Tentative Deal Struck in Writers Strike

The Film Actors Guild, however, is still on strike.

Although the studios have reached a general agreement with the " " " professional writers," " " they still have to write the contractual language, which could take days or a week (or more). And the deal could still collapse over details they thought they'd worked out but upon closer inspection, had not.

But it looks like it's over:

Variety reports that negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached the finish line Sunday after five consecutive days of negotiations. Day 4 on Saturday mostly involved lawyers for the guild and AMPTP hashing out the fine print of language around complicated and groundbreaking additions to the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement. The nitty-gritty details of language around the use of generative AI in content production was one of the last items that the sides worked on before closing the pact. Ezoic

"We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional -- with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership," the WGA's negotiating committee wrote in an email to sent to members at 7:10 p.m. PT.

I know all of you are huge fans of Steven Colbert, Jimmy Smeckle, Seth Meyers, and who-the-hell-else. Garrett especially (obviously). So I'm glad to report that they'll be back on the air within days! Lucky you!

Warner Bros.' and Paramount's stock jumped by around 1.5%. Disney's rose too... a mere 0.5%. As if Wall Street no longer has faith in the Rat.

Will the studios make a deal with the Film Actors Guild in turn? Maybe. And that's important, because Film Actors Guild Fran Drescher says that there's a hateful contingent in the world that is blocking wonderful Hollywood "creatives" from making six billion more gay movies and TV shows, and that's a bad thing.

GLAAD and Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, are voicing concerns that LGBTQ stories in film are at risk due to the actors' and writers' strikes.

"Right now, there's a very tiny but loud segment of our population that's hard at work spreading hate and fear while attempting to squash all storytelling that showcases the full, beautiful reality of the human experience," Drescher said as GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, issued its annual report highlighting the representation of LGBTQ+ characters in film. "Seeing diverse representation on screen is vital for empowering everyone to embrace their authentic selves."

Drescher continued, "Sadly, the longer the AMPTP companies keep the entertainment industry shut down by refusing to come back to the bargaining table, the more risk there is for disrupting the progress that's been made in terms of inclusive representation."

AG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher addresses picketers at New York City Hall on Tuesday as members of the actors SAG-AFTRA union continue to walk the picket line with screenwriters outside of major studios across the country on August 01, 2023 in New York City.

Each year, GLAAD's Studio Responsibility Index quantifies the representation of LGBTQ+ characters in film. The latest installment tracked films released in 2022 by 10 distributors. Of the 350 films included, 100 (or, 28.5 percent) featured an LGBTQ character. That's the highest number of films and percentage of total films that GLAAD has tracked in its 11 years of filing the report.

You're telling me.

Next thing you'll tell me is that they're making more TV commercials featuring gay couples and mixed-race couples than ever.

However, this year's report expanded its definition of "film" to include streaming services that do not offer theatrical movie releases, making it likely that we would see more films with LGBTQ characters than ever.

GLAAD considered the numbers as progress, but with caveats. More than half (57 percent) of LGBTQ characters had fewer than five minutes of screen time. Moreover, 40 percent of those characters were characters of color, a slight uptick from the 39 percent tracked last year. The report also noted that 21 percent of the inclusive films featured a bisexual character, 12 percent included a transgender character, and 4 percent included an LGBTQ character with a disability. There was just one character in the films who was living with HIV.

Along with Drescher, president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis warned that a prolonged strike could reverse the progress made. "At a time when the LGBTQ community is under unprecedented cultural and political attacks, it is more important than ever to hold film studios accountable for how our community is represented on screen," Ellis said. "It is crucial that the AMPTP reach a fair deal with striking writers and performers -- that these talented creatives can return to work as soon as possible so that the progress made in LGBTQ representation remains on track."

Bob Iger met with major institutional investors behind closed doors. Reportedly, he reassured investors that he knew that Pixar, under his great leadership, is no longer able to produce successful movies based on original concepts and scripts, and so would now just be in the business of producing sequels to previous hits.

Super. He bought Pixar for $10 billion, and now it's just a sequel mill for straight-to-DVD sequels. Planes Vs. Cars. Up 2: Even Upper. Buzz Lightyear: Bigger and Gayer.

By the way: The Snow Biege movie starring annoying woke twat Rachel Zegler is expected to have a final cost of $300 million (!!!) so that's going to be another Iger Disaster.

I previously wrote that tax filings for The Marvels revealed that it cost $275 million. Valliant Renegade noted that those filings only show costs through the end of 2022, and we know there have been reshoots, and therefore also additional costly special effects shots, since then. Disney Marvel can't film three people sitting at a park bench without $60 million of CGI.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:00 PM

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