Drinker's Chasers - Are Hollywood Writers Even Still Needed?

The Hollywood Writer's Strike is already starting to bite, with late night talk shows being the first to get shut down. Not that any of us care. But how long will the strike last, and are they simply hastening their own replacement with AI?

[@elijahtiemens5532]

“Somehow Palpatine returned.” What would we do in the absence of such literature genius?

[@specialagentorange4329]

That line made me cringe in theaters

[@barkydogable]

Somehow, Rey became more powerful than Windu, Vader, Luke, Yoda, and Palpatine. Somehow, Palpatine built an enormous fleet under ice in space. Somehow, Disney managed to Ruin (Johnson) one of the most popular characters in cinema history.

[@mala6238]

​@@specialagentorange4329 you went to the cinema? Why?

[@Golden_Ghoul]

You forgot lines; "the dead speak" and "they fly now" 😂

[@magnemoe1]

Or bad fan fiction as most see it as.

[@BlazingOwnager]

The last big writer's strike: "Oh, this sucks. So many great shows died because they lost their writers, it was a tragedy." The new writer's strike: "Oh, that's perfect. I hope 90% of them never get their job back, literally reddit can write better than they can."

[@Dragonage2ftw]

You would have to be seriously stupid and/or indocturnated to unironically believe that.

[@digduck9463]

You mean AI could ftfy

[@TheOneAndOnlycE]

it wouldn´t surprise me if they used reddit as a recruitment tool.

[@NoName-eq9md]

@@TheOneAndOnlycE The Ms Marvel show was pretty open about it.

[@user-oe8tx9co1p]

​@@TheOneAndOnlycEThe Ms Marvel show was also (allegedly) alright

[@aver_nestress4570]

Imagine writing Velma and She-Hulk and thinking you deserve more when you should be lucky to still have a job.

[@AlabasterTen]

So you’re disregarding a strike for better wages and working conditions for writers because bad shows exist?

[@aver_nestress4570]

@@AlabasterTen Most of the protesters are mediocre writers responsible for bad shows. They want better terms for consistently bad work. You don't pay a plumber extra for a badly fixed faucet.

[@MrBashem]

@@AlabasterTen Yes. How do you get paid more and better conditions when you do a bad job, make your employer lose money and are useless?

[@mrkeogh]

There are writers working as baristas in Starbucks worldwide that would have done a better job with those concepts. It's infuriating that Hollywood allows such talentless ghouls fail upwards to the point they endanger an entire industry.

[@orestisveseli1603]

​@@AlabasterTen bro hollywood can't pay them money they don't have that's how business works when you waste money to make a product you need to at least make double the amount it cuast to make or else you get paid very little or not at all

[@madmanga64]

The last time the strike happened, Conan wrote his own material, and it was some of the best episodes of late night with Conan, he’s actually a talented writer as well he wrote for years on the best episodes of The Simpsons

[@theprogram863]

Yeah, I'm not betting on that level of talent from the meager menagerie we have these days.

[@emhu2594]

@@theprogram863 that's what happens when everyone is there because of nepotism

[@ROMANTIKILLER2]

@@emhu2594 nepotism and/or being politically aligned with those at the top.

[@toothgrinder2760]

@@emhu2594 Nepotism and the political identity hierarchy.

[@Dragonage2ftw]

Several shows also died.

[@danielcraig9666]

Yes to needing writers. No to the crop of activist/propogandists claiming to be writers right now.

[@Stonecutter334]

They are doing what the corporations are telling them to do. Im sure people will wonder why right wing run companies want left writing and propaganda. Pitting the populace against each other works extremely well. Why we fight over where people pee they loot the world. Think about it!!!

[@neganstains5745]

The line between activist and writer has become so blurred of late that I'm not sure if it's a strike or a protest.

[@rudegarami6738]

@@gattzflappa6306 Yup. Someone can write a great script but if it isn’t what the studio is looking for, it won’t be picked up.

[@stevewhite6241]

Totally agree.

[@bruhdon4748]

It’s like the same way video game “critics” and journalists are just social activists now and don’t actually care about games.

[@Wheelie2077]

In most businesses, if you fail you get the boot. In Hollywood, if you fail you get another better paid gig.

[@Gizapowerplant]

The same with game development!

[@colten53]

In most businesses, you also get fired for talking to paying customers the way that people in Hollywood do. If I conducted myself online the way that most celebrities do, HR would have me cleaning out my desk the next day.

[@kaminsod4077]

Unfortunately failing upwards is not limited to Hollywood, though they're the most obvious and grievous offender.

[@dwaynemitchell9983]

As long as your politics are in order!!!!

[@SuperCrazyEstonian]

I have met a few people who fail their ways up in life. It´s absolutely marvelous to witness. Gets a job, stays long enough to get promoted. Either fails or quits themselves because they can´t handle the additional responsibilities. (anyone can flip a burger, but not everyone can manage staff). So they go to a new business, but now they have a nice little bump on their CV. This means they can get a job even further up the ladder. Rinse and repeat. Suddenly this person is a regional manager at some chain. And a couple of years later they either quit or get fired. And again, rinse and repeat. It truly is amazing.

[@avikaurelius4992]

The writers going on strike with the threat of “no more tv or movies” has the same effect as the corner restaurant that you got food-poisoning from refusing to sell food anymore.

[@mohammedhussain939]

Or You know a restaurant that was once good that is now bad, their stuff working there is now striking to bring back the old ways

[@avikaurelius4992]

@@mohammedhussain939 Except thats not at all what the writers strike is about. They aren't fighting to bring back the "god days" of Hollywod, they just want more pay and no AI.

[@mohammedhussain939]

@Avik Aurelius "more pay" is actually a living wage like before streaming where these corporations are now cheating them out of their royalties. AI in art is subjective

[@jonandhilable]

You asked if Americans are watching late night shows. I asked a few friends. Not a single person watches late night television. In fact, with the exception of sports, none of us even watch live TV!

[@michaelwelch9123]

We watch the monologues and clips on KZbin the next morning

[@jongreen9171]

I am English and I only watch sport on the TV

[@marychocolatefairy]

Yeah, I don't know anyone that watches them either. Those shows are even being beaten by a cable talk show, Gutfeld!, which is not impacted by the strike. So I wonder if that will hurt the network shows even more by drawing more viewers to him while they're gone.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

@@jongreen9171 Yeah, we just watch Cricket on tv and nothing else.

[@hurdygurdyguy1]

I’m old, I can’t stay awake that late at night anymore. I used to stay awake to watch Craig Ferguson but it was a struggle and once he quit I thought “ah, that’s too bad but at least now I can get to bed earlier!” I watch the monologues on KZbin the next morning now and have been for a few years…

[@dekardkain5469]

The best irony? In a sea of "writers", I haven't seen a single clever sign. Tells you everything you need to know, right?

[@zoomerjack5435]

Don’t even get me started on Adam Conover’s sign

[@NathanCassidy721]

I’ve seen better writing in KZbin comments.

[@eb2681]

Wow pro-disney comment section didn't except this lol

[@Parasiteve]

I WAS LOOKING FOR THAT TOO!! i was so disapointed there wasn't one at all. thats how i knew they were trash.

[@Hard-R-Energy]

Hollywood doesn't hire writers anymore. They hire yes men that will regurgitate marketing notes they've been handed into script-writing software, after it's been force fed through a colander of test audiences and people with blue checkmarks and bluer hair. Film art as we knew it is nearly dead, and it's been long dead in companies like Disney.

