Hollywood Has to Change

This video is sponsored by Skillshare. The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare skl.sh/captainmidnight07234
It's been a rough summer for Disney and Warner Brothers. In this video, I go over their year of flops, the WGA and SAG strikes and more.
Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)
Follow me on Twitter: / midnightcap
Follow me on Facebook: / midnightcap
Special thanks to Andrew Elliott (Stalli111: / stalli111 ) for editing this video!

[@captainmidnight]

What do you think was Hollywood's best decade creatively? The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare skl.sh/captainmidnight07234

[@chasehedges6775]

This is their worst decade ever. It’s been mediocre, aside from a few hit and blocks of gold

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

For me it’s probably the 1990’s.

[@DrumWild]

It's hard to say, as every previous decade appears highly creative when compared to our current pathetic, uncreative, lame state of profits-over-creativity. The problem with Hollywood is similar to the problem with the music industry, in that they've gotten really big and everything got expensive, so they are not willing to take risks. Instead, they demand "The Sure Thing." In their question to have guaranteed profits, they've thrown creativity in the garbage dump. Sure, there are a few good movies here and there; Hereditary comes to mind. But if someone is going to put out a bad movie, then I can only side with Rich Evans when I say that a bad movie is not enjoyable unless the movie makers were trying. They're barely trying anymore.

[@DrumWild]

It's hard to say, as every previous decade appears highly creative when compared to our current pathetic, uncreative, lame state of profits-over-creativity. The problem with Hollywood is similar to the problem with the music industry, in that they've gotten really big and everything got expensive, so they are not willing to take risks. Instead, they demand "The Sure Thing." In their question to have guaranteed profits, they've thrown creativity in the garbage dump. Sure, there are a few good movies here and there; Hereditary comes to mind. But if someone is going to put out a bad movie, then I can only side with Rich Evans when I say that a bad movie is not enjoyable unless the movie makers were trying. They're barely trying anymore.

[@TCEdit_Z]

Idk if this is a unpopular take but I’m a big fan of the 80s

[@Solo13508]

I love how the studio execs are whining about how "unreasonable" the demands are. Big talk from people who make more in a day than the average writer makes in a year

[@mightquinnable]

I can understand why it’s “unreasonable” cause it can be effect people not involved in the strike. Theaters can really die at this point

[@sigmacademy]

Successful writers make about the same money for a single project as most other people in other professions make for the entire year. Maybe if they didn't live in the most expensive piece of real estate in their region, they could survive on what they make.

[@thepants1450]

​@@mightquinnableboo hoo. Blame the studios not the strikers then

[@demidevilqueen]

@@mightquinnable .... then the theatres need to be supporting the writers and actors striking too. If you business requires the work of others to stay afloat, supporting the people doing the work is an obvious answer.

[@emmanuelchavez7748]

​@@sigmacademydamn it's almost like living in California is already expensive as it is 💀 you really think writers live in big ass mansions?

[@MarceloHenriqueAlmeida]

I agree 100% with you. I miss the mid-range mid-budget movies. Now you go to a multiplex and see only two or three options because all big movies have three or four screenings at once. Matt Damon explained why this happens on a podcast and it's basically due the fact they don't have the income from DVDs anymore, just streaming and that doesn''t pay the bills.

[@supersleepygrumpybear]

It's Napster all over again...

[@MarceloHenriqueAlmeida]

@supersleepygrumpybear Yes. Well observed.

[@fortynights1513]

Correct me if this is an incorrect perception, but when physical DVD rentals were common (and this you had to go to Blockbuster or a physical store), then consumers only had to choose from what was on the shelf. If so, then if a film looked unique and stood out to a customer compared to everything on the shelf, then those projects could make more money outside of their theatrical run than they are likely to now. Correct me if I’m wrong.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

​@fortynights1513 that's essentially correct. A lot of movies that didn't do so hot in theaters often got second chances in the video stores. And that's why we had a lot of cult classics come out of the 80s and 90s too. I worked at a video store all through high school and my coworkers and I would just talk up some of these movies and people would rent them even if they skipped it in the theater or it wasn't shown at our local theater, it was a great system. I even used to go to a larger independent video store a half hour away just to check out their collection and chat with the clerks.

