Former Hollywood executive warns of ‘absolute collapse’ if SAG and WGA deal not met by September
SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, joined the Writers Guild of America in a historic double strike on July 13.
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Former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller has a warning for Hollywood: settle the strike by September 1st or face an "absolute collapse" of the industry.
During an appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation," Diller laid out his prediction for the entertainment industry if the actors and writers strike lasts longer than a few months.
"What will happen is, if in fact, it doesn’t get settled until Christmas or so, then next year, there’s not going to be many programs for anybody to watch. So, you’re gonna see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies, the result of which is that there will be no programs. And at just the time, strike is settled that you want to get back up, there won’t be enough money."
SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, joined the ongoing Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike on Thursday after five weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to produce a new contract. The WGA has been on strike since early May.
Former Paramount and 20th Century Fox CEO Barry Diller warned of the "absolute collapse" of the entertainment industry if a deal is not meant to end the actors' and writers' strike soon. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Semafor / Getty Images)
"The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us. Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal," said "The Nanny" star Fran Drescher, who is the SAG-AFTRA president.
Diller acknowledged there is "no trust between the parties" doing the negotiating, but posited a September 1st deadline to settle a deal before deeper impacts are felt economically.
SAG-AFTRA President and actress Fran Drescher arrives at Netflix picket line in Los Angeles, California, on July 14, 2023. Tens of thousands of Hollywood actors went on strike at midnight July 13, 2023, effectively bringing the giant movie and televi ( VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"The truth is, this is a huge business both domestically and for world export," he said. "It sounds like I’m crying to the skies. But these conditions will potentially produce an absolute collapse of an entire industry."
Several the issues at stake for both guilds are residuals from streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence to create new works.
With regards to pay, Diller noted that complaints about high pay against studio heads conflict with the salaries of some of the top actors supporting the strike.
"You have the actors union, saying, ‘How dare these 10 people who run these companies earn all this money and won’t pay us?’ While if you look at it on the other side, the top ten actors get paid more than the top ten executives. I’m not saying either is right. Actually, everybody’s probably overpaid at the top end," he said.
"The one idea I had is to say, as a good faith measure, both the executives and the most paid actors should take a 25% pay cut, to try and narrow the difference between those who get highly paid and those that don’t," Diller suggested.
Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild members and supporters on a picket line outside Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, US on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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As for AI replacing actors and writers, Diller thinks the fears are "overhyped to death."
"In this case, I think [in] the one to three year period, not much is going to happen. But post that, of course, there are all these issues," he explained. "Now by the way these issues are not, I believe, relative to some of the worries about replacement, I do not think [they are] going to replace A.I. generated actors. I don’t think you’re going to replace writers. Yes, you can adjust all this stuff and spit out something that sounds like Shakespeare, but guess what, it is not original Shakespeare. And writers will get assisted, not replaced. Most of the these actual performing crafts, I don’t think they’re in danger of artificial intelligence."
A teacher supporting striking Hollywood writers holds up a sign reading "AI Does Not Have Kids to Feed!" on the picket line outside Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, June 30, 2023. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Diller, who is also chairman of holding company IAC and Expedia Group, commented on his plans to sue over copyrighted material being used by AI with a group of others in publishing, but did not specify who or when they were planning to file.
"Unless you protect copyright, all is lost," he said, referring to programs like ChatGPT and AI services offered by Microsoft and Google.
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"The problem is they also say that the fair use doctrine of the copyright law allows them to suck up all this stuff. We in the publishing side, do not agree with that," Diller explained. "It will be long term catastrophic if there is not a business mode that allows people professionally to produce content. That would be, I think everybody agrees, a catastrophe. The only way to get there is either legislation or litigation."