Epic is changing Unreal Engine’s pricing for non-game developers
/ ves

The change will happen sometime next year and will charge some users on a per-seat model, similar to Photoshop pricing.

 

Game developers using Unreal Engine won’t be affected and will continue to pay for a license based on a royalty model. However, users in industries like film or automotive will be moved to per-seat pricing, meaning they’ll be charged for the subscription the same way someone might pay for Photoshop.

 

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/5/23905082/epic-unreal-engine-pricing-change-film-automotive

DNEG Canada is moving into unionizing
/ ves

 

https://dnunion.info/

 

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/in-a-huge-win-for-vfx-workers-dneg-vancouver-employees-have-won-a-union-exclusive-234704.html

 

IATSE, which also runs the powerful Animation Guild Local 839 out of Los Angeles, says that organizing a union will give collective voice to workers’ concerns and requests. Some of the things it aims to achieve at DNEG Vancouver include:

  • More transparency and consistency in the decisions that impact our daily lives
  • Improvements to current working conditions (i.e. salary, vacation)
  • Enhanced RRSP and health benefits
  • Sustainability in the Canadian VFX industry as a whole
  • Access to legal counsel
  • Protections from sudden and unjust layoffs
  • Strong representation and solidarity across the Canadian VFX industry

 

 

Epic Games cuts around 16% work force, 830 jobs
/ ves

https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/layoffs-at-epic

 

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/28/23894266/epic-games-layoffs-fortnite-unreal-engine

 

Tim Sweeney sent the following email to Epic employees:

 

As we shared earlier, we are laying off around 16% of Epic employees. We’re divesting Bandcamp and spinning off most of SuperAwesome.

For a while now, we’ve been spending way more money than we earn, investing in the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators. I had long been optimistic that we could power through this transition without layoffs, but in retrospect I see that this was unrealistic.

SAG-AFTRA Members Vote To Authorize Video Game Workers Strike
/ ves

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/sag-aftra-votes-to-authorize-video-game-workers-strike-233010.html

 

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorize a strike among video game voice actors and performers, a group of workers who weren’t part of the original actors strike that began back in July.

Australia’s NSW Government reverses 60M cuts to Made in NSW fund, PDV and games rebates
/ ves

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/nsw-government-reverses-screen-funding-cuts-after-mounting-pressure-20230926-p5e7pw.html

 

The NSW government has responded to mounting pressure from the film sector, reversing cuts and restoring funding to develop new screen projects.

 

Former news

https://if.com.au/nsw-government-confirms-60-million-screen-funding-cut-producers-signal-projects-and-businesses-to-move-interstate/

 

https://if.com.au/nsw-government-flags-cuts-to-made-in-nsw-fund-pdv-rebate/

 

https://if.com.au/dneg-slams-proposed-cuts-to-nsw-screen-funding

 

The NSW Government has signalled it will make cuts to screen funding in next week’s state budget, including the Made in NSW fund, the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) rebate and the Digital Games Development Rebate Program.

 

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has called the proposed changes “devastating”, and argued they will put jobs, revenue and investment growth at risk for years to come. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) similarly said the cuts would damage the state’s credibility and competitiveness as a global film and television “powerhouse”.

Unity3D – open letter on runtime fees
/ IOS, software, ves

https://blog.unity.com/news/open-letter-on-runtime-fee

 

 

To our community:

 

I’m Marc Whitten, and I lead Unity Create which includes the Unity engine and editor teams.

 

I want to start with this: I am sorry.

 

We should have spoken with more of you and we should have incorporated more of your feedback before announcing our new Runtime Fee policy. Our goal with this policy is to ensure we can continue to support you today and tomorrow, and keep deeply investing in our game engine.

 

You are what makes Unity great, and we know we need to listen, and work hard to earn your trust. We have heard your concerns, and we are making changes in the policy we announced to address them.

 

Our Unity Personal plan will remain free and there will be no Runtime Fee for games built on Unity Personal. We will be increasing the cap from $100,000 to $200,000 and we will remove the requirement to use the Made with Unity splash screen.