[@tjhicks3600]

@@fortynights1513 that makes logical sense. Unique shows/movies had more of a chance back then

[@otakubullfrog1665]

When Endgame was released, almost everyone was hyped for it, but plenty of people were talking openly about how they might like a break from superhero movies, how it seemed like a fitting ending and they just didn't see how anything could top it, how they weren't as interested in what was planned for the next phase, etc. Disney really should have listened and had a plan to pivot to lower budgets or a less dense release schedule or at least some fresher ideas if demand started to dry up. Because they didn't, they're now having to make it up as they go along while panicking.

[@IndexInvestingWithCole]

I honestly assumed Endgame was going to be the last superhero movie for like 10 years since everything had built to it and now it was done

[@Grandmas_Favorite]

Yeah idk how they thought that his many releases was a good idea. Also, let’s be honest, the quality isn’t good. Politics are now involved… Everything is girl boss this girl boss that / forced diversity… I’m all for it, if they keep making good movies and shows. Guardians 3 proves there’s a market for super hero’s still

[@Lena-cw2yd]

@@Grandmas_Favorite I understand your point im just here to say that there's no such thing as forced diversity and its just called bad writing

[@fernandososa6507]

@@Lena-cw2ydTell that to the next live action Snow White. Blissful ignorance..

[@Lena-cw2yd]

@@fernandososa6507 read what i said again, slowly

[@franug]

You're SO RIGHT about them abandoning the older audiences. I know for sure my parents and in-laws would love to back to the movies regularly again, but they barely find stuff that interest them enough to go, like good legal dramas, war movies, etc. They end up sticking to watching European movies and series on streaming. And it shows how stupid studios are, because people older than 45 or so like going to the movies bc it was literally the only way they had to watch movies in the past; they're used to it, and it's a nice, fuss-free way to have a night out; it's guaranteed tickets!

[@WhiteChocolate74]

​@default8198 your comment makes no sense

[@franug]

@default8198 I guess but that's always been the case🤷‍♀️

[@dogeshark204]

My dad loves movies, but every time he goes to the theater he says that he doesn't find anything interesting. It's either kindergarten movies, superhero stuff or mediocre horror movies. Sad

[@One.Zero.One101]

📌I think "Video on Demand" also has something to do with it. It's a wonderful technology but also has its downsides. When I was a kid I watched A Few Good Men, Forrest Gump, The Usual Suspects, Seven, and Sleepless in Seattle because I accidentally caught them on cable. If I was born today, I would never intentionally seek out those movies. I'm very thankful I got to watch those movies because of scheduled television.

[@TheCowardRobertFord]

Also, older people have more money.

[@lonelychameleon3595]

Of course studio executives will say it’s a “bad time” for a strike. That’s what execs in any industry will say, which is why it’s always a good time for a strike.

[@Horatio787]

The always bad economy. In these trying times.

[@franug]

Lol, if is a "good time" for a strike, a strike wouldn't make sense at all😂

[@leonrobinson8180]

Exactly. If it were a "good time", the execs could starve the writers out, ignoring them while counting their billions. But now that billion dollar blockbusters are the exception rather than the rule, the execs are desperate, and will likely listen.

[@crazyinsane500]

@@franug I imagine a good time would be when writers have a bunch of bangers they can start putting out, guaranteeing butts in the seats. A bad time would be 2020 onwards, with things like Velma, Rings of Power, and Halo driving audiences away from streaming services, not entirely due to executive meddling. It's the equivalent of the Burger King foot lettuce guy saying "Oh, you want to fire me? Then I'll just go on strike." If *anyone* sides with that guy, then it's time to clean house. It'd be credible if the guy who knows how to keep the ice cream machine working threatens to strike, though.

[@na976]

When an exec says it’s a bad time for a strike, it’s the perfect time for a strike.

[@eyeofhorus99]

When I saw Asteroid City, it was a full theater. When I saw Indiana Jones, just 10 people in the theater. People are definitely starved for the mid-budget movie.

[@Urvy1A]

AKA boring movies

[@saratheweird4171]

​@@Urvy1A rather have a well done movie with quality, art and love than a plastic riskless big studio movie, your loss man.

[@thomasgreen1586]

⁠@@Urvy1A Haven’t seen Asteroid City yet, but I guarantee that it looks like and is overall a way better movie compared to the MIDiana Jones movie I saw a couple weeks ago

[@geoffreyrichards6079]

Can a film series like Indiana Jones really be made these days? Filming has changed so much since the original trilogy that it’s practically impossible to do everything exactly the same as the originals.

