The four-month strike between Hollywood studios and writers and actors has no end in sight. Meanwhile, the economy is suffering the fallout.
Employment in the entertainment industry, which includes the film, television and music industries, fell by 17,000 in August from the previous month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. It’s a sign of the far-reaching impact of the shutdown, which has largely hampered studio production — affecting not just the striking workers themselves, but businesses like lighting and sound that support the Hollywood machine.
According to statistics, so far, the strike has caused about $5 billion in losses to the California economy. Financial Times.The situation is so concerning that California Treasurer Fiona Ma sent a letter letter To studio heads urging them to find a solution to the strike as soon as possible before its economic ripple effects spread further. In his letter, Ma urged studio executives to consider that the $429 million needed to resolve the writers’ strike would be significantly less than the billions in additional economic damage the strike would cause if it continued.
The strike also took a toll on studios. Warner Bros. Discovery, one of Hollywood’s largest studios, said it expects annual revenue excluding certain projects to be $300 million to $500 million lower than its previous forecast, or $1.05 billion to $11 billion for the year. The company had earlier expected the strike to end in early September. Now the company tells investors that “it cannot predict when the strike will ultimately end.”
Strike forces studio Multiple projects discontinued and delayed the release of the much-anticipated Dune: Part Two From this year to March 2024. The actors refused to promote the new film because of the strike.So the next cast is also star-studded duneActors including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Jason Momoa will not attend any press conferences leading up to the film’s release.
In the same filing, Warner Bros. Discovery did deliver some good news, saying it had raised its free cash flow forecast for this year to at least $5 billion. Previously, the company had forecast free cash flow of $4.5 billion to $5 billion, and the company is now confident it will reach the upper end of its forecast range in August.It attributes this increase to Barbie and its $1.4 billion in global ticket sales. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery, which has the most successful movie of the year, is also saving a lot of money on production and marketing because of the strike. On an earnings call in August, CEO David Zaslav called free cash flow the “financial north star” for Warner Bros. Discovery.
On the same call, Zaslav acknowledged that the strike had an unprecedented impact on Hollywood. “We are in uncharted waters,” he said explain.
In the early days of the strike, when relations with the union were particularly strained, Zaslav in particular was criticized for his huge payouts —$498 million over the past five years– and decide Cancel multiple items Creators are rarely notified. In May, he was even heckled while delivering a commencement speech at his alma mater, Boston University. During Zaslav’s speech, students chanted “pay your writers,” forcing him to pause until the chorus ended.
Contract negotiations between studio and striking workers pick it up last month, just for crash again. The Union of Film and Television Producers then took the unusual step of publicly releasing its contract proposal to the writers union.the move depressed Union leadership sees this as an attempt to divide members over which parts of the proposal should be accepted or negotiated. In a statement, AMPTP said the proposal recognized “the fundamental role writers play in the industry and underscores the company’s commitment to ending the strike.”
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