 

No game with less than $1 million in trailing 12-month revenue will be subject to the fee.

 

For those creators on Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise, we are also making changes based on your feedback.

 

The Runtime Fee policy will only apply beginning with the next LTS version of Unity shipping in 2024 and beyond. Your games that are currently shipped and the projects you are currently working on will not be included – unless you choose to upgrade them to this new version of Unity.

 

We will make sure that you can stay on the terms applicable for the version of Unity editor you are using – as long as you keep using that version.

 

For games that are subject to the runtime fee, we are giving you a choice of either a 2.5% revenue share or the calculated amount based on the number of new people engaging with your game each month. Both of these numbers are self-reported from data you already have available. You will always be billed the lesser amount.

 

We want to continue to build the best engine for creators. We truly love this industry and you are the reason why.

 

I’d like to invite you to join me for a live fireside chat hosted by Jason Weimann today at 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT, where I will do my best to answer your questions. In the meantime, here are some more details.*

 

Thank you for caring as deeply as you do, and thank you for giving us hard feedback.

 

Marc Whitten

 

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexanderrehm_on-the-subject-of-unity-on-september-activity-7109854372930412544-UM1I

On September 18, Unity Software held an all-hands meeting to discuss the rollout of per-install fees. The recording was reviewed by Bloomberg, which said the company is ready to backtrack on major aspects of its new pricing policy.

The changes are yet to be approved, but here are the first details:
➡ Unity plans to limit fees to 4% for games making over $1 million
➡ Instead of lifetime installs, the company intends to only count installs generated after January 1, 2024 (so the thresholds announced last week won’t be retroactive);
➡ Unity won’t reportedly track installs using its proprietary tools, instead relying on self-reported data from developers.

During the meeting on Monday, Unity CEO John Riccitiello noted that the new policy is “designed to generate more revenue from the company’s biggest customers and that more than 90% of Unity users won’t be affected.” When asked by several employees how the company would regain the trust of developers, execs said they will have to “show, not tell.”

David Helgason, founder of Unity and its former CEO (he is currently on the board), also commented on the controversy around the pricing changes. In a Facebook post (spotted by GamesBeat), he said “we f*cked up on many levels,” adding that the announcement of the new business model “missed a bunch of important “corner” cases, and in central ways ended up as the opposite of what it was supposed to be. […] Now to try again, and try harder,” Helgason wrote. “I am provisionally optimistic about the progress. So sorry about this mess.”

 

 

RESPONSES

 

 

Unilaterally removing Terms Of Services and making them retroactive is a HUGE loss of trust in Unity’s executive and management team. There is no going back there, no matter if they patch this mess. Using Unity moving forward will just be a gamble. 

 

4% doesn’t change anything. It does not fix any of the problems that have been raised, and asked repeatedly. Install bombing still not addressed. So many “corner cases” still not addressed, especially in the mobile space.

 

To little to late tbh it’s a systematic problem with the ceo being so out of touch that it’s going to happen again. Remember this was a man who wanted a dollar per battlefield player revive

 

Mega Crit said Unity’s decision was “not only harmful in a myriad of ways” but was also “a violation of trust”, and pointed to Unity’s removal of its Terms of Service from GitHub, where changes can be easily tracked.

 

Why every game developer is mad with Unity right now, explained
/ ves

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/unitys-self-combustion-engine-this-week-in-business

 

$1.3 billion – Unity’s lifetime accumulated deficit as of December 31, 2021. Unity has never had a profitable quarter in its history. It has posted modest operating profits in the past three quarters for the first time ever,

 

Unity lit money on fire for decades to buy a market advantage that overrules the basic economic incentives that supposedly ensure free markets work best for customers. It was successful in doing that because it’s very hard for a sustainable business to compete against one that is fine losing billions of dollars.

 

First, you make yourself essential to the market, even if it costs you billions to get there. Then once you hit a threshold – let’s say, I don’t know, 70% of the market – you lean into the enshittification process. You charge more for your services, you give your customers worse terms, you turn the heat up slowly and continuously, confident in the knowledge that people are so locked in to your business and have so few viable alternatives that they may grumble but they will ultimately put up with it.