[@Toastcat890]

Depends on where you are there’s a reason small budget movies do better on streaming especially with how expensive it is to go to the movies.

[@misterdarwin]

Tighter budgets would invite more discipline. They would have to think about having a script nailed down before filming. Keep action scenes focused instead of overlong and sprawling. It can't be said enough that the films in Marvel's Phase One were modest in budget and scope.

[@spencerweiss6337]

Agreed but that conflicts entirely with the writers strikes. Unclear if that’ll happen

[@crystalpokedude4329]

​@@spencerweiss6337if the writers make better films, they make more money, thus they earn more money. A lot of the reason films are doing so poorly is the writing quality decrease. Not defending the corpos being greedy, but the writers should start producing content that makes more money than they earn as their salary before asking for more money.

[@spencerweiss6337]

@@crystalpokedude4329 agreed on all fronts. My point’s more that this idea is “have writers work and edit first, under a tighter budget, then begin filming” (which I like), and writers are going on strike to demand more guaranteed pay rn which conflicts with the idea of tighter budgets What you said makes sense and in theory should be how we operate but reality clashes with logic often times

[@crystalpokedude4329]

​@@spencerweiss6337there's also the fact that one of the things that the writers started striking over was larger writing room sizes/if a show gets cancelled you have to keep those people employed by moving them to a new show, which at that point is making them even harder to take seriously. "We want more money and you're also required to hire more of us and pay them the same higher wage, and you can't fire us without moving us to another project and keeping us employed." They can't have it both ways, and they're just sounding childish trying to push for it.

[@nebeskisrb7765]

You forget that often it's not writers themselves who fuck up, but corpo interference which makes demands for the sake of perceived broader appeal.

[@eyesore21]

I work as an editor and mainly do trailer stuff and commercial work, but have worked as an assistant editor on 2 netflix originals. I never met anyone other than the editing team and the main thing I learned was how soulless it felt. The lead editor told us of a magical time (10-20yrs ago) where writers and directors would pop in and collaborate and give pointers/ preferences. I do hope that comes back because I’d love to keep working but yea..

[@breadtubediet1524]

it almost sounds like collaborative art should involve...collaboration between the artists

[@eyesore21]

@@breadtubediet1524 Exactly man, teamwork makes a better product

[@KrisBryant99]

WAIT A MINUTE Eyesore!!! So are you CONFIRMING my suspicion that writers BARELY do anything???

[@eyesore21]

@@KrisBryant99 NO actually. By the time we get jobs they have already been forcibly removed from the project to cut costs. They aren’t allowed to collab in post because that means they’d have to be paid to come in past their initial duration on the project. At least that has been the case for the minor projects i’ve been on.

[@KrisBryant99]

@@eyesore21 Oh I see and THANKS!!!

[@Vode1234]

Not sharing honest viewership numbers is absolutely insane. I'm shocked that such ridiculous behavior was/is tolerated

[@chuckles471]

If a show can appear successful, then it's chances of being successful are higher. And giving viewership numbers can kill that perception of success stone dead. The streaming shows need that word of mouth, even if it isn't true. "People watched 10 million hours...(even though that isn't a lot of viewers when you take into account the series length and service using autoplay)". A lot of people are not going to give something time, if they hear nobody is watching. It's messed up, but it's the main reason for it. Also sprinkle a bit culture wars, and you even have people even on the creative side who won't want those numbers out there as it would be giving ammo to the other side if their project failed.

[@vijaz5559]

i mean if i was your boss, I would do anything to lower your wage but still make you work like a slave. its profit and win win for all

[@PauloSilva-ep9ox]

Perfect!!

[@gregvs.theworld451]

@@chuckles471 What I don't understand is why any of that means actors can't get residuals per stream of the show. Even if behind the scenes views are middling actors should still get payment per stream of a show, however many times it was streamed, and especially if the show is actually doing gangbusters.

[@noelvalenzarro]

@@vijaz5559not everyone has that morally bankrupt money oriented mindset

[@avidfather1864]

Remember, Jurassic Park and each individual LOTR film cost just above 90 million to produce. Take into account, both of these had huge production scales, big sets and state of the art effects for their era (and they both honestly still look beter than much of the crap that comes out in 2023). I just don't get why so many movies today need such inflated budgets.