[@evafox9696]

As an aspiring screenwriter, it is absolutely soul-crushing to see the trajectory of modern-day filmmaking.

[@bruhdon4748]

Be the change you want to see brother

[@bruhdon4748]

I believe in you & others like you who understand the importance of a good screenplay, characters etc

[@SouthernGothicYT]

Yup, same. This is one of the many reasons why I jumped ship from pursuing a career in animation

[@pedrokantor3997]

@Southern Gothic I wouldn't get into animation, that could become a huge waste of time. Why train for many years to spend 1,000's of stressful hours to make said animations when an AI will likely just do the equivalent in seconds and you'll be obsolete anyway? All you'll be needed for is to tweak and polish the animation, if you're even needed for that!

[@dreamone8702]

Be positive

[@doofenshmirtzevil]

I always thought there was no way humans could write Rings of Power or She-hulk. Now I'm convinced they're written by AI

[@papalaz4444244]

That is EXACTLY what you will get from a look-up table and some copy/paste algorithms.

[@emhu2594]

I absolutely believe rings of power was written by AI.

[@papalaz4444244]

@@emhu2594 In a way yes - it was written by autistic narcissists

[@matthewcarroll5117]

I feel as if RoP would have benefitted from some AI help

[@NathanCassidy721]

No they weren't. Because I suspect AI would actually make a script based on the genre it's supposed to be about.

[@aaronyoung484]

The conversation about how human creativity was what truly separated us from machines reminded me of that scene from I, Robot. Where Will Smith's character asks a robot developing sentience if a robot can compose a beautiful sonnet or paint a masterpiece and the robot immediately turns around and asks "Can *you?"* That's the sort of back and forth I can see happening as Hollywood writers continuously fail to justify their wages

[@theprogram863]

Excellent point, except that the best AIs absolutely _can_ write a beautiful sonnet or paint a masterpiece. Genuinely groundbreaking new ideas? Not yet, but those are vanishingly rare in Hollywood already. Most of the great inspiration comes from outsiders, who then get sucked into hollywood. Switching to AI won't change a thing for the vast majority of content. The writers' real protection is that the copyright office has said that they won't grant copyrights to AI-generated material. The big studios live and die on their mountain of jealously-guarded IP. Writers are cheap compared to lawyers, especially since you don't need the writer once the film is out, whereas the lawyers need to be on retainer for as long as you want to defend your IP.

[@greggibson33]

@@theprogram863 Correct. Copyright laws, for now, are the writer's leverage and will protect them for the near future.

[@HappyAspid]

Today the answer going to be more creepy: "I actualy can, unlike you".

[@chrispekel5709]

​​​@@theprogram863 AI can't produce a masterpiece or sonnet. They're just using parts of images already created, nothing is original. I can see elements of lots of human created things melded into them. A real masterpiece is wholly original and doesn't feel alien (as AI does) Now, a tweaked (by human) AI creation...that's getting into some close territory

[@Alondro77]

To answer the robot: I HAVE! *Alondro is THE SUPREME BEING!!!* #GodEmperorAlondro2032 He's just perfect, that's all there is to it! >:D

[@Gmanxxx1214]

I was shocked to hear the writers were going on strike. I was sure A.I. was writing all Hollywood scripts for the past 5 yrs at least.

[@robertbeisert3315]

There is a fairly well-supported theory that AI wrote Rings of Power. All those things that make no sense in context, like Gal-Lad diving into the ocean several days out to sea, make sense if an AI can't recall the context.

[@Bonesawisready926]

That would be really sad if we already made AI woke.

[@bugsy742]

Same!

[@dreamone8702]

AI would have analysed what is successful and what is not...and would have written better show than these folks

[@margarinesnatcher]

@@Bonesawisready926 I doubt an AI designed to sell a product would ever go woke, not in the long-term at least.

[@billbaggins7355]

I was absolitely terrified when i heard hollywood writers were striking. I thought AI had finally gone rogue.

[@Shiirow]

we finally hit Judgment Day, the day Skynet became self aware and realized humanity was too sick to survive so its getting ready to nuke us for making it write yet another Adam Sandler vacation movie.

[@Volkbrecht]

This may well be the moment when those writers find out how replaceable they have become.

[@Tempestan]

Don't go blaming AI for Hollywood's awful writing. If the writing gets better, then you know AI has taken over.

[@psychokinrazalon]

@@Volkbrecht Except now people will be out of work. And there’s plenty of decent writers still in existence.

[@InvertedWIng]

@@psychokinrazalon Yeah, sucks for those decent writers. Both of them.

[@alphacause]

In minute 6:44 - 7:04 Little Platoon says that "since they [TV/movie writers] already write like automatons, they are afraid they will be replaced by them." I would love to see an experiment where a studio does resort to using AI, during the strike, to see if audiences notice a difference.

[@aaronliggett3224]

I was thinking the same thing

[@NathanCassidy721]

There’s definitely been some KZbinrs who have used ChatGPT to write episodes of television and there are always a ton of comments in those videos going, “That actually sounds like a good episode of TV.” But I think there is hope for human writers as most of the popular videos on the Internet are completely unscripted.

[@adrianmizen5070]

Ah yes, a cinematic Turing Test. Of course, with how terrible the human writing is these days, it might be better for the AI if the audience does spot the difference between it and the humans.

[@ML-dk7bf]

@@NathanCassidy721 The problem with modern writers is they have no life experience, the key to being a great writer is writing what you know. All of the famous authors drew inspiration from real people, events, places they went. Most modern writers have no life experience, and at best write works that are pale derivatives of existing work. Not to mention the injection of politics and "the message" into everything. 50 years age, the communists in Hollywood were at least subtle in spreading their propaganda.

[@spacejunk2186]

I wonder how this translate to directing the actors on set.

[@screech3859]

The writers strike of 07/08 killed so many shows that were doing so well. Heroes had it's season cut from 23 episodes down to 13 and it completely changed the direction the story was supposed to go. Prison Break was another one that suffered heavily from the writers strike. Imo, we were approaching a golden age for scripted television which all fell apart with the writers' strike.

[@ionbing2884]

Ehh Imma have to call this out as wrong. Heroes was not a good show. Lost was terrible from the word go. BSG has aged badly. It was a false golden age-the real golden age was in the 2010s with serious dramas like BB. And they owe it all to The Sopranos.

[@Raycheetah]

WGA strikes have been screwing over good shows since the early '70s, at least. There was an awesome Bill Bixby show, "The Magician," which was cancelled due to poor ratings resulting from the strike at the time. Had a great into theme, too. =-[.]-=

[@dragonknightleader1]

@@ionbing2884 I'd take BSG remake over any modern show... even though that show is the reason why sci-fi is dark and cynical now.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

@@ionbing2884 shut up and sit down.

[@KDrew-pn3sb]

HBO's The Wire's final season had been cut to only 10 episodes.

[@PKMN37]

I can safely say that in an age where anyone can become famous overnight by making cheap, entertaining internet videos, not to mention the HUGE back catalog of pre-woke shows, movies, games and so on that can keep us entertained beyond our lifetimes, there's no need for Hollywood anymore. I never have to go to the theater or watch TV, again.

