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SNOOP DOGG goes off-script in a conversation with Larry Jackson, formerly of Apple Music and current Co-Founder and CEO of Gamma, moderated by Shirley Halperin, Executive Editor of Variety Magazine at The Milken Institute. (May 3, 2023)

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Strike at Sesame Street has been averted with a new 5-year contract!

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From April 16, 2024: "The 35 writers represented by the union have been in negotiations with the production company behind “Sesame Street” and other children’s programs since February. If the sides can’t reach a deal by April 19, picketing will begin outside Sesame Workshop’s Manhattan headquarters on April 24, the WGA said Tuesday."

"The unit voted UNANIMOUSLY - with 100% participation - to authorize a strike if management does not reach a fair new contract before their current agreement expires this Friday, April 19."

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We're really grateful to @dduane @neil-gaiman and @writergeekrhw for answering asks and boosting informative posts. @entertainmentindustryupdates has also really been on top of sharing strike-related news and debunking misinfo!

WGA Strike - Fav Tumblr Posts/Accounts/

Hi, y'all! I'm Rachel and while I'm not WGA, I am SAG-AFTRA and the daughter of an IATSE 798 Journeyman Makeup Artist. I love the entertainment industry.

I also happen to be a 20-year Digital Marketer who holds two degrees in Communications and wrote her thesis on Cyberbullying. I'm writing a book about the impact of Social Media on the Strike.

I've gone through TONS of Tumblr posts from the duration of the 2023 WGA Strike and compiled notes and lists, but thought I'd ask y'all if you have favorites!

Who was your favorite accounts during the 2023 WGA Strike for accurate information? Favorite posts? Favorite Memes? Destiel? Tree Law?

I'm interviewing folks and have selected a few here I plan to contact, but I'd love to get your thoughts on who I might've missed.

Thanks in advance, y'all. You're amazing!

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[ID: White graphic with black text that says, "IATSE and Teamsters / *grassroots member-led, not operated by IATSE or Teamsters unions." Below the text is a large QR code and then the url: tinyurl.com/aidiacollective end ID]

How to help IATSE & Teamsters

AID IA [@/_aid_ia on Instagram] is a new resource & mutual aid page set up to aid IATSE/Teamsters members who are struggling. Page has been vetted by @/wgastrikeunite (links to Instagram), a page you might remember from the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Please boost! The WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes galvanized a lot of Hollywood workers, so let's continue to show up for the crew.

[fans4wga]

How to help IATSE & Teamsters

AID IA [@/_aid_ia on Instagram] is a new resource & mutual aid page set up to aid IATSE/Teamsters members who are struggling. Page has been vetted by @/wgastrikeunite (links to Instagram), a page you might remember from the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Please boost! The WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes galvanized a lot of Hollywood workers, so let's continue to show up for the crew.

[fans4wga]

IATSE to meet with AMPTP on March 4

"No one has said the word “strike” yet, but some of Hollywood’s strongest unions just flexed some serious muscle with the studios.

With their current contracts set to end on July 21, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Teamsters Local 399 will stand in together in solidarity in upcoming negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The sit-down with the Carol Lombardini-led AMPTP will begin March 4, sources tell Deadline."

Stay tuned for more news from IATSE and Teamsters regarding imminent contract talks! Just like WGA and SAG-AFTRA, other Hollywood unions re-negotiate their contracts at set points and IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees representing Hollywood technicians, artisans and craftspeople) and Teamsters (truck drivers) are re-negotiating too.

Please share the news and plan on supporting IATSE and Teamsters just like we supported the WGA and SAG-AFTRA in their fights for fair contracts!

[fans4wga]

Folks, I'm hearing that the Kids Online Safety Act is back on the agenda. The Senate is holding a hearing with tech CEOs tomorrow, in an effort to get this bill on the Senate floor.

Time to give your Senators another call and tell them this bill would silence LGBTQIA+ people online.

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Mailchimp is union busting! If you have a second to send them a quick email (this form will write it for you), it would be deeply appreciated!

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Hi Diane! There’s an open letter from the German Authors Rights group, asking the German, French, and Italian governments to establish limits on AI. Anyone from around the world can sign the letter in support, but unfortunately right now there are only ~3500 signatures. Would you mind boosting? Thanks for all you do to share about what writers/artists are facing right now, especially during the Hollywood strikes. https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/european-cultural-communities-call-for-human-centric-and-culture-friendly-ai-regulation-aiact

Absolutely! A pleasure to assist. ...And I really need to look into / talk to my MEP(s) about the proposed EU act.

[fans4wga]

The Animation Guild (TAG) is part of IATSE but you're right, next year will be huge for all of IATSE!

