Writer's Guild Strike of 2023 - Fuck these people

[Elwood P. Dowd]

The problem with this is that this tenative agreement is with the directors guild

I am such an idiot I missed this completely. Thought it was about the Writers' Guild.

Also:

SAG-AFTRA Members Vote 97.9% in Favor of Strike Authorization

Not that they're going on strike immediately, but the membership has authorized it. One can but hope.

Spoiler: off topic

Finally, I saw some comments in this thread about films being edited. So, figured I'd mention that apparently The French Connection has been de-niggered. (No, the melanin blessed were not removed from the film, but the word was.)

Criterion Censors “Racially Insensitive” Dialogue in ‘The French Connection’​

https://archive.is/wip/8jz82

Yesterday, a commenter on Hollywood Elsewhere, Benjamin, noted that a racially offensive passage in William Friedkin's “The French Connection” (one that contains two ethnic slurs, both spoken by Gene Hackman‘s “Popeye Doyle”) was nixed from the Criterion Channel’s version of this 1971 classic.

Jeffey Wells went on the Criterion Channel to verify and the passage was missing. Click here or watch below (52-second mark).

Here’s the bit:

Doyle: “You dumb guinea.”
Cloudy: “How the hell did I know he had a knife?” Doyle: “Never trust a [slur].”
Cloudy: “He coulda been white.”
Doyle: “Never trust anyone“

What film will be next?

“The French Connection” is a down and dirty gritty film. The character of Doyle isn’t loveable, I’d go as far as to call him an anti-hero. It’s what Friedkin was going for.

 

[grapeshark77]

I doubt the actors will strike because they're in a good position right now, I think the vote was for extra leverage (they can probably get some extra AI language put in so people can't use their likenesses),

It seems like that whole "every show must have a certain number of writers" thing is the problem. I get asking for it at the start of negotiations but at some point they're going to have to realize that it's not realistic.

 

[Ralph Barnhardt]

Cross posting because I made this thread just for this kind of shit.

Even the friends of WGA hacks have had enough of their santimoniousness and fake victimhood, and want them to eat dirt.

If you "love writing more than anything", you'd write even without pay. I don't love screencapping Bobby "more than anything", yet I'm doing it every day for free.

Who is Nic Curio?

https://twitter.com/NicCurcio

https://archive.ph/tCUTd

His IMDB page lists him writer, editor, director and that he made a screenplay for movie about Barron Trump attempting to stop his dad from winning the 2016 election and it's only notable because it won some award for best screenplay never produced.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7050237/

https://archive.ph/bYCyR

the only things he credited for are three shorts and a movie called Killing Animals that I can find no information on other than the one blurb about it being about disaffected youth in California that's used everywhere. For some reason it does not list The Magic School Bus.

However he did make sure to add in that he's 6'4"


He has a substack with 3 articles on it which seems kinda low for someone who calls themselves a professional writer.

https://substack.com/@nicolascurcio

Spoiler: His spooky story called NSFW

https://nicolascurcio.substack.com/p/nsfw?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

https://archive.ph/aPfdD

NSFW​

Short & Scary Series (Let me try and spook you in 500 words or less)​

NICOLAS CURCIO
JUN 6, 2023
6
6
Share

I hate Mondays.

This is the last thought that goes through my mind before my computer dings to tell me I have a new email. At first, I assume it's probably from my boss, Greg (major asshole), asking me to do yet another pointless, meaningless task.

I check my inbox. The email is not from Greg. It's from likes2watch@yahoo.com and I have absolutely no clue who that is. Once I read the subject line, which simply says "NSFW", I start to suspect it's spam.

I hover over the DELETE button, but something stops me. Curiosity? Or perhaps just pure boredom. I decide I want to open the email. Sure, maybe it'll screw up my computer, but fuck it, this is the company's property, not mine.

I open the email and three words greet me.

"I see you."

What the fuck?

I look around.

There's Gene from accounting, chugging hot coffee. He burps. Looks up. Smiles at me. Creepy fuck has tried to ask me out like four times since I've started working here. Maybe he sent this.

Then I turn and see Gina, who works in HR. She shoots me a look that says she probably still hates me due to complaints she's gotten about me being "difficult" to collaborate with from my shitty coworkers.

I finally turn to see Greg in his office. Shouting into his phone. Busy with boss shit. He didn't send this.

So who did?

I type a response. Three more words.

"Who are you?"

Send.

Not a minute later, my computer dings again.

"Someone who likes to watch," they say.

I would almost laugh if this whole thing wasn't creepy as shit.

"Figured as much from your username," I type back, trying to bring some levity to the situation. Then I add: "Why don't you prove it?"

I'm not sure what I'm after, but I think fuck it and hit send.

I wait for what feels like hours before I get a response, though when I check the clock, it's only been 2 minutes.

This time, there are no words in the response. There's just a single image, waiting to be opened.

It makes my heart skip a beat.

I consider deleting the email yet again, but I've already come this far. I need to see the picture. There's no other option.