 

And it’s such a common strategy in so many industries today that there’s just no sense of horror or outrage from the onlookers. Industry watchers and Serious Business People have seen this play out so many times they just acknowledge it’s happening and treat it as if it’s a perfectly cool and normal thing and not illegal predatory pricing.

 

I think this new Runtime Fee makes perfect sense from a mile-high point of view, if you think about Unity as a business where you just turn whichever dials and pull whatever levers will make the numbers go up the most.

The only problem is it makes no sense at all if you instead think about Unity as a game development tool that game developers should want to use.

 

https://www.pcgamer.com/why-every-game-developer-is-mad-right-now-explained

 

https://www.axios.com/2023/09/13/unity-runtime-fee-policy-marc-whitten

 

 

“The uproar is primarily driven by two factors: Unity is attaching a flat per-install fees to games that use its engine, and it’s arbitrarily scrapping existing deals and making the changes retroactive. 

 

The policy announced yesterday will see a “Runtime Fee” charged to games that surpass certain installation and revenue thresholds. For Unity Personal, the free engine that many beginning and small indie developers use, those thresholds are $200,000 earned over the previous 12 months, and 200,000 installs; one those marks are met, developers will be charged 20 cents every time someone installs their game.

 

Another big issue is that Unity has made this change retroactive: It supersedes any existing agreements with Unity that developers may have made, and it applies to games that were released even before any of this happened. The revenue threshold will be based on sales after January 1, 2024, when the new pricing system takes effect, but sales that occurred before that date will count toward the install threshold. 

 

 

Unity bosses sold stock days before development fees announcement, raising eyebrows
/ ves

https://www.eurogamer.net/unity-bosses-sold-stock-days-before-development-fees-announcement-raising-eyebrows

 

Unity executives sold thousands of shares in the weeks leading up to last night’s hugely controversial announcement it will soon charge developers when one of their games is downloaded.

 

Behind the scenes, CEO John Riccitiello shifted 2000 shares last week on 6th September, as noted by Yahoo Finance, which noted this move was part of a trend over the past year where the exec has sold more than 50,000 shares in total and bought none.

DNEG announces pay cuts of up to 25% and artists’ repayment loans
/ ves

EDIT 20230919

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/vfx-giant-dneg-puts-forth-new-salary-reduction-proposal-after-worker-backlash-to-initial-proposal-232735.html

Revised Proposal: Initially met with backlash, DNEG has revised its proposal over the weekend. They’ve introduced a third option that focuses on reducing work hours instead of salaries, along with additional paid leave to compensate for the income reduction.

 

  1. A salary reduction of 20% to 25% for seven months, with paid leave to compensate.
  2. A temporary 50% salary reduction, supplemented by a company loan, totalling 90% of the original salary, repayable over three years.
  3. Reduced working hours to a 3-day week for seven months, with no hourly rate reduction.

 

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/avuuk_animation-visualeffects-dneg-activity-7107674426275442688-Fd1d

 

Today, we want to address a concerning development at DNEG. They very recently announced pay cuts of up to 25% for its employees, coupled with a rather unconventional approach to compensate for these losses through ‘loans’, which their staff need to repay overtime.

 

As of now, DNEG is imposing these pay cuts for a period of 7 months. To ‘help’ offset the financial impact on their staff, the company is offering ‘loans’ to their employees. While offering financial support during challenging times is usually commendable, the repayment terms are causing deep concern within the Animation & Visual Effects community, especially around their legality.

 

The loan offered by DNEG comes with a significant catch: employees are required to pay back the loan over a three-year period. This means that even after the pay cuts are reinstated, employees will be obligated to allocate a portion of their salaries to repay the company. Aledgedly, there is no interest on the loan (tbc). This approach has sparked a considerable backlash within our industry.

 

We at the Animation & Visual Effects Union voice very strong concern and opposition to the pay cuts, as well as the loan method. We believe pay cuts should not be compensated through loans with long-term repayment plans, placing a heavy burden on the employees who are already facing financial challenges.

