Even though every year has contend to feelmore eventfulthan the last , 2023 specially was aroller coasterthat went exceedingly off the rail . It feels like something eventful happened at least doubly per hebdomad ( if not considerably more ) , particularly in the entertainment space .
The couple of Hollywood strikes courtesy of theWGA and SAG - AFTRAhung over 2023 as nearly every yield ground to a halt while the two unions demanded better pay , conditions , and AI protections . This was the WGA ’s first strike in 15 age , and unlike back then , it was considerably easier to realize who the honorable and bad bozo were here . It was n’t just that studio were reportedly holding out until writersbecame desperatefor any deal , though that also play a part in things . Everyone could palpate something slipping in the way TV was being made these sidereal day , even if they could n’t exclusively articulate it : arushed character turnhere , aconstricting instalment countthere .
On social sensitive , writer and actor were always forge overtime to ensure their show did n’t get offset by pennon that would have series on the trading floor and let them get buried , unless they had the prestigiousness to be kept around . ( Assuming say show was n’t go to have its futureunceremoniouslycut off . ) And some creatives were more than unforced to reveal how flawed the pour system was in terms ofresidualsand what even have a show regenerate in the first home .
Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images
TV ’s been infract in some ways for years — no doubt about that . What made this twelvemonth sense like a turn point was watching company like Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney remove whatever they could from theirindividual streaming services(usually by the dozens , if notmore than that ) to pull through money . While some media was after given a reprieve , most titles were n’t so golden , and the heads of these studios made these cuts vocalize more necessary than they actually were .
As much as they publically expressed Leslie Townes Hope the work stoppage would end , studio boss could n’t help but talk out of both sides of their mouths , trying to spinthe money loston the strike asa expert thingwhile at the same time threaten both union with their “ last , best offers ” they ultimately had to eat crow on . You could n’t not experience atonement in watching executive likeDavid ZaslavandBob Igercome to regret being such public figures who were n’t quick to become aim of scorn across multiple arms of the industry . Theydid it to themselvesand go on to do so .
During all this , creatives across the diligence made it quite clear that enough was enough . In - house VFX actor at bothMarvel StudiosandDisneydecided to unionize after reports in the past year ofextensive crunchon various project . standardized efforts involve shoes atWB Animation / Cartoon internet , and in other industries such astabletopandvideo games . In some way or another , all of these were born out of seeing other companies unionize and apprehension that it should ’ve befall some metre ago . These have n’t all had glad endings , though — not every company hasvoluntarily recognizedthese Union orplayed fairafter said unions were recognized , which only underline the grandness of pro - worker groups .
Bob IgerPhoto: Rich Fury (Getty Images)
On the other side of things , 2023 felt like a yr where the larger public was just in conclusion disgusted of the same erstwhile , same sometime . Big spectacle - push back movies hyped up as the next prominent thing ended up fizzling at the box part in favor of plastic film that , if nothing else , finger like they weremade by actual world . Beyond the obvious glow examples ofBarbieand Oppenheimer , you had flicks like Napoleon and The Blackening managing to cut up out a space for themselves amid a moderately stacked year . Even if something like Killers of the Flower Moon or A Haunting in Venice did n’t ignite the world on fire financially , they offered a very actual , different and tactile experience from whatever else was out alongside them at the time . There was somegood enfranchisement funto be had , but more than ever , this was a year where audiences were a little more selective than normal about what series or studio apartment they flocked to see in theaters .
It would n’t be exaggeration to say that audiences are openly grim of Hollywood ’s shit in some form or fashion . reenforcement for the strike was incredibly loud , as it was for hotshot or film maker who were very clearly getting pay heed out to dry out . reasonably much everyone with good sense knew thehyper - scrutinyof The Marvelsdirector Nia DaCostawas unfair on some level and that Disney fundamentally let her take the heat for its own longstanding problems . Creatives see WB Discovery junkCoyote vs. Acmefor no discernible reason and not only point outhow illogicalit was , but to actively threaten to no longer influence with the studio apartment , result in the film mayhap gettinga 2nd shotat life . All of this was emblematic of a originate thwarting with the studio apartment motorcar that made it so that people had no choice but to be openly hostile .
What happens from here ? It ’s hard to say ; we wo n’t really be intimate how 2024 shakes out until we ’re well in it , and even then , probably not only . But for a year that ’s had itsfair share of downer note , it ’s been squeamish to see everyone together with come together to bully companies and ventilate out their legitimate thwarting at the present state of media we ’re currently in . I sincerely trust that 2024 is substantially wanton on all of us .
Image:IATSE
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