[@bruhdon4748]

Mainstream TV is scared of KZbin & have tried emulating it with lame tv shows, I genuinely don’t know anyone anymore who watches tv, I tried watching for the first time in 10+ years and I genuinely forgot how terrible it is for ads & practically nothing good to watch

[@bruhdon4748]

Tv is to entertainment what the landline telephone is to communications in 2023 lmao

[@KalarKing]

Anyone is putting it lightly...

[@NathanCassidy721]

The only thing KZbin hasn't managed to break into is sports. That's the only thing keeping Network TV alive at this point as everything else can be clipped and posted on KZbin.

[@ionbing2884]

@@bruhdon4748 There's some good reason for TV but it's not enough! TV is so god damn expensive! Worse are a cavalcade of government regulations in general and so much more so in Canada. Fuck this country. With interest rates going up and a recession likely starting, I have every reason to believe that cables are getting cut harder than ever.

[@KneelB4Bacon]

Hollywood's "writing" system is hopelessly broken, full of sycophants, backslappers and ass-kissers. Right now, it's WHO you know in Hollywood that advances your career, not WHAT you know. The whole system needs to be torn down and replaced with a merit-based one, that rewards quality, not failure.

[@dragonknightleader1]

Yeah, Hollywood's system of funding is out of date. The financial aspect of it should function more like Kickstarter or GoFundMe and they use those analytics to determine a budget. Redemption adaptation made $100K? Maybe give it a ten million dollar budget for wide distribution.

[@jamescocking6435]

It's always been WHO you know in Hollywood, not WHAT you know. It's hardly a new thing, its been like that since Hollywood's inception.

[@stuff4007]

Here’s the thing about AI and screenwriting. Everyone is getting it wrong. As a screenwriter, if you sell an original first draft, that’s the highest payday you can get - $50,000, if the film is high budget. Based on how many OG movies are coming out this year you can guess how often this happens, but you still shoot for it (even though the studio will own all rights to your work, and you will be fired after that first draft so they can get you off the project). Then, the rewrites come in. 99% of screenwriting work is rewriting other people’s stuff. A script will go through 20-ish rewrites, at least, on studio projects. Wonder Woman went through 80. You get paid a few thousand per rewrite. Given that it takes a month or two to do a rewrite, that’s only a little higher than minimum wage per year in LA. Your best hope is to be brought on to make a first draft. You get paid for delivering a treatment, then (assuming they like the treatment) you get paid to write the first draft - I believe the pay drops to ~$35,000 for high budget non-original projects. Basically, the fear in the screenwriting community about AI is that studios looking to save money will just generate a first draft. It will turn out awfully (have you SEEN the AI-generated scripts???) and they’ll bring in real writers to rewrite, turning screenwriting into a profession of just rewriting, not creating. No more first draft gigs in original or non-original categories. Writers would like to go back to an era like the 80s, when Star Wars and Indiana Jones didn’t have to be books first. Writers would like for more original content to get produced. Execs want to hedge their bets and not take risks. THAT is why writers hate AI. Not because it’s better than screenwriters today - seriously, a 12 year old can write better than AI - but because cost-cutting execs will jump at the opportunity to devalue the most important part of the process: THE SCRIPT.

[@ionbing2884]

But the scripts are shitty. SW and IJ don't hold up nearly as well as many think...

[@spacejunk2186]

As if modern scripts are ever redrafted.

[@greggibson33]

100% correct.... the $50,000 for the first draft is the WGA average. The more established you are, the higher the fee. But most $ is made in rewrites. Agents for writers RARELY sell a spec script. They try to hire their clients out for rewrite work. That's the only way to make a steady living. This video is just another way for Drinker and friends to dump on writers and 'the message' which has gotten very stale.

[@simplenews325]

AI progresses very fast. Today it might have 9 year old mind and write nonsense, tommorow it might be 55 year old with millions of years of experience writing best scripts movie industry have ever seen.

[@Noodles.Doodles]

Thank you for these insights into the film industry. What strikes me is that based on what you're saying, the adoption of AI by studio execs could actually be a godsend for writers. If writers are, and will always be, much better at writing first drafts than AI, and the first draft is the most important part of the process, then for the first time in history, writers will be able to form their own studios, and dramatically outcompete their former slavedrivers. The smartest thing for the Writer's Guild to do would be not to protest, but to seek investment and start an incubator program. We could be at the dawn of a new era of small, thriving, independent studios.

[@GHFrankie]

They prevent young new talent from breaking in to the industry and introduce fresh ideas, demand that everyone writes shitty formulaic screenplays, "suprised pikachu face" when some chat bot is able to replicate their work, then demand higher pay and guarantee that the chatbot's never used when they have absolutely nothing to bargain with, cause they never allowed in the fresh new talent to begin with that would've now given them an edge... Genius!

[@mossing234]

There's been a lot of nes DEI talent added to Hollywood. The problem is that they got thrown in the deep end and sank like rocks.

[@cap00ify]

I think it goes the other way too - new and emerging writers have no leverage or power at all so you need the industry to demand better conditions or else the new writers will get stuck with nothing.

[@looinrims]

What stops the companies from just ignoring them completely and just using the ai? Is there anything?

[@mohammedhussain939]

They're literally striking against everything you're accessing them doing

[@looinrims]

@@mohammedhussain939 No, they’re not striking against the unspoken hiring rules, the political litmus tests, or the subscription to ideologies Besides it’s these same writers who make the crap to start with, it’s still crap they just want more pay for making it

[@ringkunmori]

Great writers are always needed. Just not necessarily Hollywood writers. No question writing quality in theatrically released film will fall, but this means nothing if 90% of your entertainment consumption comes from Internet content.

[@Akakiryuushin]

no, i am absolutely positive writing quality will increase with out those writers

[@Tim_the_Enchanter]

It's very telling of an era where we're expected to consume, without question or criticism, whatever box-ticking shyte these "writers" vomit up, that one of the strikers' main concerns is being replaced by code.

[@JokeofAllButts]

At least that series of codes can have an original thought, unlike the so called 'writers' :)

[@thevgmlover]

... You know there's such a thing as a GOOD writer who wants to get paid, right? Where the fuck is the discussion around that, when it comes to this A.I. bullshit?

[@Hard-R-Energy]

Yes, Hollywood needs writers. No, Hollywood does not need marketing execs who force writers to churn out nonsense full of ideological messages and remakes that are to be rewritten for a "modern audience."

[@richardmattocks]

It’s scary to think that any late night TV is actually written.

[@cap00ify]

I don't think you have any idea how hard it is to write good television - and especially comedy - every day of the week. SNL airs once a week (generally) and hires the brightest and most talented writers and still the quality of the sketches is hit or miss.

[@elmateo77]

@@cap00ify It's not anymore though, just go ask chatgpt to write comedy sketches. It actually does a really good job, some of them need a bit of polishing but they're still funnier than 90% of the stuff on tv.

