Just Saya-ing
By Saya Fujii
By Saya Fujii
Beginning on May 2, thousands of striking writers made their way onto the picket line in Los Angeles and New York with the hopes of reaching an agreement with their studios to have increased protections and a sustainable salary.
Big-time Hollywood studios were not able to meet the writers’ demands until much later in the strike, but some small studios, most notably A24, met them much earlier, which makes it clear that money wasn’t an issue. In July, A24’s “Mother Mary” and “Death of a Unicorn” were approved to start production as the studio had met the requirements of the WGA. Most studios including Disney and Warner Bros., did not meet demands until close to when the strikes ended.
I am hoping to pursue a career in an area of film production, so learning that these major studios are making it harder to have this as a full-time career draws me away from wanting this profession. However, more minor corporations had no problem meeting the requirements of the WGA, so that is something I will keep in mind if I go into filmmaking. It’s clear that the big studios simply didn’t take the strike seriously.
The prospect of AI potentially making screenplays is also frustrating and alarming because of the consequences this could have. This would drag writers out of their jobs and would also be a bad idea because having an AI-written script would be bland and real writers could bring so much more.
These concerns have been resolved for now, but there’s no telling when they might resurface, now that this has already happened seven times.
Big-time Hollywood studios were not able to meet the writers’ demands until much later in the strike, but some small studios, most notably A24, met them much earlier, which makes it clear that money wasn’t an issue. In July, A24’s “Mother Mary” and “Death of a Unicorn” were approved to start production as the studio had met the requirements of the WGA. Most studios including Disney and Warner Bros., did not meet demands until close to when the strikes ended.
I am hoping to pursue a career in an area of film production, so learning that these major studios are making it harder to have this as a full-time career draws me away from wanting this profession. However, more minor corporations had no problem meeting the requirements of the WGA, so that is something I will keep in mind if I go into filmmaking. It’s clear that the big studios simply didn’t take the strike seriously.
The prospect of AI potentially making screenplays is also frustrating and alarming because of the consequences this could have. This would drag writers out of their jobs and would also be a bad idea because having an AI-written script would be bland and real writers could bring so much more.
These concerns have been resolved for now, but there’s no telling when they might resurface, now that this has already happened seven times.