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Don't worry - for those of us not in industry or industry adjacent the industry seems totally crazy - ie, we get overtime occasionally, but hollywood seems buil

Don't worry - for those of us not in industry or industry adjacent the industry seems totally crazy - ie, we get overtime occasionally, but hollywood seems built on it Seeing the money being thrown at SVOD by apple/netflix et al, where does it even go if not into below the line pockets? The production budgets for some of these things rival movies of the past.

petee 5y ago
Thats the other big issue - we helped streaming get it's feet by allowing lower pay, lower benefits, and longer hours, back in 2007-8 since streaming wasnt yet considered 'viable'. They agreed to revisit it in the future when it was viable. Now they won't even discuss it. Extra money goes right to the companies. Actors dont get the same residuals from streaming either, just look at Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit. Streaming contract language is based on number of subscribers, so before Disney+ launched, they made a bunch of movies under the zero-to-tiny subscribers model, essentially a low budget contract, to avoid paying normal rates, but these were full fledged films and shows.
- rndgermandude 5y ago
  My soul weeps for poor (net worth: 165 million according to google) Scarlett Johnansson. She was only paid 20 million for that movie, but then scammed out of additional royalties by Disney. How is somebody supposed to get by on a mere 20 million per movie. Making that movie took away half a year of her life! I think it's not just the studios' greed that causes the normal Hollywood workers to get fucked, it's also A-list actors' greed.
  - swearwolf 5y ago
    When you just look at how much she made in isolation, of course it seems like she’ a spoiled brat for suing to get more. But Disney promised her one thing (an exclusively theatrical release) and delivered another (a dual theatrical/streaming simultaneous release), and then they tried to shame her for standing up for herself. I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. They deserved to get sued, and I’m glad they had to pay up.
    - rndgermandude 5y ago
      I can see her as a spoiled brat, especially after how she (or rather her people) framed this in the media. And at the same time I can see Disney as an evil corporation scamming people. >I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. Is this supposed to be about gender? Or what is this supposed to mean? Evans got less for the latest cape movie than Johansson got for Black Widow by the way ($15M vs $20M). She was in that same movie (Avengers: Endgame) and made the same as Evans. Disney is an evil corporation, they will try to fuck with everybody if they think they can get away with it. I am sure if Avengers: Endgame was released now and in the way Black Widow was, they'd have tried to scam Evans and Downey Jr (and Johansson too) the same way they tried to scam Johansson now. Hollywood invented Hollywood accounting to scam people (and the state) long ago. One example of who got scammed this way is Stan Lee, who sued and got awarded $10M for Spider-Man from Marvel. There sure is a lot of sexism in Hollywood, but this isn't it, as far as I can tell.
  - petee 5y ago
    Ignore the quantities - she asked for that pay and they willingly paid it. The issue was they had a deal for this movie, and they broke it, rich or not, they broke contract. And if they break it once, they'll do it again. Many actors rely on royalties and this same situation, but don't have her clout. The divide between screen and streaming is being abused by the studios, who make far more than the paltry sum for her face across the world and loss of privacy.
    - slownews45 5y ago
      The whole hollywood accounting and cost shifting game is funny - I'm glad she is taking them on - I didn't look closely but wouldn't be surprised if her case was pretty good.
  - milesvp 5y ago
    I mean, who are you cheering for here? If Scarlett Johanson managed to bankrupt Disney, I would say the world was a better place. You might be right that A-list actors are somehow shrinking the pot for the rank and file, but my understanding is that the A-list brings the audience that more than pays their salaries. Which means you’d expect a bigger pot to pay those working on those films. I suspect the bigger problem with base salaries has more to do with the market forces that make some of the cheaper character driven movies no longer attractive from a distribution point of view. But this is my arm chair speculation based on some random things I’ve been hearing people talk about lately.
    - rndgermandude 5y ago
      I am not cheering anybody here. I am watching a very rich person fight a very rich evil company over a lot of money, while I read articles of not so rich people asking Disney and the rest of Hollywood for a proper lunch break and not having to work 17 hours a day while still barely making ends meet if at all.
tessierashpool 5y ago
First, no, because big production budgets go to producers and other above the line people before the money gets anywhere near the crew. And this is true for Apple and Netflix just as it is for anyone else. But second, also no, because streaming services are the bulk of the problem. https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-brink-of-a-massive-work-stoppage-because-of-the-streaming-wars https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-bri... Production schedules are more volatile than they used to be, and streaming services don't have to pay as well as normal productions, owing to an outdated contract.