6 December: "Hollywood’s Labor Peace May Be Temporary, as IATSE and Teamsters Gear Up for a Fight"

Writers returned to work two months ago, and the SAG-AFTRA strike has been over for nearly a month. Production has restarted but won’t be back to full strength until mid-January. But even as Hollywood tries to return to normal, dark clouds are forming on the horizon. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees contract expires on July 31, as does the Basic Crafts contract, which covers the Teamsters. In a period of rising union militancy across industries, it’s not clear whether the Hollywood studios have achieved lasting labor peace or just a temporary truce. “We’re going to be demanding things we believe members deserve for the work they do,” says Lindsay Dougherty, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 399. “We have to fix this stuff. Our members make Hollywood move.”

[Mod note: the article's writer, Gene Maddaus, is generally very anti-union and published a bunch of horrific hit pieces during the strikes, so take the language and quotes in the linked article with many, many grains of salt. Still, worth noting their fear, and that everyone basically expects IATSE and Teamsters to have some pretty intense contract negotiations next year. Let's remember to support their fight for a fair contract just like we supported SAG-AFTRA and WGA!]

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Farewell for now

From the FANS4WGA mods: With the SAG-AFTRA strike over, we'll be on hiatus for the time being (or at least until IATSE/Teamsters have contract negotiations next year.) We'll still check the inbox occasionally, so do send us questions if you have them, but don't expect immediate answers.

While it's our perspective that there are serious holes in the SAG-AFTRA contract especially regarding AI, there's no doubt that this was a hard fight with a lot of gains. (Source for the gains they made.) And it'll be up to the contract negotiations in another 3 years to make more progress on the precedents set this year.

Remember to support unions and get involved locally if you can. The studios might try to rewrite the story of these strikes, but you were here on the ground with us—we saw the swell of solidarity and the immense waves of support from regular people, from the fans, audiences, and people who just love TV and film waking up to realize how much the studios have exploited their workers.

Let that love and respect for the striking Hollywood writers inspire you to support unionization efforts at all levels. Solidarity always, and signing off for now.

[fans4wga]

From our mods: With the SAG-AFTRA strike over, we'll be on hiatus for the time being (or at least until IATSE/Teamsters have contract negotiations next year.)

While it's our perspective that there are serious holes in the SAG-AFTRA contract especially regarding AI, there's no doubt that this was a hard fight with a lot of gains. (Source for the gains they made.) And it'll be up to the contract negotiations in another 3 years to make more progress on the precedents set this year.

Remember to support unions and get involved locally if you can. The studios might try to rewrite the story of these strikes, but you were here on the ground with us—we saw the swell of solidarity and the immense waves of support from regular people, from the fans, audiences, and people who just love TV and film waking up to realize how much the studios have exploited their workers.

Let that love and respect for the striking Hollywood writers inspire you to support unionization efforts at all levels.

Dear #SagAftraMembers:

Today we close out one of the most important chapters in recent entertainment industry history. The 2023 TV/Theatrical Contracts have officially been ratified by SAG-AFTRA members by a vote of 78.33% to 21.67% with a turnout of 38.15%.

This contract is an enormous victory for working performers, and it marks the dawning of a new era for the industry.

Getting to this point was truly a collective effort.

With the ratification of this agreement, SAG-AFTRA members will receive unprecedented wage escalation, significantly improved streaming compensation, and the first-ever crucial protections around the use of artificial intelligence technology.

In the coming weeks, there will be further member education materials released to get members up to speed on the finer points of the deal.

A huge thank you is owed to each and every member for your sacrifice and solidarity throughout 2023. Whether you were a strike captain, phone-bank volunteer, picketer, social media warrior, a participant in the wages and working conditions process or simply supportive of your union’s efforts, you were part of this moment.

Let’s celebrate what we’ve accomplished together and continue to foster the bonds that have been forged throughout this season of solidarity.

In 2024, our sibling unions IATSE, AFM and the Teamsters will be entering negotiations, and they will be able to use our groundbreaking gains as leverage in their own bargaining efforts.

What we’ve achieved will have far-reaching and long-lasting positive effects for everyone working in our industry and around the world.

[Dec 5, 2023]

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6 December: "Hollywood’s Labor Peace May Be Temporary, as IATSE and Teamsters Gear Up for a Fight"

Writers returned to work two months ago, and the SAG-AFTRA strike has been over for nearly a month. Production has restarted but won’t be back to full strength until mid-January. But even as Hollywood tries to return to normal, dark clouds are forming on the horizon. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees contract expires on July 31, as does the Basic Crafts contract, which covers the Teamsters. In a period of rising union militancy across industries, it’s not clear whether the Hollywood studios have achieved lasting labor peace or just a temporary truce. “We’re going to be demanding things we believe members deserve for the work they do,” says Lindsay Dougherty, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 399. “We have to fix this stuff. Our members make Hollywood move.”

[Mod note: the article's writer, Gene Maddaus, is generally very anti-union and published a bunch of horrific hit pieces during the strikes, so take the language and quotes in the linked article with many, many grains of salt. Still, worth noting their fear, and that everyone basically expects IATSE and Teamsters to have some pretty intense contract negotiations next year. Let's remember to support their fight for a fair contract just like we supported SAG-AFTRA and WGA!]