[@thepaintingbanjo8894]

Because those projects have workforces the sizes of an army from a medium-sized nation. Blame fossils like Zaslav and Iger who depend on chokeholding creativity to death in order to make that graph needle point up for the next quarter earnings. it's all about big budgets for safe IPs and small budgets.... for the same safe IPs. Mid-budget original movies are left to die, and relying on streaming is just a more complicated version of being robbed by gunpoint.

[@max2themax]

You have to take into account the fact that 93 million of 2002's money is ~158 million in today's money. And Jurassic park's 63 million 1993 budget is 133 million today.

[@Crazyarchfiend]

90 million was considered huge back then so it’s not exactly a good comparison

[@thegoodhornet]

@@CrazyarchfiendNot to mention how it fails to account for how _Jurassic Park_ and the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy were correctly identified as massive risks in their own day; _Jurassic Park_ needed its sprawling marketing to maximize its visibility, even with the power of Spielberg’s name, while _LOTR_ was helmed by an obscure indie director, with only one Hollywood production under his belt, on top of adapting the work of an established literary giant in Tolkien.

[@wrestlinganime4life288]

​@@thegoodhornetSame thing for Titanic, Cameron took huge gamble with that movie

[@bazzvid64]

We just need quality, heartfelt movies, that does not mean this can not be done in an action film, or a big blockbuster, but we need there to be original heart felt stories and moments.

[@brotalnia]

Exactly! So much stuff is filled with cynicism and contempt for the viewers nowadays.

[@SacredTenno_Zen]

Sounds like too much to ask.

[@benjaminwatt2436]

Top that with the overtly preachy political rhetoric, instead of sublte themes and its no wonder Hollywood is in trouble

[@TheRealBeatMaster]

I feel like movie quality is starting to matter more than ever. Inflation is really cutting into peoples budgets and with cinema ticket prices wildly rising people will put more thought into what they're gonna watch. Spiderverse being a big hit and The Flash being a historic flop shows me that it's not just the superhero genre, but especially the movie quality that determines success.

[@senacht]

When Hollywood started thinking of their productions as franchises rather than individual movies the writing was on the wall. It was the start of spectacle over story being the primary driver. And the story and the budget were the casualties.

[@alexanderwindh4830]

Thing is. The audience made it that way. The studio saw where the money was. The audience decides. Always

[@wrestlinganime4life288]

The rise of the MCU is kinda responsible indirectly.. I remember like before the pandemic soo many studious were desperately trying to create a cinematic universe spending 100 of millions just for that (King Arthur, The Dark Universe, etc..) instead of just making good movies with lower budget

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

@@wrestlinganime4life288 The problem was they didn’t realize the foundation of the MCU was a bunch of movies that worked as standalone stories.

[@spinyslasher6586]

@@donkeysaurusrex7881 and MCU itself is crashing and burning now that their movies are becoming 'less standalone'.

[@Dave102693]

@@spinyslasher6586 Exactly

[@BusterKay916]

The entertainment industry is built on a foundation of taking risks, which goes against the grain of what any corporation wants to do, which is to minimize risk. The strikes are just those ideals coming to a head. Corporations don't seem to realize that they are pushing ppl towards to their breaking point/desperation. What did they expect to happen?

[@frankieseward8667]

Clearly not history repeating itself. Look at Sri Lanka, look at Kenya. Greed and corporatism is crippling the world and the elite are too scared to part away with some money. This is exactly why China is beating us, we lost the plot.

[@Windrake101]

The answer is: "Don't care. Have money." - Corporate

[@nersharific813]

They do realize it, they just don’t care. Corporations care solely about maximizing their profit.

[@damonlam9145]

@@Windrake101well Disney been about being woke than making profits

[@stanfordite1]

@@damonlam9145 And after my hostile takeover of Disney, the only thing that will matter is four words: "What would Walt do?" The same question that governed all decision making at Disney after his death.

[@aidanhever3369]

While walking my dogs with my mom, I told her about everything that was happening in Hollywood recently, like the writers' strike and new movies bombing every time. I even asked her what she thought about streaming movies and series, she told me that they feel lifeless commercials. Sigh... How I miss Blockbuster.

[@jamiebraswell5520]

Hollywood and the entertainment industry has become so corrupt, nothing but a cesspool of of evil ideology. A person is better off to just walk away and let it all burn. People would be surprised how much better they'd feel to leave this trash behind. People should stop letting the infection that is today's entertainment occupy such a high level of control in their life.