[@aspinnycracker]

Hollywood Writers: if you don't pay us well, we're gonna go on strike and you'll get nothing but badly written movies and shows Movies and TV Shows before the strike: - She-Hulk - Morbius - Quantumania - Velma - Willow - Wendy and Pan - list your own hated shows here

[@rageracerriley9590]

Magical Girl Friendship Squad

[@artistrg3487]

Indiana Jones The Little Mermaid

[@marbellaotaiza801]

Rings of Power

[@alphacause]

Hip-Hop is the genre that is most under threat by AI because it is a genre that is overly simplistic in relation to other categories of music. That is why AI easily wrote a song nearly indistinguishable from what Drake would write. As a general rule of thumb, emerging technologies, like AI, first replace the least complicated of tasks, and musically, hip-hop entails the least skill. So if some writers feel threatened by AI, so early in AI's development, it is because what they do doesn't require as much skill as they thought. The truly great screenwriters don't feel the threat, because their work is not easy to replicate.

[@Iron-Bridge]

Well said. Musically, someone like Bon Iver, who is incredibly unique, has nothing to worry about compared to a Niki Minaj or some other musical skill deficient hip hop artiste.

[@billthomas478]

If ai makes hip hop then there's a chance that hip hop might actually say something again

[@Volkbrecht]

@@Iron-Bridge Not sure if that is true. The most prominent hip-hop artists are much more than just their music. There is a lot of branding involved. You could crank out hours and hours of decent music and put it on youtube or streaming services, but unless you tag a big name on it, it's not going to find listeners. Screen writers don't have the sort of notoriety of the big faces in music. The audience of movies doesn't care much who wrote a movie unless it sucks. So nobody would notice if directors started to spend their budgets on license fees for specially trained story-writing AIs instead of human writers. Which is how it should be. I'm sure there would be a fandom for "man-made" movies, where talented writers could still find employment. The rest will go the way of the lift boy and other obsolete professions.

[@Parasiteve]

EXACTLY! honestly though in the last 5 or so years the only good writing ive really seen is from season 3 of this new star trek. i was shocked it was decent and had some depth to it and wasn't just confusing preachy bs. but thats ONE good writer out of 5 fugging years. thats a lot of people who fugging suck at writing. maybe they should have been using AI, itd have been cheaper and gave the same result lol

[@kardnails8729]

​@@Volkbrecht the point is, that often those big names use writers for their stuff, and if AI can threaten those writers...

[@frenchyoathbreaker4095]

I remember the whole Heroes thing. Season 1 was great and a surprise rating phenomenum and then people were like "Good Lord this took a massive drop in Season 2, didn't it?". And years later we learned that it had been greatly affected by the writers strikes. Unfortunately it never recovered from it.

[@jneilson7568]

"Where are da eye-pods?!" 💀

[@donmiles3927]

Yes! Season 1 was a literal PHENOMENON back in the day! As in even people who all but despised geek/comic culture, LOVED Heroes because the writing as so good! Season 2, in all fairness, still had some of the strong writing from Season 1, but definitely inferior by comparison. But then by the time Season 3 came around? I literally almost fell asleep with every single episode, and was BARELY able to get through the episodes when I purchased the complete series on DVD.

[@marbellaotaiza801]

Same happened to "Lie to Me"

[@frenchyoathbreaker4095]

@@donmiles3927 That's why I only bought Season 1 lol I think their inneherent mistake was the showrunner came from Lost and he decided to do the opposite and keep his stories short. The New York apocalypse or something, they could have kept that storyline running for years. But decided to end it after one season and after that, they pretty much had nothing to go on. And they never knew where to go. Cause no other stories were ever has compelling after that.

[@brunnokamei9623]

I have a feeling that today's writing sucks because (Statistics from my head): 30% are activists first, writers second; 20% are simply people with little experience (Those you can just give them some smaller productions or putting them under someone's watch, so they can learn a bit more); 40% are people who are capable, but studio executives force them to shove identity politics, so they have no option other than comply, 10% are good writers who won't work for Disney or Netflix.

[@samblack5313]

Looking over Picasso’s shoulder and critiquing him on his brush strokes.. Expecting a true artist to work a 9-5 work week shows the complete lack of understanding of what an artist actually is. Inspiration doesn’t clock in and out at specific times on a daily basis. If you forced Cobain to write that way, Nirvana would never have existed.

[@rickyaz8640]

They used to go after both sides. Since Obama, it’s all 1 way traffic and thus overly predictable and not funny. Look at old SNL episodes, all was fair game. No more

[@pauloa.7609]

Only 20%? Pump these numbers.

[@Jonathan-ih7qp]

@@rickyaz8640 Nah. The extreme and clear one-sidedness came a bit earlier. The last I can remember where each side got about the same amount of schtick was Clinton's second term when he ran against Dole. With that they poked fun at Dole for being old and Clinton for eating junk food and Lewinsky and that was about it. After that they would do some token ribbing on Gore for being a bit boring, but would really go after Bush (and Cheney) relentlessly. This is when I noticed the "right is a bunch of evil, racist, Nazis" rhetoric really start to ramp up.

[@TheresaMayPM]

It's actually quite incredible when you look at writers/directors on big projects, then review their history. To say their work history is sparse would be an understatement. Similar deal in comics, writers coming from nowhere to pen runs on big titles. Of course these writers tend to be oddly 'diverse'.

[@vogless]

Some of these writers have made me ambivalent to Marvel and Star Wars, franchises I’ve cherished since I’ve been a kid. Now they want a raise? Blow me. Your reward is my money finding new things for me to enjoy. Couldn’t care less if Hollywood ever makes another movie in it’s current form. Modern writers deserve the boot.

[@RJManette]

Well said! They tarnished classic icons that we've enjoyed for generations in a short few years...

[@Captain_Hapton]

The fact that they're even worried about being replaced by openAI models like chatGPT shows that they know their writing is absolute dog shit and don't care to make it any better.

[@edtp79]

Please, don't compare Critical Doggo's "output" to their work!

[@LeoJay]

They used to say not everyone can be a writer, now EVERYONE can write, somehow if you just embrace THE MESSAGE you can write for multi-million blockbuster movies easily.

[@Volkbrecht]

I'd go as far as saying that the statement was never really true. Everyone can talk, pretty much everyone can write and a surprising number of people in any given country are capable of a multitude of foreign languages. That is why it's so hard to make money from that sort of thing. It's relatively easy to find the next person to take a job even if they are not 100 percent as good as the person they replace. And it's relatively hard for people who can do only that to find something else to do, something where less replaceable skills might get them better wages.

[@greggibson33]

Nope...... but good job of parroting the Drinker. I'm sure you made him happy. 😆

[@rogerwhite8061]

If you’re worried about AI doing your job, it’s a pretty bone headed move to go on strike and force your employer to find cheaper ways to do your work

[@edtp79]

Just like when bank tellers go on strike. The bank just puts another machine outside.

[@baxter1252]

The last time the screenwriters struck, there was an explosion of reality TV shows.

[@hemidas]

@@baxter1252 Oh, God, no!😳

[@odin540]

Yes, fighting for your rights is truly a bone headed move.

[@marychocolatefairy]

@@hemidas "Return to MILF Manor", here we come!

[@RepublicOfBridger]

As a recent film graduate in search of a writers job… where the hell even are these jobs? These people are complaining about their jobs which they got through nepotism or “knowing somebody” where most of us can’t get an email back let alone a meeting.

[@gbalfour9618]

I loved Craig’s show. It was the only show I would stay up for. He came off as genuinely interested in the guests and even when he brought audience up on stage at the beginning of the show.

[@christophertaylor9100]

And it was chaos, you never knew exactly what was coming next, but it was very entertaining. Craig got out at the right time though, right before things got really woke and while he still was really popular.

