He said: “These companies do not understand what is the fate of the pike.” “And what will happen is a whole generation of software makers who may be very talented, who may have a lot to say about the world, but functionally don’t know how to do the job that they’re going to be asked to do.”
However, studio executives have said they’ve had their own share of problems, and this isn’t the best time to make big raises.
For several years, Wall Street has rewarded media companies for investing in streaming services at any cost in order to grow their subscribers. But investors soured on that philosophy last year, prompting studio executives to find a way to turn loss-making streaming services into profit drivers.
The repercussions have been brutal. Disney is in the process of laying off 7,000 employees. Warner Bros. Discovery announced and shuffled thousands of titles last year while trying to pay down a debt load of nearly $50 billion. Other media companies have adopted similar cost-saving measures.
However, the executives also said they could weather the strike. Last month, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, “We set ourselves up, we had a lot of content produced.” Two weeks ago, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos suggested that the streaming service would be better protected than its competitors because of the number of unscripted foreign series being produced. “We can probably serve our members better than most,” he said.
However, he admitted that the consequences of the strike would be significant.
“The last time there was a strike, it was devastating for the creators,” Sarandos said. “It was really hard in the industry. It was painful for the local economies that support the production and it was very, very bad for the fans.”
Screenwriters have dropped out six times over the decades. Historically, they have had the courage to strike long. In addition to the 100-day strike in 2007, the Writers also marched in sit-down lines for 153 days in 1988. The Writers also showed signs of remarkable unity. In mid-April, 98 percent of the more than 9,000 writers representing the unions allowed a strike.