I click "download" and the image slowly buffers. The internet here sucks.

As the pixels form a clear image, I gasp at my desk.

On my computer is a photo of me, asleep in bed at my apartment, illuminated by the flash of a camera.

The timestamp indicates that this was taken... last night.

I should add that I live alone, with no roommates, nor exes who have keys to my place.

I quickly reach for my work phone to call the police, but a hand pushes the receiver back down in its place.

I look up and find Greg, smiling at me.

"I see you," he says.

This man, who is very tall and handsome according to his IMDB page, has lost friends because they're too dumb to understand that the writers aren't being selfish! They deserve a living wage because they make shit no one watches or that never gets made in the first place! Read NSFW and tell me that it doesn't make you want to pull your hair out from the tension espeically at the end where he makes sure your dumbass knows that he lives alone and there are multiple people who do not have access to his apartment! This is the level of stellar writing that will be going into The Magic School Bus, a show that hasn't even been made yet! And you people think these stunning and brave writers are just being selfish and getting what they fucking deserve...I can't even right now. He didn't choose to strike! He's just trying to survive by writing things that no one will every pay money to watch. You are too ignorant to understand what's at stake BUCKO! What will you do when there's no more disposable media to consoom? What will you do when you never watch The Adventures of Rat Girl hmmmmmmmmmm?

Fuck these people.

 

[Anonitolia]

The Magic School Bus, a show that hasn't even been made yet!

...both the remake and the original have already concluded their runs. What else could that be referring to?

 

[Ralph Barnhardt]

...both the remake and the original have already concluded their runs. What else could that be referring to?

Some new horror in an attempt to supplant the original with their own abomination.

 

[Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed]

I doubt the actors will strike because they're in a good position right now, I think the vote was for extra leverage (they can probably get some extra AI language put in so people can't use their likenesses),

It seems like that whole "every show must have a certain number of writers" thing is the problem. I get asking for it at the start of negotiations but at some point they're going to have to realize that it's not realistic.

I don't believe actors are in a good spot right now. There was a report that only 2% of actors can make a living doing only acting. Some more:

• Only about 5% of SAG-AFTRA actors earn more than $100,000 annually
• Most SAG-AFTRA actors earn less than $7,000 annually
• Over 90% of all union actors are unemployed on a given day

Many of them have to work second and third jobs to make a living. They're probably not protesting as much because, why? Can they actually gain anything by protesting?

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I don't believe actors are in a good spot right now. There was a report that only 2% of actors can make a living doing only acting. Some more:

• Only about 5% of SAG-AFTRA actors earn more than $100,000 annually
• Most SAG-AFTRA actors earn less than $7,000 annually
• Over 90% of all union actors are unemployed on a given day

Many of them have to work second and third jobs to make a living. They're probably not protesting as much because, why? Can they actually gain anything by protesting?

They know better that protesting does nothing for them, but still.

 

[Life is Hell...]

Found a video of some strike captain named Neil McNeil dancing like a Retard in front of someone's car...

(Archive)

 

[Troon_Patrol]

I would be more empathetic but, modern day Hollywood writers are either trying to convince me I'm a bigot for being disgusted by troons or taking old work plagiarizing it and then re-writing the characters as minorities and acting like they are more enlightened than they people who they are asking to watch their crap.

 

[Ralph Barnhardt]

If you're in Buena Park California and you want to go to a tourist trap medieval themed dinner show well you are just out of luck buster!

https://twitter.com/WGAWest/status/1671986683930345472

https://twitter.com/MTUnitedCA/status/1662209333818724352

Who wouldn't want to negotiate with "fuck you DAD" knock-off Snow White? According to the LA Times the "newly unionized cast members" are "calling for increased wages, better workplace conditions and less of what multiple cast members believe to be hostile responses from management at the world-famous dinner-theater chain".

https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-02-15/workers-at-medieval-times-strike-citing-low-wages-and-high-risks-for-knightly-work

https://archive.ph/nq12c

I can find no other Medieval Times location where the actors are striking outside of the singular in California which had unionized which lmao. The article does quote knock-off Snow White, who's also a steward for the union that was made 2 months before the strike, saying “We love our jobs” and "We’re not happy to be out here" and "As exciting as it is to take a stand for something, we’re doing this because we felt like we had to." Call me crazy but me thinks that last bit is really what she cares about, taking a stand for something.


To make things funnier every single other Medieval Times got raises up to 20%. Did you know that they only pay the guys who play trumpets $16 an hour?!


Eight years she's been honking a horn and she makes $16 an hour in LA. I legit have no idea how she's still alive.

Then there's the lady who works at the gift shop who's not unionized but decided to strike anyways.

"What eef mah keeds wanna work here? Wha bout mah gran baybees?" I can almost guarantee that this low IQ dipshit is on multiple social welfare programs and this is her attempt to get on unemployment otherwise she's is so fucking stupid that she actually wants her children to work in a gift shop in a tourist trap attraction because she can see no better future for them.

