I made this image for an article I’m writing called “Dominion Over the Machines” about how the SAG-AFTRA AI precedents (if ratified) may move things forward not just for actors, but for every human that may face non-humans doing their work.
A deliberate tactic of SAG-AFTRA during contract negotiations was to make hiring actors the most affordable solution companies have, to make replacing actors with digital things impractical.
So Kate Bond had questions about the AI provisions in the SAG-AFTRA tentative agreement, and wisely asked Jeff Bennett, SAG-AFTRA general council about them.
Now they have shared the replies here, and it’s worth clicking through and swiping through the images to see the questions and answers if you too have questions about this:
Netflix's "new" section is a throwback to retro content; CEOs got a compensation cut due to shareholder-imposed pay reductions. Iger and Disney face multiple lawsuits from various investor groups. 1/4
An "activist" shareholder, Nelson Peltz, seeks to dismantle Disney. These companies and CEOs hurt themselves and us, they need our work, badly. And will try hard to divide us to get it for nothing. 2/4
"Alone we beg, together we bargain" isn't just for individual people: it means unions working together succeed together. IATSE and Teamsters are up next year and SAG-AFTRA doesn’t have a new contract in place yet. This year we set the tone, next year we bring it home. 4/4 end
We need contractual, legislative & judicial safeguards in place to keep things more fair for everyone on all sides of every deal. We must own & control our likenesses & voices. Full stop.
Laws, courts & contracts will have to make things work better.
The entertainment industry is not the tech industry. Doing things like the tech industry does them is not what the entertainment industry is about, even if the CEOs forget that.
The AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA had to agree this month to have the word “telegraph” replaced with the words “email or text” in the tentative agreement. North America hasn’t had a telegraph system since 2006.
CEOs, unfamiliar with labor issues, lack experience and mentors in organized labor. They must grasp that relying on a Victorian labor playbook harms themselves in the 21st century. Collaboration with labor is crucial. Harvard Business Review thinks so too:
“Monday, Nov. 13, 10 PT/12 CT/1 ET, an informational webinar will be held via Zoom. All SAG-AFTRA members…urged to attend this important meeting. Reservations…required in advance by…Monday, Nov. 13, 7 a.m. PT/10 am ET.”
“Hollywood will restart, and while studios may pretend that the industry as a whole has to cut back on future projects after the cost of the strikes, it's worth noting that the value of the deals SAG-AFTRA and WGA received are still worth way less than the L studios took by refusing to come to the bargaining table.”
Ok Mr. “Talent friendly CEO,” this is how the world sees you. Is it talent friendly to for roughly 107 days out of 118 refuse to even talk with your talent? Your actions have consequences.