Now that the actors’ SAG-AFTRA union has joined the Writers Guild of America on the picket line, a major studio has resorted to ecological terrorism as a form of union busting.
Monday, WGA strikers showed up at Universal and discovered that previously bushy ficus trees on Barham Boulevard had been excessively cut back over the weekend, when temperatures had climbed near 90 degrees.
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Spoilers: YouTube is the clear winner while the writers, actors and studio heads are screwed. The parties involved on both sides of the strike are unlikely to end up being the winner.
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Tom Cruise is trying to make everyone happy by supporting the strike but also saying he wants everyone to continue doing promotional appearances.
He also will not commit to actually showing up at the picket lines.
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Oh, Tom Cruise is demonstrating that he’s an asshole?
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Maybe they got tired of all of those Twilight panels messing things up
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Smith did a whole thing on that nonsense…
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[ETA]
In 1960, SAG and WGA struck to force management to adapt to the new technology of television. Without that strike and the agreement it birthed, residual use payments would not exist.
My parents stole nearly all of my salary from my entire childhood. My Star Trek residuals were all I had, and they kept me afloat for two decades while I rebuilt my life. I have healthcare and a pension because of my union. The AMPTP billionaires want to take all that security away so they can give CEOs even more grotesque wealth at the expense of the people who make our industry run.
To give some sense of what is at stake: There are actors who star in massively successful, profitable, critically acclaimed shows that are all on streaming services. You see them all the time. They are famous, A-list celebrities. Nearly all of those actors don’t earn enough to qualify for health insurance, because the studios forced them to accept a buyout for all their residuals (decade of reuse, at the least) that is less than I earned for one week on TNG. And I was the lowest paid cast member in 1988. They want to do this while studio profits and CEO compensation are at historic highs.
I mean, if not now, when? And I haven’t even touched on AI and working conditions.
We must fight for the future of our industry in the face of changing technology, the same way our elders did in 1960. So today, my Spacemom and I went to the place where it started for us, way back when, to do just that.
I see all your support. It means so much. Thank you.
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I mean they’re good enough for many people out there
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Love it 
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Why Haven’t A-List Stars Joined the SAG-AFTRA Picket Line?
Because it’s yachting season? 
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Because our AI was already proposing the actors to the producers automatically based on their previous credits during the past 4 years, and we were getting requests if we could provide option for them to connect with the producers directly in such a connection done by the AI
Oh, so like all things “AI” it will turn casting into derivative sludge. So everyone will only be typecast based on what they have done before, and new talent will not be able to enter the pool because they have no credits to provide data.
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Because they are producers.
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A cute trick, but self immolation as a protest usually involves really setting yourself on fire, not wearing a special suit and burning low-heat fuel.
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Er… though arguably “less impactful” than actual self combustion, it’s actually better if no one burns to death, methinks.
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