 

This situation underscores the importance of open dialogue and collaboration between employers and employees during challenging times. While businesses often need to make tough decisions to navigate economic uncertainties, it’s crucial to strike a balance that doesn’t disproportionately impact the livelihoods of their dedicated workforce.

 

What can be done about this?

 

If you are a member of the Animation & Visual Effects Union, get in touch with us immediately and do not accept any pay cuts yet. You can email your BECTU official Stefan Vassalos stefan.vassalos@prospect.org.uk to get advice and organise with your colleagues at DNEG.

 

Remember, you MUST give your consent for a paycut. It is ILLEGAL to impose a cut without it. You DO NOT have to consent to a pay cut. Legal action can and will be taken against paycuts without consent. Anyone affected please get in touch with us immediately so we can represent and protect you and your livlihood as much as possible. BECTU has the power and resources to challenge moments like this, so it is imperitive YOU take action and contact us. Talk to your colleagues and get in touch. It is only through solidarity and collective effort that we can address these challenges and shape a brighter future for our industry.

 

Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights on this matter. Your input and perspective are valuable as we navigate these unprecedented times together.

Unity Presents New “Runtime Fees” Based on Game Installs and Revenue
/ software, ves

https://80.lv/articles/unity-presents-new-fees-based-on-game-installs-and-revenue/

 

The new program is called the Unity Runtime Fee and the main principle is based on how often users install games. Unity thinks “an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share”.

 

This is bound to kill all developers who count on free downloads but profitable venues of income like in-app purchase. Which count for a vast majority of the 30% of the market that Unity holds onto.

 

The extra bill will be estimated by Unity based on non-specific data.

Unity does not have a ‘known’ way to track installs. Likely due to privacy laws. Thus they will need to ‘estimate’ installs and bill clients based on that. … …. Data which is aggregated with no identifying features isn’t really prevented. Unity’s claim that they can’t distinguish between an install and reinstall or even a paid versus pirated copy actually reinforces the idea that they aren’t using any identifying information, so it would be compliant to privacy laws. … Assumption is that they will get some data from distributors like AppStore, GooglePlay, Valve, Sony, Microsoft, etc… and estimate from there.

 

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/rust-creator-tells-unity-to-get-fucked-as-developers-left-seething-by-new-fee

 

“It hurts because we didn’t agree to this. We used the engine because you pay up front and then ship your product. We weren’t told this was going to happen. We weren’t warned. We weren’t consulted,” explained the Facepunch Studios founder. “We have spent 10 years making Rust on Unity’s engine. We’ve paid them every year. And now they changed the rules.”

 

“It’s our fault. All of our faults. We sleepwalked into it. We had a ton of warnings,” they added. “We should have been pressing the eject button when Unity IPO’d in 2020. Every single thing they’ve done since then has been the exact opposite of what was good for the engine. 

 

 

Why VFX workers are unionising in Hollywood — and why it’s important
/ ves

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a44936059/vfx-workers-unionising-hollywood/

 

Last March, IATSE released a damning survey that showed how visual effects workers lack access to essential benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plans.

It also found VFX crews are lacking breaks and rest periods, and they’re not getting paid for working overtime, resulting in some workers failing to even make minimum wage.

This survey was aimed to organise VFX workers, one of the last areas of the production community that are still not unionised. Given the worsening of their working conditions while their craft is increasingly in demand within the industry, seeking protection has become a necessity.

Workers at Vancouver’s WildBrain animation studio look to unionize
/ ves

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/workers-at-vancouver-s-wildbrain-animation-studio-look-to-unionize-1.6958145

 

“…workers are concerned about issues such as scheduling, base pay, and the rising cost of living in Vancouver. 

They are also seeking ways to address “the precarity (insecurity) that’s really baked into the industry,” Gladman told CBC’s The Early Edition on Wednesday.

“People are working really short-term contracts, sometimes weeks at a time,” he said. “You go to work on Friday. You’re not sure if you’ll have a job on Monday. I think workers are just tired of holding the bag when things slow down every time.”

