ICYMI: As the Toll Mounts...
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ICYMI: As the Toll Mounts...
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Whatever expectations and fantasies people had they would be back to work after Labor Day have faded. And as the strike crawls towards a settlement (🤞), the human costs mount. This week at The Ankler, we took stock of what the shutdown has meant for those whose lives are on hold. A searing piece by Peter Kiefer and Elaine Low surveyed the wreckage, and a powerful podcast interview with an actress whose life has been shattered by the events put the cost in stark relief. More on all that below…
Meanwhile, for a reminder of what we’re missing right now — the power of our talent — Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts just publicized its pre-strike Women in Focus conference, where Janice moderated a private live panel with the great Tiffany Haddish, Molly Shannon, Megan Mullally, Kerry Ehrin and Yvonne Orji to talk about the state of women in comedy. The audience of enraptured students, dreaming of careers in this industry, were often moved to tears — while also laughing the whole time. Afterwards, they flooded the stage for selfies and autographs. Said Haddish: “I think my whole purpose in life is to bring joy.”
'So Bad, So Depressed, So Scared': the Human Toll of Summer's Strike
Rushfield: Who's Killing R-Rated Comedies?
How Trust Died in Hollywood. And How to Get it Back
Happening Now!
Now through Labor Day: consider it your real-life thinking cap, free with every new annual paid subscription or gift.
☀️ The Wakeup
As the industry stumbles forward, Sean McNulty brings his GIF-game every a.m. to put it in perspective. Don’t miss this week’s excellent #medianerd exercise breaking down what it will take for Disney’s Bob Iger to get Disney+ to profitability.
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Listen here: Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Listen here: Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts
🪧 Strikegeist
Remember to reach out to elaine@theankler.com with news and stories, and stay on top of our ongoing labor strife with her daily reporting and analysis.
'Neither Nothing, Nor Nearly Enough': WGA Responds to Studios' Offer
The Great Backfiring: Did This Move Just Add Weeks to the Strike?
'Existential Dread, But Make It Fashion': Meet the Writers Behind PicketFits
👓 The Optionist
There’s no better time than downtime to start thinking about your next project. Andy Lewis’ IP newsletter, whose paid subscribers include Oscar and Emmy-winning writers and producers, as well as the town’s development execs, already has had scores of projects discovered and optioned out of his lists.
IP Picks: A Pioneering War Correspondent Biopic Plus, inside the Polly Klaas murder and a forgotten Cold War drama
ICYMI: As the Toll Mounts...
A rising Anti-Semitism
Greetings The Ankler:
At a certain point, the WGA and SAG are going to have to say the obvious: they would feel more comfortable with doing business with people who are not Jewish. I have thought about this for a time, beginning with both unions allowing for promotions and filming of material from Angel Studios; and that includes the astroturf movie Sound of Freedom. Indeed, those were the First interim agreements. And judging by the unions' characterization of the studios and executives as "evil" and "pricks" at the least, along with the knowledge that the entertainment industry is and has always been a Jewish industry that is seeing a rise in Anti-Semitism and a threat to the very existence of Jewish people in this and other industries should the Republicans regain the White House and Government next year; it seems clear that in recent rallies and meetings, members of the unions have used derogatory Anti-Semitic remarks against the corporations, executives, and the DGA and AMPAS. I will not go into detail of who said something and what the intent was or was not; just that union members said Anti-Semitic remarks, especially on Tuesday's meeting.
We all see this. The apology the WGA needed to issue regarding a picket's usage of a noose (itself also a racist statement). Billy Porter's recent meltdown with the comments he said that became public and not published. The need for the corporations to hire not just a Rinky dink PR firm, but one specializing in government lobbying matters. SAG needing to hire Stephanie Cutter's PR firm to ease the fallout of their members' Anti-Semitic comments. The corporations are now deciding to cancel the 2023-24 linear TV season and the Emmy Awards. The tug of war with IATSE and the Teamsters, not to mention Teamsters Local 399 leader Lindsay Dougherty making things very personal in her ideas regarding business executives. The bullying of the DGA and followed by the outright dismissal of the DGA's deal. The hatred of known DGA members, including those who are Oscar winners and nominees. The Anti-Semitism remarks against the DGA, both implicitly and explicitly. Labor's realignment in being more amenable to the Republican Party. The outright hatred the unions have against both Jewish business leaders and Jewish artists who are more independently minded. I could go on.
One thing I know in my years working with and employed by Jewish people: you never mention their religion to their faces. It only brings back memories of a distant time which in their mind is still ongoing and their need to cut off the Anti-Semites in their midst. I do not know if whoever on the negotiating committees on the part of the unions said these things in front of Jewish leaders on purpose or in a fit of emotional distress. I do not even know who said it. The upshot is these remarks should never have been publicly uttered. And now, the likes of Sir Bob Iger, Sir Steven Spielberg, David Zaslav, Brian L. Roberts, Ari Emmanuel, Barry Diller, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ron Meyer, Amy Pascal, Shari Redstone, and about every leader at Disney and Comcast at least feel there is a target behind their backs. And they feel the need to make it officially known. This is now not an issue of a labor dispute. This is now an issue of Jewish people in the entertainment industry, if not entirely, stopping as best as can be the new Anti-Semitism. Now the unions and those who are not Jewish will need to prove to us and to themselves that this did not happen. I do not know if people will be convinced. Because the absence of evidence does not mean the evidence is absent.
I will leave you with one noted example. The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011-2012 was going brilliantly well. That is until a select few protesters held effigies of Jewish bankers in the most obvious Anti-Semitic caricatures during a demonstration on Wall Street. When I saw that, I told people I knew that the Occupy Wall Street movement would lose funding, coverage, and influence by week's end. I was sadly right. Because once you tell people who are Jewish what you really think of them and utter their religion to their faces; there is no going back to correct the matter. Ever. I had hoped the union regular members membership would have realized this is a business dispute, and not a means to negate the livelihood of Jewish people who have then and now made Hollywood what it is today. And I know emotions can get the best of us. But again, leave your emotions at the door during a business and labor dispute. Any emotional outburst and recrimination against a specific group of people and their religion will only result in your exile.
“The Arabs may have the oil, but we have the matches.” – Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
Best Wishes and Kindest Regards,
Robert Kelly