WEBVTT - We Deserve Good Lives 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.520 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wok app Daily with 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.959 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the Long Island Bunker. Folks, 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:25.200 this has been an extraordinary year for workers' rights, for 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:32.560 labor organizing, for recognizing that the people right then ninety 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:36.680 nine percent are not being paid their just dues, are 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:44.159 not essentially being reimbursed for their labor, energy, work, all 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:48.000 of these things, and in recognizing this right it began 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.960 this kind of movement over the last year began with 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.400 the strike in Hollywood, with the actors and the writers 0:00:55.800 --> 0:01:01.600 uniting and deciding to hold over one hundred and eighteen 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:08.040 days in terms of the Actors' union to strike. Right 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:14.479 as we are seeing AI being developed to replace human 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:18.360 creativity and talent, as we are seeing just how greedy 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:23.760 the heads of these networks and streaming services are, that 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.240 people have been cut out. The people have just been 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:31.679 cut out of their opportunity to be able to earn 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.080 not just a decent living. Because I think, folks, that 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:39.400 it's important for us to recognize that language is important. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.559 We don't want just a decent living, a decent life, 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:48.880 We want a good life and a good living, one 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.760 that we see value and dignity right in the work 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:58.320 that we do, and we receive the respect and dignity 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:03.440 and compensation for the work that we are doing. That 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.240 it isn't you know what we've seen and what we've 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.640 had the opportunity to really unpack over the last couple 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.640 of years, those of us that were privileged to be 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:20.080 inside during the height of the COVID nineteen pandemic and 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.400 recognize that the ways that we have been socialized to 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:28.440 work right don't make sense. But living hand to mouth 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:33.160 and paycheck to paycheck has just been the way. And 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:38.400 what these strikes have informed for us is that greed 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:45.040 has no bounds, has no bottoms, and left unchecked, will 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:50.400 just eat us all alive. So in today's conversation, I 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.920 was so happy to be able to get the multi 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:59.640 hyphen it talented writer, director, comedian, author Francesca Ramsey to 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:05.880 join Woke af again, and as we were preparing for 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.720 this interview, it seemed and now we know for certain 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:13.920 that the deal was struck with the Actors' Union to 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.280 be able to after one hundred and eighteen days, get 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:22.440 back to work and doing so with a thriving wage 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.600 right and a deal that makes sense for the next 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.960 three years. That also builds in right ideas about the 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:34.960 future and the future use of AI in Hollywood. And 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:41.440 this conversation was just so rich in terms of really understanding, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.600 and I think that a lot of us recognize that 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.440 what we see in terms of the glitz and the 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.600 glam and the red carpets and the uber wealth that 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:55.400 surrounds some actors and writers in Hollywood is not the 0:03:55.440 --> 0:04:00.560 fucking norm. That most people, the majority that actually help 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:06.560 this machine known as Hollywood run, make very little money, 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.680 hold down multiple jobs in order to be able to 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.240 put food on the table and pursue their passions. That 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:15.920 just because you enjoy what it is that you do 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.440 doesn't make it not work and doesn't mean that you 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.359 shouldn't be compensated for it. But I think that a 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:25.520 lot of us came to really understand what it means 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.120 to work in this industry that, let us be very clear, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.080 probably wouldn't have been able to get through the pandemic 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:36.839 without the ability to, you know, lose ourselves in content 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:42.240 creation of other peoples, lose ourself in imaginary worlds, to 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.200 be able to deal with what was happening outside of 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:50.359 our doors. Without those streaming giants, right, but recognizing that 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:55.280 the people that created that content weren't being compensated while 0:04:55.320 --> 0:05:01.480 we were streaming, you know, millions of hours. So I 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.919 really love this conversation with Francesca Ramsey because it puts 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.960 into context a lot of what we don't know and 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.320 a lot of the reasons why things are left to 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:16.360 be murky, and the clarification and the strategies that were 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:22.120 used in order to get these actors and the writers 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.400 the deals that they deserve. So that conversation with Francesca 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:33.440 Ramsey is coming up next, folks. I am so very 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:39.120 excited to welcome to WOKF Daily Francesco Ramsey, who is 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:45.600 a comedian, a writer, a content creator, an activist, YouTube star, 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:50.719 and author of the book Well That Escalated Quickly Memoirs 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:56.080 and Mistakes of an Accidental activist to come to WOKAF 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:02.200 I am just like beyond one. But also I have 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:07.880 been following your social media since the strike began. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.599 I know, and now here we are, and here we 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:16.080 are eighteen days of the actor's strike, which is pretty wild. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.279 And this is historic in the length. It is historic 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.400 in the unification between the writers and the actors' unions. 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:30.760 To come together. Just give us. You know, I feel 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.440 like what I learned, and I want you to be 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.040 able to explain it to the listeners what I learned 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:40.120 during this time. It kind of broke open this bubble 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:44.800 concept of what it means to work in Hollywood, right, 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.599 and this assumption that everybody is making a brain and 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:53.840 everybody has you know, bookoo dollars and all is good 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.239 over there. So why do we care about these folks 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.680 not getting their fair shape when they get seemingly everything 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.640 red carpets, the glitz, the glam. So just talk to 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:10.880 us about these one hundred plus days and the reason 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.360 to enter into this strike, and why folks stood strong, 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.440 why you stood strong for so long. 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.280 Well, thank you for that incredible introduction. You know, I 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.680 will call myself out and say that I also naively 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.080 thought I would be making bookou dollars. Otherwise I would 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.880 have been using my graphic design degree. I could have 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:37.080 a corporate job with regular health insurance there. But you know, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.000 I wanted to chase my dreams. And I think a 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.560 lot of us, whether you are a writer or you 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.760 are an actor, we got into this industry for the 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:49.400 love of it. Of course, having money is a benefit 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.840 to any career that you're in. But the reality is 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.880 we have created an industry that over time has become unsustainable, 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:03.680 largely due to streaming. The model that was created with 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:08.960 network television and residuals, which are essentially like commission payments, 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.120 where if you appear in a program or you've written 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.960 an episode of television, you share in the profits when 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:20.680 that show is successful because of advertising. But the streaming model, 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.680 because you don't have ads on streaming, has really changed 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.040 the game for writers and actors. And we knew that 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.840 a potential strike was eminent. Our contract with the studios 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.160 comes up for renegotiation every three years, and the last 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.120 time that we would have been negotiating with twenty twenty 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:45.080 and as we remember, the pandemic, which is still here, 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:50.800 it hasn't gone away, was new, and everything shut down 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.680 in order to keep folks safe, and so we did 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:57.520 not have the leverage that we needed in order to strike. 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.280 So then cut to twenty twenty three, and ahead of 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.000 the writer's contract ending in May and the actors contract 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:10.040 ending in June, we were hoping that we could come 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.920 to an agreement with the studios. Nobody wanted to strike. 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.800 I would have loved to have worked all year. I 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:20.040 didn't work most of the year, So there were just 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.160 so many things on the table that we knew that 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:27.200 needed to be solidified in order to secure the future 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:32.520 of our industry, especially regarding residuals and protections with AI. 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.000 And while we don't have all the details of the 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:41.480 actors agreement, I'm really confident because we held out for 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:44.959 one hundred and eighteen days not to settle for a 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:50.040 piss poor deal. So shout out to our negotiating committee. 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:51.760 I think a lot of people don't realize that those 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:58.240 are unpaid positions, our actors who are dedicating their time, 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.640 who are coming out from you know, maybe they don't 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.920 live in LA A lot of actors don't live here 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:07.559 year round, being away from their family, working on the weekends, 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.920 being on the picket lines every single day for hours, 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.320 in order to secure a fair contract for us and 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:19.640 make sure that the work that we put in day 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.360 in and day out is valued. And we know it's 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:25.600 valuable because it's making the studios billions of dollars and 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.199 we're just asking for a portion of the profits. 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.720 I think that that was probably one of the most 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.280 unsettling things, like First of all, when we go back 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.480 to thinking about twenty twenty, twenty twenty one, for those 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.800 of us that were privileged to be inside of our homes, 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.640 what were we doing. We were streaming content right like 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.880 we were sitting and trying to escape the reality that 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.280 we were in and being able to fall into series 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.800 and shows and movies and what have the And the 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.400 entire time that I was sitting on Mike couch behind me, 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:08.160 I'm thinking, great for these people that are making what 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.320 I thought were the royalties of these shows. Because I'm 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:17.920 functioning in my twentieth century mindset of you are on 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.320 a hit show or you make a hit thing, and 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.280 then you know you're making money into puts to do it. 