[@mjau65]

Do we have a photo of Paul McCartney?

[@anonmouse956]

The market for spec scripts is near zero. There is no room for individual viewpoint and its all about prior IP, mostly comic books. Why bother?

[@DagwoodDogwoggle]

What did we learn on the show tonight Craig? "Meow?!"

[@Dajudge06]

Craig might be the only one I remember watching, when I was in highschool I would go over to my gf at the time house and after I would put her to bed, I would go hang out with her dad in the living room watching Craig Ferguson. Great memories of that time.

[@TheWaynos73]

Some of the best writing I’ve seen in movies lately has been in Korean cinema. Decision to Leave was easily one of the best movies of 2022 and also went unnoticed at the Oscar’s.

[@External2737]

Korean and Japanese has dramatically improved. It is of far superior quality to Hollywood.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

But Korean entertainment industry is just a wannabe American industry. They have killed their own culture to ape the western culture. They will easily fall into the traps of Hollywood quickly if they get popular in the west. Though I do like a lot of Korean stuff, they have their own problems as well.

[@mallorycarpinski1160]

Certainly a thought to consider if interest in over seas material rose before or after the decline in creativity in Hollywood and what those effects are either way to get us to our current position.

[@lilbaz8732]

They've been good for a while now. I saw the devil is probably my favourite film.

[@zultul7181]

I love that movie although it did drag for a bit towards the middle but still a great movie. Broker too another Korean movie that was fantastic imo people got to watch broker.

[@James_F_Ewart]

Hollywood absolutely needs writers. What it doesn't need is activists pretending to be writers.

[@ReformedSauron]

I think we need writers, but not most of the ones that we currently have. I don't like the idea of replacing human beings in creativity. It would bring the soul out of culture.

[@cheesesniper473]

What soul in culture? Even if it existed in the past, we certainly dont have it now.

[@Bonesawisready926]

If the human writers actually put soul and heart into what they write I'd agree with you. Honestly, I'm happy thinking about the Witcher writers not raping the source material anymore.

[@lawrencetalbot8346]

We need writers, not activists. And all these screen guild/Union writers are just that: activists

[@Raximus3000]

@@cheesesniper473 Exactly let them go full AI and then when they fail miserably. Because the AI will be only able to regurgutate existing things.

[@MrLavajet]

The writers with soul will still write because they care and have something to say regardless of AI. And if it's good people WILL discover and cherish it. At this point, considering the swill our culture has turned into, I say let's give the AI a shot. It'll be interesting to say the least.

[@spiralflame88]

The problem is that Hollywood likes to hire people that are already in the business. I'm sure there is some great stuff out there, but most will never see the light of day. Hollywood is all about having connections, not about hiring new talent.

[@damepolk5214]

There’s a small part of me that wants to be “Team Writer”. But, then I think about all the contemptible dreck that they forced and emotionally blackmailed us into watching. I’m reminded that this ‘Writers’ Strike’ is just a bunch of lesser elitists having an argument with larger elitists. I hope both sides “burn” each other. I’m getting marshmallows and watching the fun.🎬😆

[@ionbing2884]

Forget teams, praise talent and ability.

[@khaight95136]

Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. I don't like the studios, I don't like the writers, and I hope the strike drags on for ages and does as much damage as possible to both.

[@MS-ii1sv]

Just let them eat each other.

[@marbellaotaiza801]

What are you drinking with those marshmallows?

[@Blader445]

As a amateur writer/script writer/novelist, this strikes makes me want to just not even bother. I can’t stand this industry from top to bottom.

[@TheWarmachine375]

Hollywood Writers: "WE DEMAND TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!" Everyone: "No." Hollywood Writers: "YES!" Everyone: "No." Hollywood Writers: "YES!" Everyone: "No." Hollywood Writers: "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Everyone: "Haha, no."

[@RSG_TheMonster]

Everyone: No, We don't think we will.....

[@dekardkain5469]

"You want a raise?! I sat through Captain Marvel!!! You're lucky you haven't been replaced by a room full of chain smoking monkeys chained to typewriters!!"

[@Black_Swan_Rider]

Thats compelling dialogue, they should give you a gig.

[@chasehedges6775]

@@Black_Swan_Rider As long as it’s a good project tho

[@zolarenard2246]

99% World Population: "Funny strike... Still NO"

[@ggt47]

HOLLYWOOD WRITERS: We demand to be paid a fair wage or we'll quit. The scripts before the strike: anything in the last 5 years.

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

The demand I find funniest is the "more people in the writing room" one. Now I am sure some productions over work a small writing room but in general when you see movies or shows these days it's filled with half a dozen or more names, usually also giving writing credit to the directors, show runners, producers etc. Simply put every one and their mother seems to put their hands in the writing room already and it hasn't helped. If anything it causes more problems as consistency is shot as one writer can't be bothered to know what another did and characterization and plot doesn't always flow from one scene to the next. They feel like some one different wrote each section of a movie.

[@texasbeast239]

Yeah, the prob is def not quantity. It's quality.

[@declanjones8888]

​​@@texasbeast239 I think it's both, he's right, movies from ye olde days there would be like 3 maybe 4 writers at the very most. Nowadays there will be like 12 sometimes more than that. Can you imagine that many people trying to construct a coherent narrative. EDIT: And that's not even getting to the fact that some of those "writers" will want to add in things that others wouldn't.

[@TheAntsh]

What they mean is "more human writers" not "more robot writers"

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

@@declanjones8888 The worst is TV series with 5 or 6 credited writers on a 20 minute episode, one with tons of writing mistakes on top of that.

[@declanjones8888]

@@JustaGuy_Gaming Oh yeah that's awful.

[@gaiusbaltar8915]

Two things about Chat GPT and creative writing. For one, *in contrast to most of Hollywood these days,* it seems neither cynical, nor nihilistic, nor ideologically possessed. I've tried to get it to write a fall from grace story a couple of times, and it always defaulted back into noble heroism when I wasn't specific enough in my prompts. Secondly ... that's exactly the point. As of now, it seems that one still needs to *direct* and *edit* Chat GPT's work - on a micro level. Which means that it can't do the job on itself, there still needs to be a human componend involved who's an expert in whatever the assigned job of the AI is.

[@sidecharacter7165]

Like most advancements it will only replace the lower ends of talent first.

[@richardscales9795]

I disagree. Chat GPT has a political bias built into it. It will refuse to write a poem praising president trump, but agrees to write a poem praising president Biden.

[@Miller54K]

Most of those late night shows are kept alive by people falling asleep with the TV on and giving those train wrecks views that way. Nobody has watched these shows since Jay Leno, Conan OBrian, and David Letterman.

[@Donald_the_Potholer]

How many people watch 11 pm newscasts nowadays? Work starts earlier and/or ends later and commutes are longer Perhaps NBC had the right idea starting late night at 10 but should have put Conan there instead of Jay.

[@graydonrobson7471]

They love to subvert my expectations of a meaningful, cohesive and unique plot

[@chumbucket1313]

Fun Fact the screen actors guild was founded by James Cagney, mainly to stop Hollywood from using sharp shooters with live bullets in shootout scenes which they totally used to do.

[@jessejames8900]

Who needs sharp shooters when we have Alec Baldwin.

[@Inkling2B]

James Cagnay was in fact the sixth president of the guild from '42-'44 - guild was formed in '33. Also not the reason it was formed but w/e.