The twitter thread that I found this at, which was from a WGA screenwriter, states that they're fighting for safer working conditions for both the human and animal workers.

This is a lie. Not once in any of their demands do they talk about helping any of the animals. On the contrary, the one mention of animal in the whole article that the screenwriter himself tweeted is talking about how a guy who's been a knight for 12 years once got his foot crushed by a horse. People in LA lie?

And now the real highlight of all of this, some of the picketers got assaulted for blocking traffic by a melinated individual.

https://twitter.com/JAKEMBOWMAN/status/1646743065120604163

I can't download the video so here's the news report on it if you don't wanna or can't use twitter.

Get fucked traffic blockers.

Interestingly this Jake guy has actual video of the animal abuse that they claim is going on and it looks like it's just maybe a little too aggressive training?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqMpjvkjJZ3/

https://www.tiktok.com/@sir_jake_the_knight/video/7214295718528339242

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7214295718528339242

I have a real hard time believing this guy because he comes off as a huge douche and I've seen the aftermath of actual animal abuse and this ain't it.

In short, and as always, fuck these people.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

The DGA agreed to terms. And I was so hoping for an industry wide shutdown.

DGA Members Ratify Contract With 87% Voting in Favor

The DGA announced Friday that 87% of the membership had voted in favor of the agreement, with 41% turnout. The guild said the turnout was the highest ever for a ratification vote, with 6,728 members voting out of 16,321 eligible.

Seems weirdly low to me, for something that directly impacts your livelihood.

Not sure what, if anything, this means for the WGA.

Ah, well. We still have SAG-AFTRA to look forward to.

 

[Ralph Barnhardt]

The DGA agreed to terms. And I was so hoping for an industry wide shutdown.

You and me both fren...

DGA Members Ratify Contract With 87% Voting in Favor


Seems weirdly low to me, for something that directly impacts your livelihood.

Not sure what, if anything, this means for the WGA.

Ah, well. We still have SAG-AFTRA to look forward to.

That is crazy. Less than half even bothered to cast their vote. Were they completely apathetic or was the fix in?

 

[Kari Kamiya]

ESG probably had something to do with it. They weren't exactly in charge of the propaganda machine 15 years ago, hence why it was a big deal back then.

I will still be pleased if every one of the fucks who went on strike didn't get their jobs back, but I doubt anything has or will change regardless. We're still going to suffer from ENDLESS TRAAAAAASH for 20 more years.

 

[Mooger Meng]

ESG probably had something to do with it. They weren't exactly in charge of the propaganda machine 15 years ago, hence why it was a big deal back then.

I will still be pleased if every one of the fucks who went on strike didn't get their jobs back, but I doubt anything has or will change regardless. We're still going to suffer from ENDLESS TRAAAAAASH for 20 more years.

Cool, that's another two decades I can spend watching old movies or playing old games that aren't dogshit.
Hell, if we're real lucky, entertainment companies will start losing their asses in the coming depression. I won't weep.

 

[grapeshark77]

The funniest outcomes were everyone striking or the writers being hung out to dry. It's looking like the latter might be on the way:

SAG-AFTRA Leaders Say Contract Talks Have Been “Extremely Productive” As They “Remain Optimistic” That A Fair Deal Can Be Achieved

https://archive.ph/MyAMu

SAG would never have said this if they weren't very close to a deal, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens soon. The writers will start lashing out and the studios will probably let them seethe for a few months.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

This may be unpopular, but I think AI-created fiction could not only be worth consuming but in some ways would be extra enjoyable because of the marvel of how it's made. It may not have a human touch but I wouldn't consume all AI-created or all human-created, I'd enjoy the best of each for their own differences.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

This may be unpopular, but I think AI-created fiction could not only be worth consuming but in some ways would be extra enjoyable because of the marvel of how it's made. It may not have a human touch but I wouldn't consume all AI-created or all human-created, I'd enjoy the best of each for their own differences.

nah fam it'd get real formulaic and derivative real fast and it'll likely suffer from not being able to nuance shit like a normal person would

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

nah fam it'd get real formulaic and derivative real fast and it'll likely suffer from not being able to nuance shit like a normal person would

That's why you take the best. 99% of the time it will be incoherent or mediocre. 1% of the time the AI will come up with something so bizarre or amusing, in a "from the mouth of babes" way, that it will be gold.

Like, I don't watch raw AI Sponge, I watch the compilations of the best of it.

 

[Make Anime Illegal]

nah fam it'd get real formulaic and derivative real fast and it'll likely suffer from not being able to nuance shit like a normal person would

AI generated stuff will get better and "human" generated stuff will get worse over time.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

nah fam it'd get real formulaic and derivative real fast

And that would differ from Hollywood in the $CurrentYear how, exactly?

and it'll likely suffer from not being able to nuance shit like a normal person would

I'm not sure there's much overlap in the Venn diagram of "Hollywood Writer" and "Normal Person," personally.