WEBVTT - The Playbook 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:06.000 This is the most traumatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:10.360 Chris Harrison and Lauren Zema coming to you from the 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.319 home office in Austin, Texas. But all eyes these days 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:19.239 are pointed out west to Hollywood and the sag Aftra 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:24.480 union strike that has crippled and shut down Hollywood. This 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.159 is much publicized, been talked about quite a bit, and 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.000 the reason we are opening up the playbook for this 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:32.839 special episode of the most dramatic podcast ever is some 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.080 of you reached out to us and said, hey, can 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:39.199 LZ get on and do what she does best? She's brilliant, beautiful. 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:41.880 I added a couple of those things. But the way 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.199 you break things down people really appreciate it. I know 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.839 you dove into this topic on your Instagram and a 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.000 lot of people responded, just how good you can kind 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.239 of put this into bite sized little nuggets for us. 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:53.880 Well, thank you. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.960 That makes me feel like I'm like doing a little 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:57.480 journalism again. It's been a minute for. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.720 Me taking a break. Is that what I do? God, Babe, 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:01.560 I thought I made you last. 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:03.520 Well, you do a lot of things really well, and 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.480 full disclosure, this is something near and dear to our hearts. 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.480 Laura and I are both card carrying members of the 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:10.720 SAG After a. 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:14.440 Guilt, Yes, And look, the part of the reason we 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.600 wanted to do this is because, look, when I watch CNBC, 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:19.800 I'm confused. I don't know what's going on in the 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.160 stock market, Like I don't understand the world of finance. 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.319 If a doctor tries to explain something to me, I say, 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:25.880 can you give it to me in layman's terms. So 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.280 we all have our own fields and industries, but this 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.160 strike is historic. I'll explain why it's making national and 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.840 international news. And I think it's so important for everybody 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:39.440 to understand why, because I actually think what happens in 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.039 this strike could very much affect and set precedent in 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:43.960 other industries. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:45.720 Oh for sure, in huge. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.400 Part because and we'll get into it, but one of 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.240 the major issues here is AI artificial intelligence and how 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.160 it could potentially take jobs. 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:56.320 So we're going to get into it all. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:58.560 I also want to point out you said, look, we 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.960 are SAG After members, but specifically what the union is 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.840 striking about right now is a certain type of contract. 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.280 Like some people have wondered, you know, how this will 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.160 affect the TV and movies they see. 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.280 It will affect network's fall shows. 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:14.600 You know, the writer's guild is on strike as well, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.320 and you're not going to see some of those maybe 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.960 new TV shows in the fall. Things like Euphoria is 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.320 probably delayed, huge show for HBO, probably delayed well into 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.240 twenty twenty six by now, because the writers are on strike. 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.000 They can't write it. Now, the actors are on strike, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.840 they can't act in it. But because of the specific 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:36.960 contract that's being struck striked over, reality shows, for example, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.239 can still happen. So you and I you know we 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.320 mostly do hosting or I was in news news organizations 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:44.079 are still going. 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:45.960 Reality shows can still happen this way. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.320 I think Love Island is in production right now, it's 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.280 okay to move forward. That deal I think has another 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:53.600 year for variety slash reality. 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:54.160 Shows and that'll come up. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.320 So there's specific contracts because our union does encompass so 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.360 many people. Sag after is radio hosts and TV and 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.720 actors and actresses and background actors and commercial actors and 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:04.359 movie stars. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.040 So it's a lot of people now here. It is 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:09.120 simple terms. 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.840 Breaking it down, I would say there's three major things 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:19.040 that we're striking over. One residuals. Two just our wages 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:24.160 period and three AI. I'm going to start with residuals 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.200 because part of the reason this is historic is do 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:29.880 you know the last time that sag After Babe and 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:31.920 the Writer's Guild, the Writer's Guild have been striking about 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:33.640 two months and so now it's a huge deal that 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.320 sag After has joined and is also striking. Do you 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.320 know the last time we went on strike together? 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.520 It was a while ago before I was born. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.120 Since I think nineteen sixty three, the sixties. 