Is Anyone Working?

[PMC]

The US Department of Labor said due to strike activity motion picture and sound recording jobs dropped by 17,000.

 

And now...
"Per 'Deadline', SAG-AFTRA’s board has unanimously voted to authorize a strike in case its upcoming bargaining meeting with the games industry falls through. The voting process will take place from Tuesday, September 5 and last all the way to Monday, September 25. According to the outlet, the negotiation will include companies such as Activision, EA, Insomniac Games, and WB Games. SAG-AFTRA is aiming to secure protections against AI and wage increases of 11% retroactively."
 

I understand the fight and we shouldn't be required to give up our "likeness" of any kind without compensation. It will take a lot of gains in a new contract to make up for these lost wages.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

5 hours ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

"Year    Streamers    % of all U.S. adults
2021    214.8 million    90%
2022    214.9 million    89%
2023    240.2 million    93%

 

These numbers are another part of the problem.  The market is saturated, there is nowhere for growth to come from (at least domestically).  And, their costs still outweigh their revenues significantly.  Since they can't grow their way to profitability, their only option is to cut their way to it.

 

The global picture muddies these waters quite a bit, and for the last few years, the streamers have been justifying their overspending by growing their international subscriber base.  Perhaps they will continue to do so.

 

But I can't think their shareholders will put up with eight and nine figure losses indefinitely.  Once one domino falls, the race for subscribers will be over, and there will be a scramble to balance the books.  Probably, that means cutting shows wholesale and reducing output back to what the market will bear.  Trimming "points" from above-the-line talent will help, but ultimately, their problem has more to do with overproduction than with cost-of-production.  For that reason, the cuts will have to come from a reduced number of shows, regardless of what deal terms are negotiated by the actors and writers.

Yes, I think it's reasonable to think that there will be a small "boom" of production when the logjam breaks, but that boom isn't going to put us back where things were.  We are still facing a smaller industry overall as the streamers balance their books.

[Johnny Karlsson]

Thank you guys . All very good info. It is always helpful to try to understand a problem from the perspectives of both sides.

 

I feel some things still don’t add up. For example; how can it be that they are spending more than they make in 2023? It has been slow since January. Many Productions already came to a halt in the beginning of the year- before the WGA strike even started. I guess it was anticipated…? But the question remains - if everything is shut down, where is the money being spent? Bonuses for those who made bad decisions and did the over spending ? lol 

[Paul F]

49 minutes ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

I feel some things still don’t add up. For example; how can it be that they are spending more than they make in 2023? It has been slow since January. Many Productions already came to a halt in the beginning of the year- before the WGA strike even started.

 

If spending was down in the first quarter, then that may indicate that they are in worse shape than the financials reported. That is, had they spent as much as normal, then the losses would have been worse.  Slowing down production and reduction in spending would make sense with or without the anticipation of strikes as they have to get expenses down.

 

It may be an indicator of just how difficult their finances are. Not knowing just how bad things are from their point of view makes it difficult to predict how long the strike will go on. One thing the streamers have reported is how much they are 'saving' due to the production halt. So while revenue continues to come in and production expenses halt, it's all the better for them in the short term. At least for a while, they will continue to get subscribers monthly fees while union members sit idle.