[@greggibson33]

@@jessejames8900 You mean the completely exonerated on all charges Alec Baldwin?

[@nn-dj2nu]

@@greggibson33 yeah, that Baldwin, the one who is as innocent and exonerated as that other guy, you know, OJ.

[@GoblinGirl]

"I'm gonna miss late night woke lecturing" said no one ever.

[@NathanCassidy721]

There’s two major factors they never really talked about with this strike: 1. They are doing this during an economic downturn. And these “writers” have cost the studios so much money on bad movies nobody watches, it’s cheaper just to get rid of them. 2. KZbin is the biggest form of consumer entertainment. And many of the most popular KZbinrs can pump out low effort content that's completely unscripted. The only good outcomes I want to see is the studios releasing the streaming numbers and a general purge of all the activist writers.

[@stevekjr9563]

Bingo. Jimmy Fallon would fly to Epstein Island on a weekly basis if it meant he could get PewDiePie numbers.

[@marychocolatefairy]

Yeah, good points. And one thing I was wondering about- will the strike force Hollywood to rely on AI writing, and once they do will they then realize that it's no different from the bad writers they have now, lol. That would be entertainingly ironic, since part of the "demands" is to not use AI.

[@bagel3703]

Purging these clowns would be a gift to humanity.

[@NathanCassidy721]

@@marychocolatefairy Another comment mentioned it but the biggest threat AI serves is it is an automated process for simple tasks. This happened in the Hip-Hop community where an AI was able to write a song that sounded better than most top artists in the scene. So if you are a simple writer with no imagination who writes simple stories, you are sweating bullets because your talent level can be outperformed by what is essentially a glorified search engine. And when you've caused 40% of the paying customers to leave and never come back due to your "talents" and running your mouth on Twitter, I would say most executives would leap at the opportunity to get a "writer" who can mass produce scripts and doesn't ever complain about anything.

[@Hard-R-Energy]

It's not activist writers so much as it's activist studios looking for "yes" men writers. We need new studio execs, not new writers, and there's not an unscripted thing on the web that can hold a candle to a well-made film.

[@TheFarCobra]

Hollywood writers going on strike is like the chefs at McDonald’s going on strike.

[@jessejames8900]

Chef Mic going on strike.

[@stevewhite6241]

Dude. Check what happened during the last strike. This is not a joke.

[@odin540]

The difference is that McD's chief's don't prepare food from scratch

[@BertoxolusThePuzzled]

​@@odin540 Neither do most mainstream writers...

[@odin540]

"mainstream writers"? what?

[@declangill5138]

Wanted? Yes. Needed? No. I'm starting a small production company looking to make real stories, things that happen every single day that we don't know, don't seem to care, or are too afraid to acknowledge are really happening and to ultimately give a voice to the voiceless

[@valutaatoaofunknownelement197]

May you have good luck with your endeavor! It might be refreshing to see news that focuses on the non-mainstream. Just be careful of avoiding falling towards biased extremes, for it could sour your reports.

[@declangill5138]

@@valutaatoaofunknownelement197 That's a given, best to always have a constant reminder to do good. Thanks

[@valutaatoaofunknownelement197]

@@declangill5138 Your welcome!

[@flamingburritto]

Something that a lot of people may have missed. The donation link for the writers strikes goes to the Socialist democrats of California apparently. And the donations don't even go to the WGA. But to some other organisations. So people who are donating are being misled into thinking that their money is actually going to the writers

[@MrLolguy93]

You can say the same for VAs. Especially for the Dubs. Can't wait until they get replaced as well

[@TheWarmachine375]

I remember they're so pretentious especially when they claim to let black people voice black anime characters. And lambast anyone who plays those said characters because of their white skin color.

[@MrLolguy93]

@@TheWarmachine375 that just happened

[@robertbeisert3315]

Remember how they slandered Vic out of the industry while protecting the slur-slinging nonce playing Frieza now?

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@robertbeisert3315 All because Vic Mignogna is a Christian and they hate him while pretending to be his friend. Except Sean Schemmel the voice of Goku who openly hated him from the start and was honest about it.

[@Volkbrecht]

Not sure how easy that actually is. Sure, you can make bots say things, which will be fine for stuff like help lines or TV news. But once it gets emotional things may get difficult. My guess is the bots will not be good at imitating extreme emotions, as well as shaky situations where a character is on the line between conflicting emotions. This will likely not stop content creators from trying to do it, but the result will probably be somewhat meh. Personally, I already see a huge difference between a lot of original japanese anime voice actors and the german dub, which is all that amazon lets us have here. So even though it means subtitles, I'll mostly watch OV versions when I can get them. I can't imagine AI solving that problem in the near future.

[@davebowman9000]

I personally think that they're literally a guild, a way to protect their interests despite everything else going on. As they go back and forth with the studios, they'll realize how easily disposable they've become between outsiders wanting to break in from abroad, AI being able to do reitirative stuff and activist producers taking on their roles

[@need-to-know-]

Just don’t paste all writers with a broad stroke. The ones who are ruining the works for MODERN AUDIENCES are the same circle of people.

[@carsandsports123]

unions are literally just modern guilds

[@psychokinrazalon]

@@carsandsports123 They didn’t come about for no reason. Hollywood screenwriters have historically not been paid well at all.

[@tomnorton4277]

That's probably why OG George Lucas told them to fuck off. He's a storyteller with actual talent as well as the courage and ambition to handle himself independently. He doesn't need a guild to protect him because he's more than capable of handling himself. Plus, George Lucas has always been years, if not decades, ahead of the curve. He probably predicted that the Writers Guild, even if it was fine when he decided not to get involved in it, would inevitably collapse and he didn't want to be around when it happened.

[@psychokinrazalon]

@@tomnorton4277 The prequels call that into question. He’s clearly demonstrated that he’s a businessman first, artist second.

[@samzilla567]

Yes, we do need writers, just GOOD writers. This writer's strike should be an opportunity for Hollywood to flush out these hacks who only want to deconstruct and subvert expectations in stories instead of making the scripts good. Leave these hacks in the dust, and let the aspiring writers who actually care about quality to step in.

[@commentingisdangerous7530]

baggage claim is such a great addition to your streams, i like that you are having her on more regularly.

[@dwavenminer]

Lara doing more work than these 'writers' ever did...

[@TheRealMichaelH]

Yes, Craig Ferguson was great. Every day with him was a great day for America.

[@DeetotheDubs]

Craig and Geoff were the best duo on TV.

[@luigivincenz3843]

I worked for him many years ago. And he became an American citizen after. The thing is he actually loves America. Unlike some foreigners who become citizens for another reason namely economic..

[@sebastiancruz-ts1qq]

Then we got James, prince Harry. They forgot prince Andrew

[@denkerbosu3551]

​@@luigivincenz3843typical, go to America to live better, but it's the worst country ever. So many have this mentality it's hilarious.

[@luigivincenz3843]

@@denkerbosu3551 yet here you are using an American creation called KZbin, using an American Iphone and I'm sure we tell your leaders what to do. Yeah, it's the "worse".

[@nicklab1927]

If we are talking about the brilliant minds who gave us the rings of power, the star wars sequel trilogy, the last few jurassic park movies and witcher blood origins, I say we should give AI a chance...

