TV/Movies Megathread

[crazy canuck]

I hadn't seen the news, but apparently the writers strike is almost over.
Celed can confirm, or not?
WGA strike is almost over

Hopefully, the studios and the actors can solve their issues now and reach an agreement. 

The strike finished last week. 

The actors' union and the studios have been engaged in talks this week, but no agreement yet. But they are talking.

Looks like the actors' talks have broken down, and this will be a longer strike. 

According to SAG, studios wanted to be able to get consent from actors on Day 1 of their employment contracts to use digital replicas of their likeness throughout an entire "cinematic universe or franchise"   

The other clash are residuals, where SAG insists on some kind of revenue sharing formula (This is the one issue where WGA punted).

Thanks, it puts the production companies position that the actors should just except the same deal into perspective.  Writers are not as concerned about the use of their likeness.

[celedhring]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

[viper37]

And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Reading the critics about Citadel, people swear the scripts were written by an AI though.

[celedhring]

Incidentally, I'm reminded of when Von Trier (of course) used a computer to direct "The Boss of it All"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLIgsBkrR4Q&ab_channel=CloserTV-ABehindtheScenesChannel

[Jacob]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Ran into one of my former colleagues the other day. He's leading tech for a large VFX studio... according to him it's trivial to use AI and compositing to make the actors say new lines, look somewhere else, or shoot the scene from a different angle.

Seems like what's being contested is whether being an actor for one film should mean that the studio can use that actor for any other films in "that universe" (and you know that's going to get exploited) in perpetuity, without any other involvement of the actor.

[Josquius]

It does sound very scarily vague.
If its a sort of thing where you sign up to play a major character in 3 films of a top franchise then I can see a fair enough point that they might want to dig up your corpse in the distant future. As long as you (well. Your kids) are paid properly for this that sounds like a reasonable part of signing up for a big franchise.

But the wording there sounds like it'll be random background extra 1 signs up for a day of work in a Captain America 10 crowd shot and without compensation has his image used forever in every Marvel film ever to be.
They could make it even more evil I suppose and try to smush together unrelated films as franchises so they get to use actors without dealing with them.

[Syt]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Ran into one of my former colleagues the other day. He's leading tech for a large VFX studio... according to him it's trivial to use AI and compositing to make the actors say new lines, look somewhere else, or shoot the scene from a different angle.

Seems like what's being contested is whether being an actor for one film should mean that the studio can use that actor for any other films in "that universe" (and you know that's going to get exploited) in perpetuity, without any other involvement of the actor.

I guess that would depend on the contracts actors have with the studios. Are any actors these days signed to studios like in the old days? I'd assume that most contracts are for a movie (or number of movies), and unless there's specific language in them, I'd guess that the actor's likeness/performance will only be signed off on for that movie specifically (though obviously there's a blurry line of edits, re-edits, director cuts, extended editions ... ).

I guess in future Hollywood agents have another thing they need to pay attention to when negotiating contracts for their clients.

Personally, I hope the major studios that are focused on making sure their CEOs shareholders make some extra hundreds of millions every ear all burn to the ground (or at least their executive departments) and the film business starts over from a clean slate, but that may be just me.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Yeah and I think all of the guilds will have their own specific issues with AI. Well, except for the DGA who appear to have just taken a "this'll do" approach

[celedhring]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Yeah and I think all of the guilds will have their own specific issues with AI. Well, except for the DGA who appear to have just taken a "this'll do" approach

To be fair to the DGA, Lars Von Trier nothwithstanding I fail to see how their jobs (they cover directors, assistants and production managers) are threatened by AI. Their job is to manage and organize groups of people.

[Josquius]

Yeah, the kind of protections that writers got can't really apply to actors. And I think the tech is far more ready to partially replace actors than it is to replace writers or directors, so I expect studios to fight this more fiercely.

Yeah and I think all of the guilds will have their own specific issues with AI. Well, except for the DGA who appear to have just taken a "this'll do" approach

To be fair to the DGA, Lars Von Trier nothwithstanding I fail to see how their jobs (they cover directors, assistants and production managers) are threatened by AI. Their job is to manage and organize groups of people.

No people to manage and  organise?

[Jacob]

At this stage, AI tools looks like they're great tools for "orchestrators". Directors are orchestrators, so they'll be fine.

I suppose that there's a hypothetical future in which AI can write the scripts, select the cast, assemble the content ("directing" and editing), and generate and execute a marketing campaign - all without any human intervention - and that it can do so based on AI generated research, allowing it to tailor the content based on research ensuring that the product will do well in the market.

It may even be that each of these steps are more or less feasible with the technology and approaches we have now. The only minor problem could be that the amount of processing power required to execute each of these steps at the right level of quality to be successful is potentially completely impractical / expensive.

[Sheilbh]

These are all very fair points....I still think the DGA are wimps though

[celedhring]

These are all very fair points....I still think the DGA are wimps though

Oh, they are. But it's a union of middle managers

[celedhring]

Watched the 1980s version of Bounty's Mutiny, with Hopkins as Bligh and Mel Gibson as Christian. Maybe I'm getting old or I like Hopkins way too much (and Gibson is so punchable here), but found myself siding with Bligh in this

Nah, the script (and Hopkins) are pretty skillful at not painting anybody as the obvious villain. Bligh comes across as a talented and brave man that was probably just out of his depth as a leader of men - and was probably put in an impossible position. I also liked how the film alludes to class undertones given that Bligh is said to be a commoner - and thus feels he has to overimpress during the Bounty expedition to rise through the ranks - while Christian is from a rich family with friends in high places.

One of those well-made and smart films with an huge cast (the crew features Liam Nesson and D-Day Lewis in supporting parts, as well as Lawrence Olivier as Admiral Hood) that seems to have been sorta forgotten.

Looking at the wikipedia page it seems that David Lean was supposed to direct this. and even oversaw some of the pre-production. Now that's a film I would have loved to see.

[Barrister]

Watched the 1980s version of Bounty's Mutiny, with Hopkins as Bligh and Mel Gibson as Christian. Maybe I'm getting old or I like Hopkins way too much (and Gibson is so punchable here), but found myself siding with Bligh in this

Nah, the script (and Hopkins) are pretty skillful at not painting anybody as the obvious villain. Bligh comes across as a talented and brave man that was probably just out of his depth as a leader of men - and was probably put in an impossible position. I also liked how the film alludes to class undertones given that Bligh is said to be a commoner - and thus feels he has to overimpress during the Bounty expedition to rise through the ranks - while Christian is from a rich family with friends in high places.

One of those well-made and smart films with an huge cast (the crew features Liam Nesson and D-Day Lewis in supporting parts, as well as Lawrence Olivier as Admiral Hood) that seems to have been sorta forgotten.

Looking at the wikipedia page it seems that David Lean was supposed to direct this. and even oversaw some of the pre-production. Now that's a film I would have loved to see.

The story of the mutiny and the mutineers going to Pitcairn and living amongst the natives is a romantic one, but if you look into the facts it's hard not to see Bligh as more sympathetic and Christian as, well, the mutineer.

An equally interesting part of the story is Bligh's voyage in an open boat all the way to Dutch East Indies, but it's usually not part of the "mutiny" story.