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.360 Everyone was thinking, and you're so right that we kind 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.319 of lifted the curtain in this moment because there were 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:34.559 tons of actors from hit shows across all different streaming 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:38.520 platforms that were showing their residual checks, and sometimes there 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:43.760 were thirty five cents. Sometimes they were negative because supposedly 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:48.559 if the studio quote unquote overpaid you one time, they'd say, okay, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.160 well actually we overpaid you two dollars, so now this 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:55.800 check is for negative two dollars just just mind blowing, 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.640 especially when these are shows that are getting huge a 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.960 war and we're getting tons of people, you know, seeing 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:08.280 themselves in these stories. And I think ultimately that is 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.000 the thing that was really disheartening, was the fact that 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.280 people were putting so much of themselves into this work 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:19.600 and not being compensated fairly when the reality is, like 0:12:19.679 --> 0:12:22.400 you were saying, people are watching these shows and connecting 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:27.800 with these characters and feeling affirmed and seen and comforted 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.200 and are laughing and are crying and are you know, 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:36.360 having their minds expanded in these incredible ways. And unfortunately 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.200 the studios were like, eh, but you know whatever, this 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.640 is not a big of a deal. You don't deserve 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.440 more than what you're getting. And I think it's a 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:49.720 symptomatic of a consistent devaluing of the arts, not just 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:55.240 for actors and writers, but musicians and visual artists and dancers. 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.960 See a lot of people saying, well, you know, it's 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.559 you're lucky to be able to do that for a living, 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:03.559 And the reality is work is work. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.400 It doesn't matter if you enjoy it right or you 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.520 happen to be, you know, brilliant at it, it's still work. 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.040 Yes, yes, I think that. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:18.400 You know, Also, what I learned during this time is 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.800 that how these deals are kind of structured. So I 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:23.960 want to give you an opportunity to kind of speak 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.800 to that, not the deal that was reached, but how 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:30.880 these streaming entities are able to make billions upon billions 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:37.760 of dollars. Where it is they're creating licensing deals with 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:42.280 the with you know, network television, You as a content creator, 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.680 you as an actor, are making a deal with let's 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:48.360 say it is NBC Universal, right, and at the end 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.920 of the day, NBC Universal is then tapped by let's 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:54.920 say a Netflix we would like to buy said show. 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.320 It is a licensing deal that they are making, which 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:02.000 is outside of the all of the royalties, outside of 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:06.320 these things. And so if you don't, what I hope 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.800 for all of you as we get into and understand 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.840 what was signed and is what is going to be given, 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.080 is that it was all of these carve outs in 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:21.480 all of these ways to separate people from their ability 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.440 to make profit off of their work. 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:30.040 Yeah, and just not fair. Yeah. No. The thing is 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:32.640 I had a lot of people say, well, like, why 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.880 weren't these things in the contract before? And the reality 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.920 is there were certain things that we couldn't account for, right, 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:44.520 So when we negotiated certain things, including residuals in the 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.160 two thousand and seven strike, that was one of our 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.760 big things. One of the one of the cornerstones of 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:55.120 that strike was online media. Okay, this was early days 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.840 of internet. YouTube was pretty new at that time, and 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:00.760 we had sent to st videos. I was not a 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:02.840 member of the union yet, I was still in college, 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.240 but at that time we said to the studios, we 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:08.040 want to make sure that if our work is on 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.640 the Internet that we receive compensation. And the studios were like, 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.840 don't worry about it. Is that a big deal. So 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.480 not that we didn't account for it. We fought for 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.520 those residuals, but we could have never anticipated where we 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:26.120 would be with streaming content fifteen years later. Right. And 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:31.320 so similarly, when it comes to AI protections. While AI 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:35.080 is very powerful right now and it has its limitations, 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.280 in three to five years AI is going to be 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.440 very different. So even in twenty twenty, if we had 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.000 been able to negotiate our deal, there's no telling what 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.920 we would have been asking for. Because the technology, I mean, 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.960 you've watched it get faster every day, it was like, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.880 AI can't do hands, and then a month later you're like, well, 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:58.640 it's getting better hands now. So we were putting certain 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:03.600 things in the contract based on the landscape and what 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.800 we project could could be down the pipeline for us. 