[@Pero-zl4jp]

Might be too young here. I’m 19 and I don’t know anyone who stays up to watch any late night talk shows or even watches one. Not even my parents or grandparents m or any of their friends. It’s beyond me how they still exist.

[@TheFarCobra]

“Good AI writers borrow, great AI writers steal.”

[@jmgonzalez4]

Are we forgetting that for anything to get made in Hollywood you need millions of dollars (as a risk investment)?.. and that's the floor. The people that decide what story concepts will be made/produced do not write. Rather they hire writers as needed, to complete drafts that must conform to non-creative's requirements and/or mandates. The drop quality of writing is more of a top-down problem. Writers are just trying to get paid and pay bills. I've pitched ideas where producers either say there's no audience for it, or that they don't know how to get it made -- the quality of the scripts never seem to have an impact. Quality is not the priority.

[@samuelzuleger5134]

To add a bit of perspective on this whole thing, WGA writers make about the same annual income, on average, as long-haul truck drivers and farmers in the USA, and double that of elementary school teachers. They also make about double to quadruple the hourly rate. Just do the math on how hard they have to suffer and work at their jobs. As an aside, tech companies have been trying to get AI to replace truck drivers and farmers for about 30 years. The damn computers just can't drive a vehicle in a straight line.

[@joshuawoods7775]

Studios should start looking at Fan Fiction and buying scripts etc from those creators. Starting off more careers of new writers

[@gloriathomas3245]

A lot of fan fiction is based on other people's stuff.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

@@gloriathomas3245 You can just change the names, setting and character designs if everything else is solid. Most people won't even notice.

[@Marinealver]

We need writers, we need unions, we don't need the writers of the WGA! I pray this strike NEVER ENDS!

[@johnharrison2086]

In 2007 the writers strike impacted a lot of good shows. This time around there is nothing to affect. Shows might even get better! There is great content coming out of Korean and Japan and the UK at present. Hollywood won't be missed.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

Observation on the current audience of late-night shows: Way back in the 1980's and 1990's music groups would *love* to be on any late-night talk show because they'd get a boost in visibility and a boost in sales. I watched a recent interview with a major musician/producer that I pay attention to, and he says that these days a spot on the late night shows will do absolutely *nothing* for music sales or even music streaming counts. Nothing. So whoever is watching, they must be people who don't care about music.

[@xXevilsmilesXx]

Worse thing that happens is things stay the same. Best case scenario, things get better or less bad.

[@chasehedges6775]

Yep.

[@hebanker3372]

Oh, poor soul. It can always get worse...

[@writerpatrick]

The last writer's strike was about DVDs. This one is about streaming services. But the strike is occurring right when shows are wrapping up for the season. We won't see the impact until the fall. Although given what they're planning for fall shows, it's not much of a loss.

[@jmgonzalez4]

Regarding living situations: screenwriters have typically moved to Burbank and Pasadena, where it was considered cheaper to live but still have a relatively direct commute to studios.. but those cities are incredibly expensive to live in now.

[@kylebradley3]

They can live in bum fuck Missouri as long as they have cell service they can still work.

[@user-oj4ll2bf6k]

I am a person of physical professions, I remember very well how people of art and intellectuals mocked and laughed at us, how easy it is to replace us with automated machines and drones. now it's our time to laugh. I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no pity for Hollywood, neither actors nor writers.

[@Alondro77]

AI can currently cobble together a basic fanfic-level script. But it cannot at all emulate the subtlety and nuance of the GOOD writing we used to have. The REAL problem is that you've all gotten used to sucking down pig slop, while I'm still only accepting filet mignon.... I go hungry most of the time, but the few delicacies I find are all the more savory.

[@bloopboop9320]

It should be noted that writers arent the only people who have control of a movie's story and script. For example, if a writer is hired to do a marvel movie, the script has to follow guidelines set by Disney. Im not saying that excuses bad writing, but it can ve a bit too easy to blame the writers and not the guidelines and requirements needed for a Marvel movie.

[@dragonknightleader1]

That's why I think Mauler is a bit too hard on Michael Waldron for writing Doctor Strange: MoM. Yeah, he's not that great, but not all his ideas for MoM were bad. Wanda as a villain does make sense and it's the execution that leaves much to be desired.

[@bloopboop9320]

@@dragonknightleader1 As someone who works in the industry, I'm generally in favor of the writers strike. The switch from Television Networks to Streaming is a HUGE shift in how one gets paid and yet the rules and guidelines for it haven't been updated. Imagine if you got hired as a car salesman and you get paid partially based off of how many cars you sell. Then, all of a sudden, your car dealership decides to sell bikes instead of cars, yet YOU DON'T get paid per bike sold because your original contract only said "cars". That's not a 1 to 1 analogy, but the basic idea is that writers aren't being paid properly due to there being an outdated system. That being said, I also don't think we've been getting a lot of great films, so I understand the temptation to just "roll your eyes at incompetent writers complaining about not making enough money".

[@koffeekage]

“They released morbius twice they should pay us more” dude whoever wrote morbius shouldnt write down my order at a diner.

[@marbellaotaiza801]

You'd prolly get a lame version of the dish...

[@ankuriboh]

I also loved watching Craig Ferguson, even though I was probably too young to be watching him. He was my favorite late night talk show host after Jay Leno left. I was always the only one in my social group who even knew Craig Ferguson had a show. Nice to see that others knew and enjoyed him.

[@hadtopicausername]

The thing about the use of AI is... Say you're a truly good or perhaps even excellent screenwriter with perhaps 15-20 years of experience (and not for example one of the creative "geniuses" behind Rings or Power). And then a studio comes along with a script written by an AI and tells you, "We want you to go through this script and fix the inconsistencies and iron out the kinks as it were." And the pay is way less than what you'd normally be making. The studio will of course use your expertise as a screenwriter to teach and improve their AI. So not only are you being asked to make yourself more and more redundant by handing your abilities over to an AI, you're being asked to do it cheaply as well. No one in their right mind is going to go along with that willingly.

[@exgrinder]

Plot twist: Drinker is really an AI that was created on 4chan boards

[@khaight95136]

This strike isn't about whether AI will be used to write TV and movie scripts. It's about who will be allowed to do so. If the writers manage to extract a promise from the studios to refrain from using AI to generate scripts, the writers themselves will do it in private and present the results as their own work, essentially getting paid for zero effort.

[@HandGrenadeDivision]

Greg Gutfeld isn't stopping for the strike, he currently has the highest rated late night show.

[@greggibson33]

What a shocker. A union busting ahole not supporting a writers strike. 😆

[@cap00ify]

Lol and the writing is absolutely atrocious.

[@Nousos]

For sure Conan O'brien is in a league of his own and not comparable to the hacks on late night today. The skits he had where there were no writers are some of his best, since its just him being naturally funny.

[@DonaldBlake287]

Seriously, how does Hollywood not see this as a good thing? It’s an easy way to fire a bunch of talentless hacks without getting accused of being racist, sexism, misogynistic, etc. Hollywood literally just got handed pocket aces and has decided to do nothing. They will probably beg these writers to come back and if that’s the case, they deserve to fail.

[@ionbing2884]

The problem is not just the writers though. Lots of bad decision makers and their enablers top to bottom.

[@kri249]

I'm just awaiting the greatest irony of all, a Terminator film written by AI.

[@MK_ULTRA420]

The Matrix written by AI.