[fans4wga]

Petition: establish AI regulations

EU people (but possible to sign from elsewhere in the world) please add your name to this petition for human-centric and culture-friendly AI regulation. Needs 47,000 more votes as of the time of posting. From the petition:

'Summary: In an open letter, the Authors' Rights Network (Netzwerk Autorenrechte) calls on the German government as well as the French and Italian leaders to reconsider their stance on the (non-)regulation of AI, to take a stand against the massive damaging effects of unregulated AI applications based on theft, to protect people and authors from data theft and disinformation and to reflect on values such as trust, democracy and justice.

++ Open letter on the subject of France, Germany's and Italy's position on the planned EU Artificial Intelligence Act ++

Dear Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Germany),

Dear Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck,

Dear Federal Minister for Digital and Transport Volker Wissing,

Dear President Emmanuel Macron (France), 

Dear Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Italy):

It is with great concern that we, the members of the Netzwerk Autorenrechte which represents authors and translators in the book sector from 15 organisations in the D-A-CH region, observe Germany's, Frances and Italy's new position on the AI Act proposal. This new position runs counter to the consensus previously reached by EU Member States on the legal regulation of AI, in particular with regard to transparency and liability obligations for developers of generative technology.

According to reports from Euractiv on 19 November 2023, Germany – under the lead of the Digital Ministry and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and together with France and Italy – wants to push for "obligatory self-regulation" instead of legally binding regulation. There are no sanctions for saftey incidents such as copyright, authors’ rights and data protection violations, insufficient labeling, or circumventing ethical standards in the position of these three countries.

Reason

Dear Chancellor, dear Vice Chancellor, dear Federal Minister,

dear Mr President of France, dear Prime Minister of Italy:

We urge you to change your position, which currently favors supposed economic advantages to the detriment of sustainable legal rules. Your position sends a fatal signal to everyone in the cultural sectors and to all people in Europe: namely, that you're willing to protect the same tech companies that illegitimately make use of cultural works and citizens data for their own profits – rather than protecting the people whose work and private data have made these foundation models and generative applications possible in the first place.

The consequences of your position would be devastating. Generative technology is already threatening numerous jobs. We can already observe several harmful “business models” based on AI products and an increase in disinformation. It's been proven that generative AI uses unlawfully obtained works without the knowledge or consent of the works' authors. Without legal regulation, generative technologies will accelerate the theft of artistic work and data. They'll increase discrimination and the falsification of information, including damage to reputations. And they'll significantly contribute to climate change. The more legally deregulated generative products reach the market, the more irreparable the loss of trust in texts, images, and information will become for society as a whole.

We urge you to return to the values of trust, democracy, and justice. We're standing on the threshold of an evolution, of one of the most decisive moments in history. Will we regulate the machines that are using humans in order to replace them? Or will we choose the short-sighted ideology of money?

We trust you have the political resolve to do the right thing.

Berlin, 24 November 2023'

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what happens if they vote no? will the strike resume?

That would be up to the SAG-AFTRA leadership. Without a new contract agreement ratified, the union will simply be bound to the terms of the last contract, which people are obviously unhappy with. It seems likely that if there IS a strong no vote, the same pressure will apply to get SAG back on strike. But that's if there is a strong no vote.

From our current perspective, it looks like there is a pretty strong wave of NO votes at the moment—especially because of disappointment in AI limitations—but it's still very much a minority position. (Twitter unfortunately doesn't give a good idea of which way the vote is going, because it tends to be people who are much more involved, and not necessarily the average SAG member—so if you're just seeing the contract criticism, that's unfortunately not the whole picture.)

I'm cautiously predicting that the yes votes will win out, but a lot of dissatisfaction in the union may lead to future leadership changes. We'll have to see for the results in early- to mid-December.

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COMPARISON: What SAG-AFTRA won from the strike

"This chart is based entirely on the publicly available information the negotiators (AMPTP & SAG-AFTRA) provided in the PDFs released in July when we went on strike. SAG’s official position on these terms is highlighted. Disclaimer: Certain member groups were not included in the original table released by SAG-AFTRA and therefore are not highlighted in this document."

Major takeaways (read this thread for more responses from a SAG-AFTRA member)

-SAG-AFTRA was able to break the DGA/WGA wage increase pattern, with a 7% raise (instead of the 5% initially offered.) Breaking pattern is a big deal, but 7% isn’t the 11% they were bargaining for.

-No new media revenue sharing plan. This was a big reason the strike even started and it's concluded with 0 gains.

-Very limited wins on AI. Actors still at immense risk of losing employment to digital replicas—a major part of why they went on strike.

-Wins on pension and health caps—this is a big deal.

-Motion capture performers are still excluded from SAG-AFTRA coverage, an unfortunate loss.

-Win on streaming bonuses—will probably only affect very few people but still a win to get their foot in the door.

-Gains for background workers is a big win.

In conclusion: mixed bag, but lots of things to be hesitant over. SAG-AFTRA members have about two weeks to deliberate and vote.