Screenwriting : Is the writers strike bad for writers? Inquisitive minds want to know... by Curt Samlaska

There is always a way of looking at a strike and finding bad. A man works in an automobile factory. He wants more money so he can buy a car. He gets a payrise, the cost of the car goes up. There is always a way of finding a negative.

This is the eventual outcome of being obsessed with a free market. When there are no controls power will eventually accumulate in one spot. A strike is the only weapon to force a change.

I have predicted for a while that indie world will make a come back. This is the first steps in that direction.

Another issue is we have allowed “Hollywood accounting” for decades. Streamers are just following the leader.

The strike may be bad for writers, but the proposed contract was even worse. That's why I've been contributing to the Entertainment Community Fund [https://entertainmentcommunity.org/]. We all need to stick together and end this strike with an appropriate contract.

The video has some great points, Curt Samlaska. I also think one reason studios and companies won't share their numbers is low viewership. At 3:21 of the video, Chris said less shows could be made if studios and companies cut back on spending. I think one solution to that is make lower budget shows (and movies). Every show and movie doesn't need millions of dollars to be made (and definitely not hundreds of millions).

Writers and actors aren’t striking themselves out of work. They’re striking for better working conditions. What’s the alternative? Roll over and take what the AMPTP is offering? No way.

I think the studios and companies need to do what Alan said starting at 5:07 of the video (they need to come clean/lay out their numbers for the public to see). That might cause a big shakeup in the industry and cause studios and companies to lose money, but one solution to make up for the loss of money is to make great movies and shows that people wanna see because those movies and show will increase viewership. We see what happens when studios and companies make great movies that people wanna see: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” "John Wick: Chapter 4," "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Scream VI,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and other 2023 movies.

I agree with you completely Maurice and the real winners here may just be the independent companies that are much better on producing on a lower budget. This in actuality may be a great opportunity for independent producers and writers. What is so difficult about the current environment is that the big company's, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc. is the wild swings in quality. On the one hand you have masterful work like Stranger Things, The Witcher (before they destroyed the 3rd season), The Boys, and the movies that you listed, then they also produce really bad stuff like She Hulk, The Rings of Power, etc. as well as the box office flops, which are too many to even list. I would really like to see that streaming data...

I'd like to see more indies success, Curt Samlaska. Low cost, high profiles. I watch a lot of incredible short films that could easily be incredible, successful features and shows.

And we hear a lot about Hollywood not liking risk. Low-budget movies (and micro-budget movies) are a lot less risk than big-budget movies. If a studio or company makes a low-budget movie for $5MM and it flops, they'll lose a lot less than a $200MM movie that flops. Now, the sweet spot would be a micro-budget or low-budget movie that's based on existing IP.