History will tell the story of entertainment’s recent Gold Rush: pivot to streaming —> consolidation —> streaming’s ceiling —> Wall St.’s punishment —> layoffs and strife. How it ends is unwritten, which brings us to this week.
Negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios are the first (but certainly won’t be the last) big referendum on entertainment’s last decade. As writers mobilized picket lines and paralyzed productions, and the WGA and AMPTP released dueling PDFs (!), Team Ankler launched a free separate spinoff newsletter, Strikegeist, covering the action. A daily Strikegeist digest of the headlines from Elaine Low also begins this week.
First, two great (strike-free) reads
Everyone wonders what Peter Rice is up to post-Disney. Peter Kiefer scooped the news on the exec’s big plan to fill the taste gap at the movies, a welcome entry in entertainment for those, say, not waiting breathlessly for Fast X, or the remake of Cliffhanger:
“How did you go bankrupt?” “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” We were reminded of that famous passage from Ernest Hemingway while reading Entertainment Strategy Guy’s deep dive into the impending death of linear TV (aka, the legacy golden goose) and why streamers should care about it too:
The strike, week 1, from The Ankler
Strike Watch: Reality TV to the Rescue? Not So Fast ‘They threw money at the problem’ in 2007-08. This time the streamers’ cupboards are full
🎧 Warning Signs from Week One of the Strike A long, hot summer potentially awaits as each side, and other guilds, reveal their hills to die on
🎧 On the Ground with the WGA Picketers The Ankler team talked to strikers at the gates of the studios and streamers
🎧 Vanish and Reappear Rob Long on what writing and three-bean salad have in common (hint: nothing) (transcript here)
Rushfield: Day One of Hollywood Dystopia Anyone in charge as the strike begins?
0 Days to the Abyss: I Warned You It’s here. The worst has come as the strike begins
From Strikegeist
Rushfield: Netflix Bears the Brunt at the Shrine When a Teamster says ‘It’s time to takde the motherf***s down’, is a coalition born?
Point-by-Point: Where the WGA and AMPTP Got Stuck Studios say it came down to how many TV writers should be in the room and for how long
WGA Lead Negotiator: ‘They Said They Had No More Moves to Make’ Ellen Stutzman reveals why it all fell apart earlier than expected
Striking on May the 4th: ‘May the Force Be With the WGA’ Two baby Yodas and a Darth Vader walk onto a picket line…
Josh Gondelman on the NYC Picket: ‘The Rain Isn’t Going to Deter Us’ Outside the studios where American Horror Story and Billions shoot
Podcast Frenzy: The First 48 Hours (and Counting) Hey writers: Already bored? Want to own your own IP? The world of audio wants YOU
Rushfield: Now the Hard Part If studios are prepared to endure pain, so are the folks on the line
Day One on the Picket: Battle of the Clever Signs! From Netflix to WB to NBC — no one was spared as big names marched
☀️ 5 Days of The Wakeup
Sean McNulty sat on hours and hours of earnings calls so you didn’t have to. Read his smart takes in particular on what happened with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery and what the results will mean:
PAR stock plummets on Q1 results, as Streaming losses grow 12%
WGA on Strike – what lies ahead in May; VICE preps Bankruptcy
Stocks Fell but Top Exec Pay 🚀 in ‘22; EVIL DEAD shows Theatrical power at WBD
🔎 The Optionist
IP Picks: America’s OG Sushi Slingers, a Wicked Cinderella + the unlikely fishermen who get reeled into a drug-smuggling op, a mystery for Daisy Jones and Wild fans
Sonny Bunch Goes to Hollywood
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