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.480 Okay, that was by the way, I'm old, but yeah, 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:46.160 I'm not that old. 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.480 Back then, a guy named Ronald Reagan was the president 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:52.560 of sag AF getting it done for us. 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:53.120 Ronnie. 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.360 Another great orator is we're going to talk about fran Dresher, 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.840 the current president, who is really on point and really 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.279 emotional and passionate and fantastic. 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.960 If you haven't, I would go watch her entire speech. 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:06.120 We'll play a clip of it later. 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.600 But Franny the Nanny, that's my president. Yes, the president 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.840 of the sag After Screen Actors Guild Union is fran Dresher, 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.560 known as the Nanny, and she even referenced the Nanny 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:19.800 and her speech announcing the strike. 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:21.840 So number one residuals. 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:26.480 Back in the sixties, we both unions went on strike 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.600 in large part for something called residuals. Now, what a 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.640 residual means basically is like at that time, we were 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:37.160 getting frustrated because networks and studios were selling and reselling 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:40.520 TV shows and movies and they were continuing to make money. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.240 Like picture that a TV show goes into reruns. 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.000 You had Gunsmoke on at the time. Yeah, Gunsmoke was 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:48.640 the most popular show in the world, I think definitely 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.320 in the United States, probably the world, and you could 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.000 just air that over and over and the cowboys would 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:55.200 only get paid that. 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.120 One time, right, So you know, think about how many 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:00.560 times shows like when I was younger on Nick at Night, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.440 I watched Laverne and Shirley that was still in black, 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:05.400 that was in black and white. That show was decades 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.880 old already at that point, but Nick at Knights airing 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.400 and over and over again with commercials making money. So 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.719 actors said, hey, if you're going to reuse our work, 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.120 we should get a little portion of that money. A 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.240 thing called a residual. Do you get residuals checks for 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:19.760 anything I do? 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:23.360 Yeah, for Bachelor bachelorette. Still who wants to be a millionaire? 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:25.479 A bunch I did a bunch of movies back in 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.360 the day. Still get little checks for that. And it's funny. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.400 Sometimes you get like a fourteen cent check. Seriously, and 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.720 I think to myself, it cost more to mail me 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.760 this fourteen cent check. Their needs. We'll get to that 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.360 and the other negotiation of all they just if it's 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:40.880 under a dollar, just keep it and put it in 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.520 a big pool for I don't know, a lottery or something. 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.400 I mean, it's probably not worth the people's printed on. 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.760 But I do get residuals, and they are important. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:52.760 Well, back then we fought for residuals on the networks. 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:58.559 Now streaming the streamers have changed everything. Obviously, I'm talking 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:00.720 about Netflix and Who. 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:00.600 And all that. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.920 And the thing is many networks have created their own streamers, right, 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:08.880 NBC now has Peacock. So the business model has changed now. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.159 I think I could be wrong, but I think Hulu 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:13.880 is or has at some point aired old seasons of 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.720 The Bachelor. Yeah, have you gotten residuals checks for that? 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.120 I don't think specifically I have. I would get it 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.000 when Hulu bought it, say say they bought it for 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:25.000 one hundred dollars. I would get a little small portion 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.680 of that, Okay, but I think what you're alluding to 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.280 is what happens when that is aired a million times exactly. 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:36.000 Actually, one of the stars, Sean Gunn, who played Kirk 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.080 on Gilmour Girls, Okay, one of our faves. 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:40.359 You and I have watched Taylor. 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:45.880 Yes, So he was on the picket line and he said, look, 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.400 Gilmore Girls. Netflix bought the rights to air Gilmore Girls 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:53.000 to have it on Netflix. He said, it's probably one 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.760 of their top shows. And think about that. The streamers 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.080 don't release their data, so when a TV shows and reruns, 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.719 you could know, oh hey, I know exactly how many 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:03.960 times it might the show I was on re ran 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:05.640 and I'm going to get a check for every time 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:07.760 it was aired and every time that network made money from. 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:08.400 Commercials on it. 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.119 But the streamers don't release their data, so Gilmore Girls 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.760 could be I mean, new generations have discovered Gilmore Girls 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.960 on Netflix, binge watching it. It's probably watched over and 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.600 over and over and over again. But Sean Gunn, the 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.000 actor who played Kirk, all these people are watching him, 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:27.080 but he's not seeing any of that, and the streamers 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.520 won't tell you how many times people are watching, and. 