FOX Business host Larry Kudlow reacts to SAG-AFTRA’s first strike in 63 years at ‘Kudlow’.
Former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller warns Hollywood: End the strike by September 1 or face a “complete collapse” of the industry.
During an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Diller laid out his prognosis for the entertainment industry if the actors and writers strike lasted more than a few months.
“If it doesn’t actually get sorted out by Christmas or something, there won’t be a lot of programming for anyone to watch next year. So what’s going to happen is that the subscriptions will be cancelled.” I’m going to reduce the income of all these film and television companies, which means that there will be no more programs. And by the time the strike is over and you want to get back up, there won’t be enough money.”
Actors’ union SAG-AFTRA joined the ongoing Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike Thursday after five weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to produce a new contract. The WGA has been on strike since early May.
Former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller warned the entertainment industry could face “complete collapse” if a deal doesn’t end the actors’ and writers’ strike soon. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Semafor/Getty Images)
“Companies have refused to engage meaningfully on some issues and we have blocked ourselves completely on others. Unless they negotiate in good faith, we can’t even begin to come to an agreement,” said The Nanny star Fran Drescher of SAG-AFTRA President.
Diller acknowledged that there was “a lack of trust between the negotiating parties” but set a September 1 deadline for the deal to be reached before deeper economic ramifications are felt.
SAG-AFTRA President and actress Fran Drescher arrives at the Netflix picket line on July 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Tens of thousands of Hollywood actors went on strike at midnight on July 13, 2023, effectively crippling the massive film and television giant… (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“The truth is that this is huge business both domestically and for global export,” he said. “It sounds like I’m crying to heaven. But these conditions will potentially lead to the complete collapse of an entire industry.”
Both guilds are primarily concerned with leftovers from streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence to create new works.
In terms of pay, Diller noted that complaints about high salaries from studio executives are at odds with the salaries of some of the top actors supporting the strike.
“You have the actors’ union saying, ‘How dare these ten people who run these companies make so much money and not pay us?’ If you look at it from the other side, the top 10 actors are paid more than the top 10 executives.
“The only idea I had was to say in good faith that both the executives and the highest paid actors should take a 25% pay cut to try and make up the difference between those who get paid well and reduce those who don’t.” Diller suggested.
Members and supporters of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild on a picket line in front of Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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As for AI replacing actors and writers, Diller believes the fears are “overstated to death.”
“In that case I think so [in] Not much will happen in a period of one to three years. But realize that of course there are all these issues,” he explained. “I think those issues are out of proportion to some worries about the replacement, by the way, I don’t think so.” [they are] will replace AI-generated actors. I don’t think you will replace writers. Yes, you can adapt all this stuff and spit out something that sounds like Shakespeare, but guess what, it’s not original Shakespeare. And authors are supported, not replaced. I don’t think most of these actual crafts are compromised by artificial intelligence.”
A teacher supporting striking Hollywood writers holds up a sign that reads ‘AI has no kids to feed!’ on the picket line outside Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California June 30, 2023. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Diller, who is also CEO of holding company IAC and Expedia Group, has commented on his plans to sue over AI’s use of copyrighted material with a group of other publishers, but did not specify who or when they planned to file suit.
“If you don’t protect copyright, all is lost,” he said, citing programs like ChatGPT and AI services offered by Microsoft and Google.
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“The problem is that they also say that copyright fair use doctrine allows them to soak up all this stuff. We on the publishing side don’t agree with that,” explained Diller. “In the long term, if there isn’t a business mode that allows people to produce content professionally, it will be catastrophic. That would be, everyone agrees, a catastrophe. The only way to get there is either legislation or litigation.”