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:11.800 And the reality is when corporations want to take advantage 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.520 of their employees, they're going to figure out ways to 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.200 do it. And it's not our job to think of 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.920 all the ways that you could screw us over. And 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.520 so unfortunately, there were certain things that we had just 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:29.320 not anticipated. For example, taking a series regular actors and 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.960 demoting them down to guest stars. That's something that we 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.600 hadn't seen happen before, where someone would think, well, I 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:38.600 am a series regular on the show. This means I'm 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.720 going to be able to pay my health insurance, make 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.440 enough money to you know, maybe buy a house or 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:47.640 take care of my rent. And then the network just decides, 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:49.760 you know what, We're actually going to demote you. You're 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:51.880 in the same amount of episodes, you're in the same 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.440 amount of scenes, You're just going to get paid less. Well, 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:59.120 that's not something that we anticipated was going to happen, right, 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:04.359 So again, thank goodness that we have negotiating committees for 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:09.960 both unions that include members who are not just representing 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.760 us as leadership, but they are doing the work. They 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:17.160 are actors on your favorite shows. They are writers, they 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.320 are showrunners. They know the realities of how many writers 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.320 we need in a room, what it looks like to 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:29.399 have equity for makeup and hairstylist. Right. You know what 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:31.080 it's like to show up to set and they don't 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.320 have your makeup shape, Oh gosh. They know what it's 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.080 like to get an audition at the eleventh hour and 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:42.000 it's ten scenes and you got to do it by tomorrow. Right. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:46.680 So these are things that we asked for, were significant 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:50.040 asks that our membership said, this is what we need. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.440 And so again I'm so thankful that we held out 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.320 for a deal that's going to reflect the needs of 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.600 our membership and most importantly, secure the future of new 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.399 writers and new actors who want to join this industry 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:07.520 and don't have, you know, a mom and dad that 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.520 can fund their dreams. We want to make sure that 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.840 if you get that opportunity of a lifetime, that doors 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:15.280 are going to open for you and you're going to 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:19.000 be able to live the life that you've earned. In 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:20.240 this incredible industry. 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:25.200 You know, I just I wonder too your thoughts about, 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.439 you know, how powerful unions actually are. You know, I 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:34.520 think that there was a time when unions were really huge, right, 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:39.680 and then eighties nineties they were diminished. They were made 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:43.080 to be, you know, the devil. Oh we're going to stop, 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.840 you know, productivity and people need to work, and unions are, 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.920 you know, are the problem. We're seeing a resurgence now 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:55.879 across industries of workers really understanding their rights and understanding 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.840 their power. How do you think that this will continue 0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:04.800 to create momentum and also expand opportunities, like you were saying, 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.520 for people to be able to choose the different types 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.280 of industries that they want to be a part of, 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:11.000 but know that they'll be protected. 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.640 Yeah, I'm so glad to hear you say that, because 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:17.840 it does feel like there's been a genormous cultural shift 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:22.199 in the understanding of collective bargaining. And I made so 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.800 much content explaining how the union protects us as writers 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:27.800 and actors and how they advocate for us, and I 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.720 got so many comments from people that would say, man, 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.680 everything I've thought about unions is wrong, and I would 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.919 always counter with, well, who told you those things. Whose 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:42.280 best interest is it to make you believe that unionizing 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:45.679 is not in your best interests? Who benefits when you 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.040 don't know how much your coworker is making. Who benefits 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:55.120 the billionaire CEOs, That's who's benefiting. And so I did 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.720 see unfortunately, you know that crabs and a barrel mentality. 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.360 It was not just exclusive to our strikes. You saw 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.480 it when UPS was potentially going on strike. People were 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.520 saying they don't deserve an hourly wage, a higher bump. 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.639 They just deliver packages. The people at Amazon they don't deserve. 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:15.920 I mean this idea of well, if that person's getting more, 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.040 what does it mean about me? I should be getting more, 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.760 which I remind people you're correct, yeah, right, Also you 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.960 should also be getting more. Right, A lot of people 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:30.280 will teachers aren't getting enough, and nurses, I agree, all 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.440 of those people should get more. And so to your 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:38.919 question about collective bargaining and unionization, I really hope that 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.040 what people take away from this moment, despite all of 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.080 the challenges, despite the length of this strike, it's that 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:49.280 when we work together, we can win. And the reality 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:54.040 is things like AI are not going to just impact 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:58.920 film and TV I can't go to the frequently asked 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:00.760 questions on a website. I need to talk to a 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:04.480 customer service person. It's