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.280 They are very protective of those numbers and those metrics, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.080 and you have no idea. And when it was ABC, NBCCBS, 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:40.560 Fox and you know cable, we all use the same. 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:41.840 System, Nielsen ratings. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.000 Everyone uses Nielsen. So you know, okay, our show did 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:47.920 a point eight, it did three million viewers. What have 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.160 you know exactly what you're doing. You know, we can 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.360 argue if those Nielsen numbers are correct or not, but 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.600 they at least use the same metric. Nobody has any 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:00.280 idea what's going on at Amazon, Netflix and the line. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.200 So when it comes to this, it's like in the 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:03.760 sixties we fought for residuals. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:04.960 Now we're fighting for it again. 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:09.840 But because streaming has changed everything, and the union representatives 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:13.160 for sag AFTRA have made this point many times. You've 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.120 changed the entire model of our business. You got to 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.720 change our contract that goes with it. You can't sit 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.840 here and say that like everything's different, but you want 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.400 us to operate in an old way. 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.640 And I completely agree with that. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:28.560 And look, I think one good point is I've seen 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.800 some people in the comments on social media be like Oh, okay, Hollywood. 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:32.959 Look, here's the thing. 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:37.840 There's one hundred and sixty thousand members of Sagaftra. Most 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:40.959 of those people are not the Angelina Jolie's and the 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:41.760 Jennifer Lall. 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.200 That's the thing. We have to kind of making millions. Yeah, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.400 you think Brad Pitt, George Clooney as soon as we 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:50.920 say Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence making twenty million dollars 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.839 in her last film. No, like, that's the point. Oh 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.440 oh one percent. You're not seeing ninety nine percent of 0:08:57.480 --> 0:08:59.640 that iceberg that is underwater, which is a bunch of 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.320 people grinding it out, just making rent, just like everybody 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:05.160 else in the world. They just love what they do 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:07.000 and they've chosen this profession. 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.280 Right, background actors, commercial actors. 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:10.840 And just bit part actors. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.320 I mean yeah, And then look, it's a difficult job. 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:14.280 There's a lot of rejection. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:16.079 And part of the reason we have to have a 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.920 union and be protective is it's an inconsistent job. It's 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.800 not a nine to five you can work and being 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.120 like a great you know movie. Literally, you could be 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:26.920 in a star in a movie one year and then 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.319 not work again for two or three years. So I 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:35.559 think the residuals thing is really important. And basically, you know, 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.360 these dreamers don't want it to They don't want to 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.600 tell you how much your work is being used. Like 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.880 think about that. It's kind of crazy when you think 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.400 about it. Like a lawyer can have billable hours and 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.400 tell you, here's exactly how many hours I worked, and 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.760 I want to be paid for that. Actors are saying, 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.920 we want to know how many hours people are enjoying 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:52.800 our work and we want. 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:53.280 To get paid for that. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:10.959 So from residuals to point number two, which is wages, 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.679 simple living wages. On that note, this is pretty short 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:18.280 and sweet. What the union representatives are saying is that. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.800 And keep in mind, you guys, the unions tried to 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.679 negotiate with They tried to negotiate with the Let me 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:28.079 get this n acronym right, the AMPTM. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.320 Oh, I'm not going to get it right. Help me, babe. 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:35.160 Yes, it is the AMPTP, which is the Alliance of 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.080 Motion Pictures and Television Producers. That is who essentially seg 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:40.760 After is striking against. 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:42.480 Because we've been negotiating with them. 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.280 Should point out the unions had been trying to negotiate 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:48.200 with them on a new contract for weeks on weeks, 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.040 if not months. We were actually supposed to negotiate our 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.320 contract before COVID hit, if you remember. And then COVID 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.240 hit and we said, okay, look, we'll allow a pause 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.679 on this. It's a wild time, it's unprecedented. We don't 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.680 know what's happen, so we'll delay. Well, then COVID change 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.640 the industry even more, right, like people aren't going to 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.319 the movies as much, so all the more reason to 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:13.320 now strike because even more's changed. So we have tried 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.240 to negotiate with them, and the whole living wages thing 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:22.439 of it is. Per our union chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree, Ireland, 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.680 he said that they wanted actors to make less money 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.120 in the future than they have in the past. 