ICYMI: As the Town Holds its Collective Breath
Catch up on our recent best
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...
Learnings from Disney’s Purge of 100+ TV Shows and Films
My big takeaways: Which genres got hit hardest; the one production company that got wiped out; how, of the 21 films removed (or slated to be removed) from Disney+ and Hulu, NONE had debuted in theaters...
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:
Rushfield: SAG, WGA and War Games Ahead
The summer of stasis continues as Hollywood holds its breath and waits for the final word from SAG. The results will mark the kick-off of Phase II of the writers strike, for better or worse, depending on...
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...
Peak Hustle on the Picket Line
My last job was a mini room for a now-canceled show on a streamer. As anyone following the strike knows, that meant it didn’t pay very well. And I can’t keep living a TV writer’s life on a Part-Time Content Creator for Greenpeace’s salary. When this is over I, like many of my fellow unemployed Guild members, will need...
🎧 This Week in Podcasts
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The Murky Definition of a Hit Show
Listen now (51 min) | Summer marks Hollywood’s retreat from the Streaming Wars. And now, both strikes (real and threatened) and a brutal run of show removals highlight one of the era’s casualties: transparent ratings data...
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Never Read the Comments
Listen now (13 min) | Rob Long ponders the difference between 'vintage' and 'old' as it relates to both inanimate objects and people (himself)…
Transcript here
A Decade of Big Muscles and Bigger Egos
Listen now (35 min) | Sonny Bunch interviews Nick de Semlyen, editor of 'Empire' magazine about Arnold, Sly, Bruce and '80s action stars…
🪧 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