Where were you when Tree-gate happened?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock — or perhaps an American elm with bountiful foliage — then you’ve probably heard about Tree-gate, aka the freshly shorn trees along Barham Blvd. on the south side of the Universal studio lot in Universal City, which now provide exceedingly little shade for striking writers and actors.
Construction vehicles had already ripped up the sidewalks on the north end of the lot along Lankershim, agitating picketers and leading some to believe that the studio was doing this on purpose so that there would be no room to march. Then writer Chris Stephens tweeted on Monday: “Quick shoutout to the good people at @UniversalPics for trimming the trees that gave our picket line shade right before a 90+ degree week,” alongside a picture of a row of closely trimmed trees.
NBCUniversal told the Los Angeles Times that it did not intend to make life difficult for demonstrators.
“In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season,” the company reportedly said. “We support the WGA and SAG’s right to demonstrate, and are working to provide some shade coverage. We continue to openly communicate with the labor leaders on-site to work together during this time.”
I stopped by Universal today to chat with local WGA strike captain Darrin Dortch, a scribe whose credits include Claws and The Kings of Napa, who says that NBCU “told us earlier this week that they had nothing to do with these trees being trimmed, but they realized it was a mistake, so that’s why we have these tents now.” (Watch my full chat with him, above, for a peek at the trees in question.)
Several large white tents are now propped up along Barham, and Dortch says he’s been working with NBCU security to have the studio-provided tents set up every day.
“We still miss our shaded trees, though, because they were very cool and they gave us even more shade,” says Dortch, adding that “the city has been out and they told us they did not cut down these trees here.”
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia said that the city had not issued tree-trimming permits for that spot outside Universal for the last three years.
“We may end up getting some more tents, maybe here and out there so we have more shade here as things get hotter,” says Dortch.
Universal has been an unusually controversy-heavy picket site since the start of the Writers Guild of America strike in May, from suspiciously timed construction along the picket lines to aggressive drivers who have even hit striking writers with their car on the way onto the lot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the WGA filed a grievance against NBCU with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the studio is infringing on its right to demonstrate and putting picketers in danger by obscuring the sidewalks with construction. SAG-AFTRA has reportedly filed a similar complaint.
“We have a lot of confrontations here, construction, Tree-gate. I don’t know if this studio is cursed or something, but [there’s] always something happening here,” says Dortch. “Never a dull moment here.”
Elsewhere on The Ankler
The Ankler numbers guru Entertainment Strategy Guy dives into the idea that what makes SAG’s demands bolder than the WGA’s is that it wants profit sharing — to which the AMPTP seems adamantly opposed. Residuals are a small form of that, but can play a key role if designed correctly, he says, outlining why he thinks some of SAG’s asks around residuals are probably DOA, among other things:
SAG-AFTRA should be commended for the boldness of its ask. When I recommended that the unions/guilds ask for increased residuals to reward higher paying shows, I didn’t envisage that as a percentage of revenue. (Not profit — revenue!)
On some level, I understand why SAG-AFTRA asked for this. As I mentioned, when a show is sold to a cable channel or streamer, talent usually takes a cut of that sales price, often 2 percent. (That’s the WGA share, for example.) This is then divided out by episode and paid to credited talent. So if Warner Bros. Discovery “sells” Friends to Max for a reported $425 million, then $8.5 million goes to the writers, divided by the 236 episodes, meaning an average of $36,000 goes to the writer (or writers) of each episode, in some cases 29 years after the episode aired!
SAG-AFTRA seems to be using similar logic here, but asking for 2 percent of revenue earned by the streamers. To me, this is a crazy high number for streamers to contemplate. If SAG gets 2 percent of revenue, then the WGA will demand it, and then in three years the DGA.
That would immediately hit streamers’ margins. Consider Netflix, which has spent years trying to grow its gross margins, in the past bragging about its success via charts like this:
In one labor negotiation, then, Netflix would be set back to 2019’s operating margin. Boo hoo, I know — but a stock price collapse would likely follow, which would mean fewer shows, fewer jobs, and so on.
For Entertainment Strategy Guy’s full explainer on residuals, as well as what he says is a problem with the metrics SAG wants to use for profit sharing, head to The Ankler for the story, available to paid subscribers only.
Reader Mailbag
I asked you all how the writers strike and actors strike are impacting your work and your livelihood. Here’s what one makeup artist, who would prefer to remain anonymous, had to share:
I am a 14+ year film and TV Makeup Artist in Local 706. I have barely been able to get by. I have not been able to find other work. I am lucky that my spouse works, but we are cutting into our savings. This has had a devastating effect on my mental health. The stress of being out of work indefinitely has caused me to feel physically ill, every day. I absolutely support the actors and writers because they are at the forefront of a massive AI problem that is headed our way. It is going to affect EVERYONE if it’s not regulated, NOW. My career is at a standstill and I am terrified of what the future will bring.