Europe and Canada’s new Digital Services Act
/ ves

 

Leading parties are now in charge of what constitute information.

 

Walt Disney Pictures VFX Workers Move to Unionize
/ ves

https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/walt-disney-pictures-vfx-workers-union-1235706136/

 

A supermajority (over 80%) of the 18 in-house VFX crew members at Walt Disney Pictures signed authorization cards signaling their desire to unionize.

The historical move is the second time in history that VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same protections and rights as their colleagues. Earlier this month, VFX crews at Marvel Studios voted to unionize beginning Aug. 21. Ballots are due on Sept. 11, and the vote count will take place on Sept. 12.

Here’s What the WGA Has to Say About the Big 3 Streaming Monopolies
/ ves

https://gizmodo.com/here-s-what-the-wga-has-to-say-about-the-big-3-streamin-1850758992

 

  • Disney controls the means of production
  • Amazon controls the means of distribution
  • Netflix controls the means of employment

 

The WGA proposes the following legislative actions, copied verbatim from their executive summary.

  • Block further consolidation
  • Proactively investigate anti-competitive issues and outcomes
  • Increase regulation and oversight in streaming.

 

The top Hollywood exec made $498 million in the last 5 years
/ ves

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/01/top-hollywood-exec-made-498-million-in-5-years-while-writer-pay-fell.html

 

The top 10 highest-paid Hollywood executives in the last 5 years includes:

  1. David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.: $498,915,318
  2. Ari Emanuel, Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.: $346,935,367
  3. Reed Hastings, Netflix: $209,780,532
  4. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co.: $195,092,460
  5. Ted Sarandos, Netflix: $192,171,581
  6. Rupert Murdoch, Fox Corp.: $174,929,867
  7. Lachlan Murdoch, Fox Corp.: $171,359,374
  8. Brian Roberts, Comcast Corp.: $170,158,088
  9. Joseph Ianniello, Paramount Global: $152,793,125
  10. Patrick Whitesell, Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.: $143,584,597

 

In a random comparison:

 

OpenAI may go bankrupt by 2024, AI bot costs company $700,000 every day
/ A.I., ves

https://www-firstpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/openai-may-go-bankrupt-by-2024-chatgpt-costs-company-700000-dollars-every-day-12986012.html/amp

 

While OpenAI and ChatGPT opened up to a wild start and had a record-breaking number of sign-ups in its initial days, it has steadily seen its user base decline over the last couple of months. According to SimilarWeb, July 2023 saw its user base drop by 12 per cent compared to June – it went from 1.7 billion users to 1.5 billion users. Do note that this data only shows users who visited the ChatGPT website, and does not account for users who are using OpenAI’s APIs

WGA Response to Studios Indicates No Quick End to Strike
/ ves

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/wga-response-studios-not-quick-strike-1235697413/

 

The two sides remain at odds on items across the board, including streaming residuals and a higher minimum tier for TV writer-producers

 

The WGA wants to tie streaming residuals to the popularity of a show, but streamers had adamantly refused to share such viewership data.

 

The WGA is also seeking a provision that would allow its members to honor other unions’ picket lines.

 

 

Most bosses regret how they mandated workers return to the office. They blamed it on not having enough data
/ ves

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/most-bosses-regret-how-they-mandated-workers-return-to-the-office-they-blamed-it-on-not-having-enough-data/ar-AA1fgtWY

 

Four in five (80%) of bosses told workplace software firm Envoy that, had they had a better grasp on actual employee preferences, they would have taken a starkly different approach to their return to office plans. The problem, they said: They didn’t have access to workplace data to help them make their decision.

 

Lucasfilm to shut Singapore operations, affecting more than 300 employees
/ ves

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/lucasfilm-shut-operations-singapore-studio-animation-visual-effects-disney-3700061

 

Lucasfilm is winding down operations in Singapore after nearly 20 years in the country, with parent company Disney citing economic factors affecting the industry.

 

According to an ILM employee in Singapore, there are 340 staff members in the company and work will continue until the end of the year.

