at 14:04 | Open on sfba.social
Andrew (bookseller era)

@mreldrich No one in the writer's community has requested that, yet, as far as I'm aware.

It is possible they'll call for a boycot in the future.

13 Jul 2023 at 14:05 | Open on retro.social
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