petee 5y ago

Thats the other big issue - we helped streaming get it's feet by allowing lower pay, lower benefits, and longer hours, back in 2007-8 since streaming wasnt yet considered 'viable'. They agreed to revisit it in the future when it was viable. Now they won't even discuss it. Extra money goes right to the companies. Actors dont get the same residuals from streaming either, just look at Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit. Streaming contract language is based on number of subscribers, so before Disney+ launched, they made a bunch of movies under the zero-to-tiny subscribers model, essentially a low budget contract, to avoid paying normal rates, but these were full fledged films and shows.

rndgermandude 5y ago
My soul weeps for poor (net worth: 165 million according to google) Scarlett Johnansson. She was only paid 20 million for that movie, but then scammed out of additional royalties by Disney. How is somebody supposed to get by on a mere 20 million per movie. Making that movie took away half a year of her life! I think it's not just the studios' greed that causes the normal Hollywood workers to get fucked, it's also A-list actors' greed.
- swearwolf 5y ago
  When you just look at how much she made in isolation, of course it seems like she’ a spoiled brat for suing to get more. But Disney promised her one thing (an exclusively theatrical release) and delivered another (a dual theatrical/streaming simultaneous release), and then they tried to shame her for standing up for herself. I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. They deserved to get sued, and I’m glad they had to pay up.
  - rndgermandude 5y ago
    I can see her as a spoiled brat, especially after how she (or rather her people) framed this in the media. And at the same time I can see Disney as an evil corporation scamming people. >I doubt very much they’d have done the same to Chris Evan’s or Robert Downey Jr. Is this supposed to be about gender? Or what is this supposed to mean? Evans got less for the latest cape movie than Johansson got for Black Widow by the way ($15M vs $20M). She was in that same movie (Avengers: Endgame) and made the same as Evans. Disney is an evil corporation, they will try to fuck with everybody if they think they can get away with it. I am sure if Avengers: Endgame was released now and in the way Black Widow was, they'd have tried to scam Evans and Downey Jr (and Johansson too) the same way they tried to scam Johansson now. Hollywood invented Hollywood accounting to scam people (and the state) long ago. One example of who got scammed this way is Stan Lee, who sued and got awarded $10M for Spider-Man from Marvel. There sure is a lot of sexism in Hollywood, but this isn't it, as far as I can tell.
- petee 5y ago
  Ignore the quantities - she asked for that pay and they willingly paid it. The issue was they had a deal for this movie, and they broke it, rich or not, they broke contract. And if they break it once, they'll do it again. Many actors rely on royalties and this same situation, but don't have her clout. The divide between screen and streaming is being abused by the studios, who make far more than the paltry sum for her face across the world and loss of privacy.
  - slownews45 5y ago
    The whole hollywood accounting and cost shifting game is funny - I'm glad she is taking them on - I didn't look closely but wouldn't be surprised if her case was pretty good.
- milesvp 5y ago
  I mean, who are you cheering for here? If Scarlett Johanson managed to bankrupt Disney, I would say the world was a better place. You might be right that A-list actors are somehow shrinking the pot for the rank and file, but my understanding is that the A-list brings the audience that more than pays their salaries. Which means you’d expect a bigger pot to pay those working on those films. I suspect the bigger problem with base salaries has more to do with the market forces that make some of the cheaper character driven movies no longer attractive from a distribution point of view. But this is my arm chair speculation based on some random things I’ve been hearing people talk about lately.
  - rndgermandude 5y ago
    I am not cheering anybody here. I am watching a very rich person fight a very rich evil company over a lot of money, while I read articles of not so rich people asking Disney and the rest of Hollywood for a proper lunch break and not having to work 17 hours a day while still barely making ends meet if at all.

tessierashpool 5y ago

First, no, because big production budgets go to producers and other above the line people before the money gets anywhere near the crew. And this is true for Apple and Netflix just as it is for anyone else. But second, also no, because streaming services are the bulk of the problem. https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-brink-of-a-massive-work-stoppage-because-of-the-streaming-wars https://www.fastcompany.com/90683559/hollywood-is-on-the-bri... Production schedules are more volatile than they used to be, and streaming services don't have to pay as well as normal productions, owing to an outdated contract.