It’s not like much gets done during the first week of July in the best of times, but this year with the WGA strike slogging on and SAG-AFTRA talks in overtime, we’re in a particular state of suspended animation; like a morning blanket of June gloom parked over the city.
Are clear skies coming? As solutions seem ever further away (and endemic industry woes mount), we helped make sense of this confusing moment. First, Entertainment Strategy Guy analyzed every show and film that has been part of Disney’s Great Purge of streaming content (with more to come, he surmises). He determined what genres were hardest hit and why, and the industry-wide patterns revealed. Of course, also what it all means for the future of Hollywood’s most important brand…
Meanwhile, Richard gamed out the path forward for the strike. Whether SAG walks out or doesn’t will be one of the great turning points of this saga — but not the last. Take a look at some different scenarios:
And then, some levity please. Writers may be on strike, but they never stop hustling. As an entire profession marches back and forth at studio gates, our TV comedy scribe, the pseudonymous Kit Sargent, takes a look at the rules of networking while ostensibly protesting…
🎧 This Week in Podcasts
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🪧 Strikegeist
No Double Strike (For Now): SAG-AFTRA, AMPTP Extend Contract Talks Both sides give themselves more time to hammer out a deal
Writer-Directors Launch Union Solidarity Coalition Big names come together to financially support below-the-line crew
All Eyes on Actors as SAG-AFTRA Deal Deadline Looms Plus, Strikegeist readers react strongly to Taylor Sheridan‘s THR cover interview
☀️The Wakeup
Sean McNulty continues to tell the story of Hollywood 2023 through his daily newsletter. What a week…
🔎 The Optionist
IP Picks🔎: The Greatest Game You Never Heard Of Plus, a farcical plan to build a real-life gay utopia, a former child star hunts her sister’s killer and a hot Elin Hilderband holiday drama goes back on the market
