Hollywood is facing its most severe crisis since 1960.
In May of 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike, bringing productions like late-night television to a screeching halt. Earlier this month the actors’ union (SAG) also went on strike.
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This is the first time both of these groups have gone on strike since 1960, and Hollywood is at risk of losing up to $4 billion as a result of this strike. Box office revenue was only $7 billion in 2022 after a steep decline in 2020.
The primary reason for these strikes is that streaming services have taken away a large portion of the residual revenue that actors and writers have historically received. Additionally, there has been a push to use Artificial Intelligence to copy the likeness of actors and actresses to generate content.
There have been many complaints from low-paid actors and actresses that studio executives and top actors get paid disproportionately high amounts compared to the majority in the industry.
Recently, Ron Perlman released a hostile video where many speculate that he called out Disney CEO Bob Iger regarding this issue exactly.
The question becomes, what are these actors and writers justified in asking for? If people are not willing to pay them what they want, are they really worth that amount? AI can do the job of actors and writers to some degree already, and they are trying to secure their positions because of that. Perhaps they should be more concerned about developing new skills.
Patrick Bet-David gives his thoughts on the matter from the perspective of somebody who strongly believes in free market capitalism and competition.
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