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:31.400 He put it that simply. 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:33.920 He said, no, we would not agree that we would 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.040 agree to a wage that in the future our union 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:38.480 members we're going to be making more money than they 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.120 are now. We wanted them to factor in a little 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:43.360 thing called inflation. So just basic labor. 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:45.040 Yeah, desires. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.600 But it's this third point that I think is really 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:49.400 at the crux of this and really at the middle, 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:54.200 and I have to. Can I introduce it please? It's AI. 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:59.640 Artificial intelligence is really a big part of this negotiation 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.000 and strike, and you broke this down very eloquently when 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:04.360 we were. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.000 Talking about it, well really, I almost. 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:12.520 I was paraphrasing what our chief negotiator, Duncan said. Let's 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.760 play a little piece from the press conference where he 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:19.679 and the other negotiating team announced that we'd be striking. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:21.240 Here's what he said. 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:26.400 That the that the studios and networks potentially want to 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.360 do in the future with artificial intelligence and actors. 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.840 They proposed that our background performers should be able to 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.880 be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.520 company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.480 should be able to use it for the rest of 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.600 eternity in any project they want, with no consent and 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:45.440 no compensation. 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:47.160 So there you go. 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:49.160 I thought he explained it perfectly, and I got to 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.160 give a shout out to him and to fran Dresher. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.720 They killed it in that press conference. They have broken 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.760 things down in such clear terms for people to understand. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:12:59.800 And how scary is that. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.480 I went into that. I listened to that press conference 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:04.800 with you, and I thought Okay, look, I would like 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.959 to be open minded and see both sides of this situation. 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.120 And I thought, in the coming days, I want to 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:14.760 hear how the Alliance Motion Picture and Television kind of 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:16.959 rebut this whole thing. What is their take on it? 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.920 They have not, like no one's denied anything that they 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.360 have said from this press conference that all of this 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.880 was what was trying to be kind of forced down 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.880 the union's throat. I was shocked that, right, you. 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:29.240 Thought, maybe there's a miscommunication. 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:31.679 Well maybe they're maybe they're Yeah, maybe they're trying to 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.679 exaggerate a little bit to make our case seem a 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.079 little stronger. You know, it's what you would do. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.440 No, I actually it's not a podcast Duncan did. He 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:42.160 did our friend Matt Bellan's podcast The Town, and he 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:44.040 doubled down on that because Matt asked him about it 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:45.840 and he said, no, no, no, I was like quoting 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:51.440 a document there. They want to scan an actor, pay 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.000 that actor for a day's work, and then use that 0:13:54.120 --> 0:14:02.120 actor in perpetuity as art via artificial intelligence. So if 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:05.080 that doesn't scare everybody at home, I don't know what 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:08.079 does that scares me? That scares me, not just as 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:11.320 a performer. But we all have to be aware of 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.760 how these companies because I think something critical that's happened 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:18.000 is studios kind of used to be run by creative people, 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:20.680 people who valued the art form, who wanted to make 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:25.640 good movies. In recent years, like many industries, studios have 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.320 gotten bought by bigger companies and now it's like numbers 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.680 cruncher money people at the top who are very focused 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.240 on their stock price and their bottom line. They're going 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.440 to want to go for what's cheap, for the cheaper chicken. 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:38.840 How can they make a movie cheaper? How can they 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.840 make more money? And I'm not saying that makes them 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.280 like villains, but I am saying that we have to 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.880 stand up because no, you can't get paid for a 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:47.480 day's work. 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:48.400 And think about that. 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.320 They're saying they want to use your likeness in perpetuity, 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.760 So they're really what they're saying is potentially just eliminating 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.840 the job of the background actor. They're only going to 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.120 have artificial intelligence playing background actors in every movie. