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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.

4 comments
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.

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.

Mr. Eldrich

@ajroach42 So, time to cancel some subscriptions.

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.

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