AI is I can't even talk 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:09.520 to a regular representative. Right. When you need a secretary, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:12.880 you call and you need to make an appointment. They're 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:17.720 using AI secretaries, right. So the reality is if you 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:20.920 were looking at this strike and thinking, oh God, these 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.240 people make so much money and they don't need anything, 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.399 and I'm struggling to make ends meet, I counter her 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:30.119 and say, you should also be able to afford to 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.000 live in the city that you work in. You should 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:38.479 also have healthcare. You should not have to work seven 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:42.200 days a week all times. You shouldn't have to have five, 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:48.159 you know, multiple jobs, drive an uber, you know, doing uh, 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:50.960 all these different like little task. 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:52.080 Grant it you shouldn't have to do. 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:55.880 You shouldn't have to do dozens of gigs in order 0:21:55.920 --> 0:22:01.400 to make ends meet. You shouldn't. And unfortunately the industry 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.240 was trending that way for film and TV that it 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:08.240 was turning our jobs into gig type jobs and it's 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:12.520 just not fair. So my hope is that this is 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.960 in inspiring people to talk to their coworkers, to talk 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:22.160 to their friends and family about the realities of making 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:24.439 an honest living and being able to take care of 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.880 your family and buy groceries and put gas in your car. 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:31.200 The reality is the cost of living has gone up 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:34.640 and wages have not, and they should be reflecting that. 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:36.800 And the way that we get there is by working 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:44.720 together and demanding better. You know. 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:48.720 Last question for you, Francesca, and I'm just so grateful 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:54.120 for your time, is you know, we listen to some 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:59.119 of these CEOs of these studios and these networks, it 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:03.240 sounded sometimes like we were listening to a bond villain. Right, 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:07.080 let them go bankrupt, let them eat cake, let them 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:11.320 lose their homes. What do you think you know that 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:15.919 the energy, you know, will be when everybody is now 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:19.720 hopefully returning in the next you know, in the in 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:22.400 the next week, in the next you know, couple of weeks. 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:27.520 When when you really did hear in interviews these multi 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:31.280 i mean billionaires, millionaires saying some of the most vile 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:35.840 things about people who make less than you know six 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:38.600 I think I heard that the average writer again just 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:41.520 to burst the bubble, is making like less than sixty 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:44.920 thousand dollars a year. Right, doesn't have health insurance doesn't 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:47.560 have these things. What is that going to experience you 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:50.000 think going to be like, Well, the. 0:23:50.040 --> 0:23:53.960 Reality is there are so many people that make up 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.000 these companies. You know, you've got those CEOs up at 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:59.000 the top, but you also have a lot of network 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:02.280 executives who people that I've worked with, people that I'm 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:05.119 friends with, people that I went to college with, people 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:08.359 that I grew up with, that are also creative folks 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:11.439 that work on the corporate side, and those people wanted 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:13.280 to get back to work. Those are the people that 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:16.240 are like, I think you should be paid more. Unfortunately, 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:19.119 I don't have a direct line to Bob Iiger. I 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:22.959 can't decide what's going on. And so while it is 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:27.960 going to be a tumultuous road back to work, because 0:24:28.280 --> 0:24:31.359 it's not happening tomorrow, we're at the end of twenty 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:35.119 twenty three. The year is already winding down. I am 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:39.639 optimistic that when we do get back to work, the 0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:42.360 people that work on the corporate side, the executives, are 0:24:42.359 --> 0:24:44.680 going to be excited and ready to support us because 0:24:44.720 --> 0:24:47.160 they haven't been able to work either. They've been sitting 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:49.640 on their hands waiting for the strict to end. Also, 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:53.280 it's really those people at the top who are unfortunately 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:56.800 very disconnected from the realities of what it means to 0:24:56.840 --> 0:25:01.680 be a working actor and a working writer. All Angelina 0:25:01.760 --> 0:25:04.199 Jolie's status and shout out to her because she was 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:08.440 still supporting us. Right, It's like, I do very well 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:10.960 for myself, and I still believe that those at the 0:25:11.480 --> 0:25:14.840 you know, the under the line actors who are under that, 0:25:14.960 --> 0:25:17.000 you know, the top people on the call sheet, they 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.720 deserve to make an honest and sustainable living as well. 0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:24.800 So you know, I still have a side eye for 0:25:24.880 --> 0:25:28.359 those major CEOs, but thankfully I won't be working with them. 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:31.919 I've had some really incredible execs over the course of 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:36.440 my career who are champions for us. You know, they're saying, look, 0:25:36.880 --> 0:25:38.600 I want the show to go. I have to go 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:40.359 take this up to my boss and they have to 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:44.000 make the decision. So my hope is that after this 0:25:44.560 --> 0:25:48.320 lengthy time, our appetites will be ready to get back 0:25:48.320 --> 0:25:53.679 to work, and thankfully we will have two incredible contracts 0:25:53.680 --> 0:25:55.760 that not only help us get back to work, but 0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:59.400 make sure that our work is well compensated and protected. 0:26:00.320 --> 0:26:03.880 France Atska, thank you so much. Thank you for using 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:08.399