Marvel VFX Artists Vote to Unionize
/ ves

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/iatseintl_breaking-visual-effects-vfx-crews-at-marvel-activity-7094444639985770497-fLTW

 

https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/marvel-vfx-artists-unionize-1235690272/

 

BREAKING: Visual Effects (VFX) crews at Marvel Studios have filed for a unionization election with the National Labor Relations Board, Monday. The move signals a major shift in an industry that has largely remained non-union since VFX was pioneered during production of the first Star Wars films in the 1970s. A supermajority of Marvel’s more than 50-worker crew had signed authorization cards indicating they wished to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

This marks the first time VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same rights and protections as their unionized colleagues in the film industry. Mark Patch, VFX Organizer for IATSE, highlighted the significance of this moment: “For almost half a century, workers in the visual effects industry have been denied the same protections and benefits their coworkers and crewmates have relied upon since the beginning of the Hollywood film industry. This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for the work we do.”

While positions like Production Designers/Art Directors, Camera Operators, Sound, Editors, Hair and Makeup Artists, Costumes / Wardrobe, Script Supervisors, Grips, Lighting, Props, and Paint, among others, have historically been represented by IATSE in motion picture and television, workers in VFX classifications historically have not.

Bella Huffman, VFX Coordinator, highlighted the challenging nature of the industry: “Turnaround times don’t apply to us, protected hours don’t apply to us, and pay equity doesn’t apply to us. Visual Effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who’s suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won’t be exploited.”

The Marvel VFX workers’ filing for a union election comes at a pivotal moment in the film and television industry, amidst ongoing strikes by both the Actors and Writers guilds as both seek fair contracts with the studios and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb put it in plain terms, “We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of solidarity that’s breaking down old barriers in the industry and proving we’re all in this fight together. That doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Entertainment workers everywhere are sticking up for each other’s rights, that’s what our movement is all about. I congratulate these workers on taking this important step and using their collective voice.”

AOUSD – Pixar, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, and NVIDIA Form Alliance for OpenUSD to Drive Open Standards for 3D Content
/ production, software, ves

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/announcing-alliance-for-open-usd-aousd

 

https://aousd.org/

 

The alliance seeks to standardize the 3D ecosystem by advancing the capabilities of Open Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD). By promoting greater interoperability of 3D tools and data, the alliance will enable developers and content creators to describe, compose, and simulate large-scale 3D projects and build an ever-widening range of 3D-enabled products and services.

Oliver Stone Says Roots Of Writers Strike Lie In 1988 Deal
/ ves

https://deadline-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/deadline.com/2023/07/oliver-stone-oppenheimer-sag-aftra-wga-strike-roots-1235438219/amp/

 

“The studio is always telling you that they’re losing money, but they always find a way to make a new level of profit for 10, 15 years. … It’s that perpetual industrial problem with a capitalist group that pays its executives more and more money and screws the average writer.”

 

 

SAG-AFTRA votes to strike against greedy studios execs and producers
/ ves

Fran Drescher
“Thank you everybody for coming to this press conference today. It’s really important that this negotiation be covered, because the eyes of the world, and particularly the eyes of labor, are upon us. What happens here is important because what’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor, when employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run.

 

“We have a problem, and we are experiencing that right at this moment. This is a very seminal hour for us. I went in in earnest thinking that we would be able to avert a strike. The gravity of this move is not lost on me, or our negotiating committee, or our board members. It’s a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions, of people all across this country and around the world — not only members of this union, but people who work in other industries.

 

“And so it came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads. But we had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly: How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them.

 

“They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment. We stand in solidarity, in unprecedented unity. Our union and our sister unions and the unions around the world are standing by us, as well as other labor unions. Because at some point, the jig is up. You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored. The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI.

 

This is a moment of history and is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business who cares more about Wall Street than you and your family. Most of Americans don’t have more than $500 in case of an emergency. This is a very big deal, and it weighed heavy on us. But at some point you have to say, ‘No, we’re not going to take this anymore. You people are crazy. What are you doing? Why are you doing this?’

