Hey Ted, maybe you (or someone else here) knows the answer, but isn’t the AMPTC’s unwillingness to engage in continued, good faith negotiations, you know, illegal? If so, can’t this authorize / compel the government to step in to mediate and/or legislate something here? Could this be the path to #12 above? I know “more government” isn’t necessarily the answer for something as complex and specific as the entertainment biz, but isn’t this also a function of government (the Dept of Labor?) Should this be where the unions are putting more pressure to get the strikes resolved and achieve much needed systemic change?
This is amazing! I finally see what you've been driving towards with almost ALL your posts for the past few months. And I now see why my comment about ideal artists environment wasn't appropriate, not because I was wrong, but because you were talking about something bigger! This! The ideal environment was being explored/expressed in order to have an ideal to which to strive/argue as a contrast to how artists are being treated!
I love the line "seize the means of production" which I think is what the current strikes are about. However, I think the possibilities of the revolution are far greater than merely the means of production. We have the potential to use aspects of the existing system to build something far better, where the artists become the entrepreneurs you described years ago and we seize the entire machine! That's my dream. When we own (or at least have a significant say in) the entire system, end-to-end, from idea to distribution, then the revolution will be over.
Tactics:
5. I think it's possible to revolutionize the production of series as well, in a way that allows us to seize that too. But, that's another essay for another time. :)
12. I love this idea of treating them like utilities. I think one solution to this might be non-exclusivite rights. A movie/show should be available everywhere. That way the streamers are selling UI/UX, not content.
18. I love this! The only viable weapon in capitalist systems is money. Not labor, not sympathy/empathy. This idea needs to be burned into the minds of revolutionaries.
19 & 20. Truly brilliant solutions! Especially the blockchain chain-of-training.
Anyway, thanks for continuing to be an amazing thought-leader and speaking truth. Even to stubborn people like me. :)
The idea of everyone spreading a (possibly true) “rumor” saying the reason that streamers don’t share their data is because people aren’t actually watching makes me GIGGLE!! HAHA I LOVE IT and think it could be a simple and ingenious strategy. They would be forced to show their cards just to win the proverbial “dick measuring” contest. Maybe it’s just the kind of shaming that would speak to them (or at least to Wall Street, as you say) because calling them out on their greed doesn’t seem to phase them🙃
So many other great points here too, I want to live in your version of the Future Film Utopia!! I fear that (like the failing healthcare system in the USA) no one is willing to justify + pay for “preventative care,” even if it would clearly solve so many problems (and future illnesses... and imminent climate disaster). How do we convince the money people to invest in the future of society over (or at least in tandem with) the weight of their digital wallets???
Ted, we know the streamers have enough money to meet the SAG/WGA demands. But how likely is it that they don’t want to because they would prefer that the studios to be so far extended that they falter? Perhaps so the streamers can pick up the studios up cheaply?
Would love to know how consumers can support the strike - there are lots of us who miss the cinematically beautiful films that you have to see in a theater and television where you can get to know characters well enough they feel like family ... What can we do? Should we stop all streaming services? Boycott studios? How can the everyday person put our real wishes out there versus a bogus algorithm which makes it hard to find something we love over the stuff that is “trending”
How Labor WILL Win The Strikes
“Terms Of Psychic Warfare” by HUSKER DU from their New Day Rising LP released Independently on SST Records in Redondo Beach, California in 1985.
https://youtu.be/j7gbdTJxWFs?si=AwJKf4cEtSx_lqvC
Hey Ted, maybe you (or someone else here) knows the answer, but isn’t the AMPTC’s unwillingness to engage in continued, good faith negotiations, you know, illegal? If so, can’t this authorize / compel the government to step in to mediate and/or legislate something here? Could this be the path to #12 above? I know “more government” isn’t necessarily the answer for something as complex and specific as the entertainment biz, but isn’t this also a function of government (the Dept of Labor?) Should this be where the unions are putting more pressure to get the strikes resolved and achieve much needed systemic change?
You had me at the title of this post, but "break up the amptp" and "have the unions campaign for a billionaire wealth tax" really got me saying Amen!
This is amazing! I finally see what you've been driving towards with almost ALL your posts for the past few months. And I now see why my comment about ideal artists environment wasn't appropriate, not because I was wrong, but because you were talking about something bigger! This! The ideal environment was being explored/expressed in order to have an ideal to which to strive/argue as a contrast to how artists are being treated!
I love the line "seize the means of production" which I think is what the current strikes are about. However, I think the possibilities of the revolution are far greater than merely the means of production. We have the potential to use aspects of the existing system to build something far better, where the artists become the entrepreneurs you described years ago and we seize the entire machine! That's my dream. When we own (or at least have a significant say in) the entire system, end-to-end, from idea to distribution, then the revolution will be over.
Tactics:
5. I think it's possible to revolutionize the production of series as well, in a way that allows us to seize that too. But, that's another essay for another time. :)
12. I love this idea of treating them like utilities. I think one solution to this might be non-exclusivite rights. A movie/show should be available everywhere. That way the streamers are selling UI/UX, not content.
18. I love this! The only viable weapon in capitalist systems is money. Not labor, not sympathy/empathy. This idea needs to be burned into the minds of revolutionaries.
19 & 20. Truly brilliant solutions! Especially the blockchain chain-of-training.
Anyway, thanks for continuing to be an amazing thought-leader and speaking truth. Even to stubborn people like me. :)
The idea of everyone spreading a (possibly true) “rumor” saying the reason that streamers don’t share their data is because people aren’t actually watching makes me GIGGLE!! HAHA I LOVE IT and think it could be a simple and ingenious strategy. They would be forced to show their cards just to win the proverbial “dick measuring” contest. Maybe it’s just the kind of shaming that would speak to them (or at least to Wall Street, as you say) because calling them out on their greed doesn’t seem to phase them🙃
So many other great points here too, I want to live in your version of the Future Film Utopia!! I fear that (like the failing healthcare system in the USA) no one is willing to justify + pay for “preventative care,” even if it would clearly solve so many problems (and future illnesses... and imminent climate disaster). How do we convince the money people to invest in the future of society over (or at least in tandem with) the weight of their digital wallets???
Ted, we know the streamers have enough money to meet the SAG/WGA demands. But how likely is it that they don’t want to because they would prefer that the studios to be so far extended that they falter? Perhaps so the streamers can pick up the studios up cheaply?
Yes! This was so inspiring, thank you for sharing Ted! We’re hard at work on the 1/8th front!
I really hope someone in leadership in both unions is following your posts. Amen to all of this. Data transparency would be a game-changer.
Would love to know how consumers can support the strike - there are lots of us who miss the cinematically beautiful films that you have to see in a theater and television where you can get to know characters well enough they feel like family ... What can we do? Should we stop all streaming services? Boycott studios? How can the everyday person put our real wishes out there versus a bogus algorithm which makes it hard to find something we love over the stuff that is “trending”
Well said.