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.800 And that and that's enough, by the way, that's enough 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:04.600 to be scary, and that's enough to fight for. But 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.880 I see that going any even further. And just just 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:15.160 for reference. Background acting that day work is vital to 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.160 the economy of Hollywood and to so many people getting 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.280 their start in this business. Getting your hours up, getting 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:23.760 your numbers up, being a part of the union, sometimes 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.120 leading to a speaking part that can change your life 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.480 in your career. That is what happens. I have never 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:30.920 been on a movie set, and I was luckily lucky 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:33.880 enough to be in several movies that didn't have extras. 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.120 I was the night of the strike. I was watching 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.000 one of my favorite shows on one of the streamers, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.480 and there was a court scene and my immediate thought was, 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.320 they'll never have to fill a courtroom again. They'll fill 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.720 it with AI figures and you'll only pay the three 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:51.480 lawyer people that you know, the people that are the 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.520 main characters in this You'll never pay the background. Take 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.240 a you know one of my favorite movies, Moneyball. You 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.920 can fill up a stadium a great movie like Rudy. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:01.880 You can fill that stadium up. You don't have to 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.040 pay people anymore, and that is big work. 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.520 I will say the union is not saying. The union 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.800 is actually not saying you can't use AI at all. 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.560 The sag after isn't saying that. But they're saying, we 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:15.600 can't allow you to pay someone for a day and 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.040 then you own their likeness and perpetuity. 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:19.600 That is wild. 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.520 Like, look, I'm sure they've cgid big crowds of people 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.240 at this point. That's not that different than artificial intelligence. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.880 If you think about, like how much CGI is done 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.440 in movies. Now, I'm not saying you got to you know, 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.240 pay a million background actors, but you can't own someone's likenesses. 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:36.240 You can't use you, and you can't use me, and 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.840 you can't use my Yeah, you can't use my expression, 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.360 my likeness. That's that's very different. And am Gary, what's 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.560 scarier is when you come in. I forget the actress 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.800 that came out and said, oh yeah, they they scanned 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.000 our likeness and face when we came in, and our expressions, 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.720 and you can use that. You could use that for 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.760 an entire new show, you could use it for a movie. 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.280 I mean, think of this. This is on a crazy 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:07.639 scale of AI. Daniel Craig could be James Bond forever. Well, 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.199 he'll never age out of it. We'll just keep him 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:11.080 at this age now. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:12.760 And by the way, I think that's very real. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:14.880 I mean, you've heard the recording New Beatles Music using 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:16.840 AI to recreate John Lennon's voice. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:16.960 Yeah. 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.280 Now, I think what our union is saying is we 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.560 know that's coming. We're not rejecting the. 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:22.639 Future, we're embracing it. 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.160 Actually, but you have to. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.000 Pay people for their skills, for their talents for them 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.199 and I you know, and if you look at it 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.840 from the writer's perspective, the Writer's Guild is actually being 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.480 a little more intense about it. They say, we want 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.359 to promise in our contract that AI is not going 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:43.080 to write scripts because like, one thing I didn't realize was, 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:47.000 for example, there's no like copyright law on AI right now, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.400 or at least very little right So what a studio 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.600 could say is, like all movie, if you've seen a movie, 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.360 the script's available to find online. I could google Bridesmaid 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:57.359 script right now and I'd get the entire script in 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.400 a second. So what a studio could say is, we're 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.760 gonna have AI read all of Aaron Sorkin's scripts and 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.639 then we're going to tell that artificial intelligence to write 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.639 a movie in this style of Aaron Sorkin. So where's 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.880 the copyright protection there? Because you're kind of almost plagiarizing 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.280 Aron Sorkin in a way. But they're going to try 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.119 to have the AI do it because it's cheaper there, 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:20.480 and then. 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.040 You could bring in maybe a writer or two to 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.440 punch it up and make it worthy for the network. 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:29.920 And so there's copyright issues there, and also from the 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:34.000 writer's perspective, I mean, they could just and I worry, 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:38.040 like for just the quality of I mean, I think 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.199 about think about how much we quote movie lines or 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.520 we quote TV shows, and how a TV show or 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.640 a movie emotionally connected you. I mean, I mentioned Bride, 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:49.200 which as your soul. I still quote Bride's Maid's probably 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.920 once a week. I'll be like, there's something, there's someone 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:53.879 on the wings, she's churning butter on the wing or 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:56.359 ready to party. 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:58.119 So I quote that movie all the time. 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:03.000