 

“Privately, they all say we’re the center of the wheel. Everybody else tinkers around our artistry, but actions speak louder than words, and there was nothing there. It was insulting. So we came together in strength and solidarity and unity with the largest strike authorization vote in our union’s history. And we made the hard decision that we tell you as we stand before you today. This is major. It’s really serious and it’s going to impact every single person that is in labor. We are fortunate enough to be in a country right now that happens to be labor-friendly, and yet we were facing opposition that was so labor-unfriendly, so tone deaf to what we are saying.

 

“You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too. We’re not going to keep doing incremental changes on a contract that no longer honors what is happening right now with this business model that was foisted upon us. What are we doing… moving around furniture on the Titanic? It’s crazy. So the jig is up AMPTP. We stand tall. You have to wake up and smell the coffee. We are labor and we stand tall and we demand respect and to be honored for our contribution. You share the wealth because you cannot exist without us. Thank you.”

 

 

John H. Liu

Not only is the AMPTP planning on holding out until non-essential writers and actors go broke, but they are also engaging in union-busting by proposing that background actors be paid $200 for scan rights. Background actors make up the vast majority of SAG. By paying them for one day and never again, these actors won’t make minimums for health insurance and SAG membership. Less SAG, less Pension/Health to pay out, less leverage to strike ever again. Not to mention that if a background actor one day becomes famous, the studios will own the rights to that actor’s scan, and can circumvent paying the actor a fair wage. This is a fundamental alteration to the way that business is done in the entertainment industry and threatens to throw the entire landscape of Hollywood into chaos.”
Hollywood actors’ strike expected alongside screenwriters
/ ves

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66185585

 

the negotiating committee of SAG-AFTRA – the union which represents 160,000 actors and performers – has voted unanimously to recommend strike action to its board.

It had been seeking a fairer split of streaming profits and a guarantee that AI will not be used to replace duties performed by actors.

David Simon Braces for a Lengthy Writers Strike
/ ves

https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/david-simon-writers-strike-wont-end-soon-1234882393/

 

“I heard a very funny thing,” Simon said. “It may be apocryphal, but somebody, the vice president of the East, she assured me the other day that she had it on good authority that all of the rental yachts from Santa Barbara down to San Diego had been rented through the end of summer. All the execs are gone for the summer.”

 

https://deadline.com/2023/07/writers-strike-hollywood-studios-deal-fight-wga-actors-1235434335/

 

Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.“I think we’re in for a long strike, and they’re going to let it bleed out,” said one industry veteran intimate with the POV of studio CEOs.

 

With the scribes’ strike now finishing its 71st day and the actors’ union just 30 hours from a possible labor action of its own, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are planning to dig in hard this fall before even entertaining the idea of more talks with the WGA, I’ve learned. “Not Halloween precisely, but late October, for sure, is the intention,” says a top-tier producer close to the Carol Lombardini-run AMPTP.

EU AI Act
/ A.I., quotes, ves

https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/

 

The AI Act is a proposed European law on artificial intelligence (AI) – the first law on AI by a major regulator anywhere. The law assigns applications of AI to three risk categories. First, applications and systems that create an unacceptable risk, such as government-run social scoring of the type used in China, are banned. Second, high-risk applications, such as a CV-scanning tool that ranks job applicants, are subject to specific legal requirements. Lastly, applications not explicitly banned or listed as high-risk are largely left unregulated.

FX Artists Are Tired of Fixing It in Post
/ ves

https://www.vulture.com/2023/06/vfx-artists-in-hollywood-push-for-union-amidst-wga-strike.html

 

The CGI in The Little Mermaid was criticized for having an uncanny and soulless look. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was called out for lackluster visual effects. So much of what we see onscreen relies on computer-generated imagery, and it costs a lot of money to make. So why does it often look so bad?

 

Vulture’s Chris Lee explains there is a long list of reasons: a lack of qualified workers, directors with limited visual-effects experience, and studios such as Marvel overworking and underpaying. “It’s an unsustainable business model,” he tells Into It, “and I’m told over and over again by not knowing what they want, and by overworking these employees, it’s basically a race to the bottom. The films decline in quality, and the fans revolt.”