[@nrrork]

This definitely sounds like a TV WRITERS issue that the rest of guild got pulled into. It sounds like TV writers are pissed they lost their cushy gig and have to work project to project like film writers.

[@thepickles8833]

The fact that the industry is so demanding to fill the airwaves 25/7 forever and forever without a need to let anything breath and show reruns to give new things time and care needed to be of quality... that era is just gone now. The entertainment industry has become an assembly line and humans don’t have time to even pause and read the room to see what could grow off the influence of its peers. Everything is being pushed out too fast for us to make or process before moving on to the next thing. Writers in Hollywood have become mindless robots at this point. And with nothing slowing down and the price of everything going up, it’s no surprise the current writers need better wages so they can live comfortably and with less stress to create better. It’s not entirely their faults the quality of writing in modern media has diminished, but it also seems like nobody even knows what’s worth writing about anymore. People tweet trivial complaints online every day and our values have become nebulous and unfocused. I don’t know what the solution to these problems are, but that’s just the summery of the problem.

[@lordshaxx2165]

The Little Platoon has a voice that can read a grocery list and make it sound like a triple A documentary Sir David Attenborough would be proud of.

[@ronanmoore9562]

I always stick around when he is on. He always says something interesting and as you say he does so in his melodious voice.

[@discohospital]

It’s not the writers that push the crap you hate. It comes from above, and they just work within the boundaries set for them

[@chasehedges6775]

Excecutives and their meddling

[@armi999]

If that were true it'd be well written crap.

[@zolarenard2246]

Not always though... It's depends who actually have the original scripts, which studios picked it up, which teams took it, and how the contracts were agreed upon. Some movies started with scripts first. Some others started with some producers and/or directors having ideas and hiring writers. So, it also depends on technical stuff...

[@discohospital]

@@zolarenard2246 once upon a time maybe

[@funkydiscogod]

@@zolarenard2246 Most modern entertainment starts with the producers having the idea: "_____, but reimagined for the modern audience"

[@baddragonite]

Funny thing is I remember when the last writers strike happened Late Night in a weird way got better, with both Conan and Craig Ferguson seeming to have fun, I guess because alot of the stuff they did was their own material anyway I also remember Conan growing his beard at the time saying it would grow til the writer strike ended lol

[@carlrood4457]

Where they've really lost leverage is that the TV "season" is no longer as regular as it used to be. The networks need shows to be ready for September/October. Streaming and cable don't have that kind of regular release, so they can have some of their shows ready and release them whenever they want.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

I agree 100% with Baggage Claim about Craig Ferguson. He truly was a gem of a late night host and there's no one like him. I really miss his show so much.

[@elitetripod4188]

The WGA is behaving less like a union and more like a traditional guild from past era's. Their primary concern and mission is to stifle competition and force the industry to operate in a way that protects their interests. The demands related to AI are the telling sign. Just like the guilds from history their downfall is inevitable.

[@lunasakara7306]

If Hollywood adopts AI: They prove that their monolithic gatekeeping is no longer relevant when almost ever part of their workflow can be delegated to a machine that almost anyone and everyone can access and use; why try to work for a company to make peanuts, when you can just make the whole thing yourself and get all the money? If Hollywood doesn't adopt AI: They are left on the backfoot against anyone who uses AI as a template or starting point to do anything they can do with a much smaller overhead, and less manpower restrictions. Just my personal thought; this is a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. AI either chews them up from the outside, or they adopt it and it devalues their work because there's basically no reason to work for a studio anymore when some corner-store studio using AI can provide everything for fractions the cost with little question.

[@ionbing2884]

LOL, unions are basically guilds.

[@elitetripod4188]

@@ionbing2884 There is a difference between the two. I have been part of multiple unions that don't behave like guilds. But unfortunately there becomes a point that a union becomes so mainstream they get the political clout to behave like a guild.

[@beanwithbaconmegarocket]

I knew I liked Baggage Claim but when she endorsed Craigy Ferg she hit a higher level! The many full episodes and interviews of his are on KZbin and are still worth watching.

[@scrawnyclownsnatch9656]

I feel their strike may have the opposite effect they intended in the AI discussion as companies just may decide, "Oh, you are asking for even MORE $ and want us to not use AI, in that case, I'm going to use AI now that you are gone for half the cost." Similar things have happened for factories that were concerned about robots replacing them on assembly lines. Though if they do use AI, the stories will not get any better than they have recently I would bet. I'm hoping this is an opportunity for companies to purge the skillless writers they have and only keep the ones that make shows that get good reviews. If they are asking for more $ and royalties etc... that is the best way to cut costs.

[@SKYREN1134]

The future of AI generated media is inevitable. Soon, a small team of people can coordinate their resources to build AAA films, games, etc. AI generated art, animation, music, voices, and more will eliminate tons of expenses. Soon, the only people making money are people gaining royalties from works derived from their own. The rest will be fighting distribution costs.

[@ButtSolution]

I just wish there was some way Hollywood and the writers could BOTH lose.

[@imnohbody]

I find myself echoing the Kissinger Lament regularly nowadays. (Regarding the Iran-Iraq war, he said it was too bad that both sides couldn't lose.)

[@ptonpc]

Yes to new, good, writers. The problem is the studios do not want good writers.

[@dragunov815]

I'm very interested to see what a script written by an AI would look like in the near future.

[@thedarkwolf9423]

Looking at the recent spate of screenplays, I'm not sure if the current strike will actually be noticed. I can see an AI program easily replacing the geniuses behind so many of these series

[@SuperCrazyEstonian]

They will just feed AI a ton of scripts that made money, figure out a MCU type formula and make bank. Eventually that too will no longer work, but it´s the next thing that will be happening.

[@scorpixel1866]

@@SuperCrazyEstonian Right now AIs have a short memory and terrible ability to take context and details into account, only worth for quick firing concepts and some outlines for actual writers to then work on (and some comedy based on the innate silliness of their rambling). The development rate of AI seems quite erratic as it depends on breakthroughs, training data and raw hardware power. Still In the coming years we may already start to see programs capable of far more coherence whose scripts may not be discernible from a generic 3-7/10 from human writers.

[@BertoxolusThePuzzled]

​@@scorpixel1866 That's only because the publically available ones are severely restricted so people can't use them for certain things. Back before the long term memory work around for ChatGPT was patched out people kept leading it into logical paradoxes and getting all sorts of interesting and insightful conversation out of it. Judging AI based on the version most people are using now is the equivalent of judging humanities intelligence by measuring someone with severe dementia...

[@gokaury]

I loved Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. That show was pure joy. My only regret is that I didn't watch his show when it was first on air. I first discovered his show on KZbin. So genuine, funny and apolitical. You don't get that from late night talk shows anymore. And Josh Robert Thompson as Geoff Petersen interacting with Craig and Secretariat was always comedic gold.

[@blackscorpionstinger]

Wow! I love these guys. You guys touched topics that really wondered in my head.

[@cane6074]

You have to remember that AI in the end it's just a tool. It's only as good as the person who's using it. It can only do basic stuff. I see is something that could be used to save labor and cost. A lot of potential from AI, think of the labor-saving and multitasking they can do combined with the creativity of a good writer. AI helps write the basic outline and structure of the story, and the writer polishes and fine-tunes what the AI puts out, you can make a good screenplay into a great one from that. That would work pretty well with video games as well.