Hollywood strikes intensify as the streaming model turns studios into content farms

Rolling up the red carpet… Hollywood’s picket lines could grow longer as more showbiz workers fight for better contracts. In May, the Writers’ Guild of America (repping 11K+ scribes) went on strike to demand higher pay and stronger job protections. Then last week, the unrest intensified with actors in the spotlight: the SAG-AFTRA union, covering 160K entertainers, also failed to get better terms from studios, and extended its contract deadline.

• Oscar status: 1K+ actors (including A-listers like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence) said they’re prepared to strike if a SAG deal isn’t reached by Thursday. It would be Hollywood’s first two-union strike in more than six decades.

• Losing gold: The writers’ strike is said to be costing California $30M/day. If it runs over 100 days, about $81B in direct wages from 800K film and TV jobs could be at risk.

Tiny rooms, big problems… Much of the Hollywood unrest is a result of streaming’s rise, as studios like Netflix and Disney hustle to crank out new content to keep subscribers happy. While OG writers’ rooms (think: “Friends,” “30 Rock”) typically employed 7 to 10 staff writers for several months, “mini rooms” are becoming the norm. The problem: mini rooms hire fewer writers and offer lower pay — and contracts often last only a few weeks. Piling on to streaming woes, AI’s causing unrest as writers and actors worry over how chatbots and deep fakes might replace them (see: “Black Mirror”).