It has been 60 years since actors and screenwriters shared the picket lines in the United States. The standoff between them and the major studios and online video broadcasting giants, such as Amazon, Disney+ or Netflix, should be watched carefully. Hollywood is a bit of a canary in the mine these days for the audiovisual world. From this labor conflict could emerge a world in which the value of creation would be considerably reduced.
Yes, the battle for residual payments, or the share of profits paid over reruns, is important. These have been in free fall since the online giants have reshuffled the cards. They would have faded from 70% to less than 5% with continuous viewing. The problem is known to musicians who have seen their recipes do the same under the reign of Spotify and others. Now that they are tasting it in turn, actors and screenwriters find the potion very bitter. They are right.
The Writers Guild of America also denounces the fragmentation of the creative work of its members to the benefit of less well paid trades. No more monitoring and editing on sets for screenwriters of online productions, an imposed choice that deprives them of significant income. Data obtained by the guild shows that for equivalent work on series last year, a screenwriter worked an average of 38 weeks in traditional TV compared to 24 weeks in streaming.
Hollywood may produce and still produce (profits to match), actors and screenwriters come out impoverished from these changes. Forget the indecent millions paid to Scarlett Johansson or Tom Cruise. Each year, between 75 and 90 percent of members of the Screen Actors Guild-Federation of Television and Radio Artists do not earn enough to access their health insurance. The union requires a minimum annual income of US$26,500 to qualify. We are far from the princely way of life.
Yes, therefore, the salaries of actors and screenwriters must rise, at least at the rate of inflation. Not melt like snow in the sun. But above all, above all, they need protection against the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI). For now, their potential applications boil down to filler, correction or flashiness. It could otherwise become invasive.
In a bang, in London, actor Brian Cox stepped out last week alongside other British actors to show his unwavering support for his American colleagues. “AI is the most serious, serious business [au coeur de ce conflit]. This is where we are most vulnerable,” explained the Scottish-born actor. Pronounced by the person who plays Logan Roy, the most fascinating and detestable billionaire on the small screen, the sentence was not lacking in salt.
Alarmist, Mr. Cox? Not even. At the rate things are going, the day an AI manages to “syncretize” everything needed to produce yet another film at the John Wick or an ante-episode to Boys is closer than it looks. All while taking great care, of course, not to reproduce anything too close to what already exists in the real world to avoid prosecution.
Producers have other veins in mind with AI that have nothing to do with creation and everything to do with soulless monetization. This ranges from the creation of alternative endings to the production of tailor-made films, including the public becoming part of the film of their choice: “Put me at the bar of the Overlook” in The Shining or “Make me a Wakanda warrior in the first Black Panther “. The possibilities of earning profits without making (or redoing) creators checkout are endless.
Hollywood is not Montreal. But the conflict is not without consequences for Quebec. Already the absence of big guns is felt. It lacks a tiger in the engine of local industry. Those who suffer from it are machinists, stage managers, lighting designers, actors, larks. The pressure is also strong on special effects artists, for whom foreign productions are both bread and butter.
The Union of artists anticipates difficult days for the voice actors. Not just because filming is on hold. Already, voice cloning is no longer science fiction. It is thus that in The Andy Warhol Diaries, we can hear the artist narrating himself from beyond the grave. In Quebec, dubbing employs nearly 4,000 people. Without a legislative framework, it is to be expected that many voices will die out.
The Quebec cinema community has emerged weakened from the pandemic. Burdened by huge shortages, it must face an audience crisis combined with the collapse of traditional distribution models. This new tile can only have a devastating effect. Might as well take notes, lots of notes, and cross your fingers: this battle will inevitably end up going through here.