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The TV and film industries are once again on the brink of a production pause, at least for scripted projects.
The ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America has already stalled the pre-production process, and while the Directors Guild of America reached an agreement with film and television studios on June 4 to avoid a strike, the SAG may still strike and bring about 7 Closed on 1st.
To break down the issue at hand and the impact of the strike (and potential strike) on the industry, Project X Entertainment co-CEO Paul Neinstein joins the Digiday podcast. [Editor’s note: This interview was recorded on May 31, before the DGA announced its agreement.]
While he’s not part of an organization on either side of the table, he lays out issues at the table that can be distilled to writers in a position where they’re working more for less or limited money, as is the case with the stream Media Services limits the residual payments that writers can receive from the distribution of shows and movies.
“One of the big categories is the residual problem. This has implications for both film and TV writing, and has more to do with streaming than the more traditional film and TV distribution channels,” Neinstein said.
Meanwhile, strikes and potential work stoppages have affected the wider film and TV industry. For example, Project X Entertainment — a production company whose credits include Netflix’s “Night Walker” and the recently revived “Scream” franchise — has had to adjust.
“We’re a small independent studio. We live and die making stuff. Luckily we have something [in production before the writers’ strike started]but we have three other projects that are planned to start between August and September, and it’s not certain right now,” Neinstein said.
Below are some highlights from the conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Streaming residual problem
exist [streaming] Residual, it’s all about upfront compensation. They modified it a bit in the last agreement. But that doesn’t equate to the success writers have found in these more traditional mediums. And I think it’s getting to a point where it’s just too one-sided, because there’s so much content to be streamed and the ability to tune in and adjust the writers and people — and producers — from other unions to participate. The success of shows that keep bringing subscribers to these new streamers.
artificial intelligence problem
Another big area that really affects everyone is AI and writers’ concerns that studios will use AI to replace writers. And I just don’t believe—maybe I’m just being naive enough to not see the future far enough—that AI will actually be able to replace the real creative content that writers create. Will it be a tool to assist in this process? That’s where I think we need to start looking. As an outsider, I think the hardest part is I don’t think we yet know how much it will impact different areas of anything we do as content creators.
production impact
We are shooting a movie in Ireland right now. We’re starting to get a little worried about the DGA and SAG strikes because we’re still a few weeks away from our shooting schedule. If there is a strike at the end of June, we will do our best to be prepared and schedule productions in such a way that we only have one location left at that time. So if we had to close, at least we’ve mitigated some of the costs associated with getting back into production.
Impact of the DGA agreement
I’m not sure if the DGA agreement really solves the WGA and SAG issues. I think it’s going to help, but I don’t think it will — it used to be that everyone would say, “Great. DGA is done; everything else will fall into place.” It’s not overly optimistic that the same result will occur here. I think we have some time on that.
https://digiday.com/?p=506359
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