[@Jay-dn2fc]

Yeah I’d love to go back to blockbuster times. If only…

[@----.__]

@@Jay-dn2fcThe whole event was brilliant back in the day. Going to the movie store to spend half an hour to an hour picking out a new movie, as well as three to five weeklies, so you could get them on special. Then going to the store to pick up drinks and snacks for the movie. Then getting home with your friends and piling on to the couch and everyone laughing and joking in excitement. Opening the cover only to find the vhs hadn't been rewound, and everyone sighing! Then it was play time, and the pre-roll hit as the lights went down and the atmosphere was electric. Now people just sit on the couch, alone, and flick through the schedule on their remote looking for the least boring thing to watch. I don't know if hollywood realises or not, but the "magic" wasn't down to their movie, it was down to the experience people had making an occasion of watching a movie with their family or friends. It was the togetherness, the unity, the bringing together of loved ones that made it special. Their race to make more money by making things "more accessible" has killed the magic that used to be inherent with renting a vhs or dvd. That time has long gone and unless hollywood can bring back the magic and spectacle of watching a movie then they're just another generic tv show that no one will miss.

[@martianproductions997]

@@Jay-dn2fc Id love to go back to small family owned video store times

[@the_bru]

I'm optimistic. I think pre-pandemic we were seeing a lot of really interesting movies with crossover appeal between critics and audiences - Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Parasite were all great movies that had wide audiences too. Not sure if it was the pandemic or something else that put that on hold, but I think we're seeing it come back with movies like Everything, Everywhere All at Once and The Menu. The success of those kinds of movies (relative to their budgets) plus the relative failure of the big budget safe films bodes well for the industry long term I think.

[@spencerweiss6337]

Beau is Afraid flopped though and that’s a huge shame

[@OnboardG1]

Knives Out is an interesting one, because I really enjoyed the sequel, but because Netflix guards it jealously it had a crazy short cinema run. It's a shame because that film is fabulous on a big screen.

[@nathanielblomberg2943]

I can't say I'm quite so optimistic. You are putting a lot of faith in the ability of corporate executives to; 1) check their egos and change course based on 2) public feedback that comes from being in touch with internet culture. These are two things that upper management in any industry; not just hollywood, are awful at.

[@nickclark1815]

I think this year has also shown that the "safe" options really aren't as safe as execs thought they would be. Superhero movies and sequels can still bring in the big bucks (Like GOTG3 and ATSV) but there needs to be quality behind it. They can't just churn out blockbusters like they have the past decade.

[@MarquisdeL3]

I think you've definitely lost a lot of the "let's just go see a movie" tickets, where people just were in the mood to go to the theater and see whatever was showing that appealed. And there's lots of reasons for that (cost, comfort, Covid, home theater quality), but it's definitely an impact.

[@finndaniels9139]

@@MarquisdeL3 partly I think it’s also just film quality. Films that build strong word of mouth tend to really well still

[@nabagaca]

@@MarquisdeL3 I feel like part of that as well is because so many movies are trying to be some huge franchise or connected universe. it's hard to spontaneously see a movie when the expectation is that you've seen x movies in the past related to it, to understand its many references and story points, or for it to end on some cliffhanger ill have to watch the next movie to get the full story. Give me a movie I can just go see, with zero expectations about what I've watched before, or what ill watch later

[@One.Zero.One101]

📌One factor the author forgot to mention is the biggest corporations are consolidating their power by buying up all the other studios. That means there's less studios to try something more innovative because everything is owned by one or two corporations. They basically all fall under a handful of executives who make the decisions for all of them.

[@williamapple7705]

@@nabagacayeah I feel this. Like, Venom 3 could come out and have fantastic reviews but I would feel a lot less compelled to go see it because I haven’t seen Venom 1 & Venom 2. Same thing with whatever Sinister Six movie Sony pumps out.

[@theonuss6607]

Dune was also a passion project. Denis really put a lot of love into Dune. You can see the quality in the scenes and score as opposed to balls to the wall CG visuals like a Marvel movie

[@stormtraitor6545]

Denis Villeneuve is a true artist, he's one of those talents that Hollywood needs right now to secure these bigger budget movies.

[@rickardkaufman3988]

@@stormtraitor6545 He has consistently made excellent movies from August 32nd on Earth and Incendies all the way up to his foray into thrillers and sci-fi like Sicario and Blade Runner 2049.

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

For some reason ppl still find a way to hate on that movie. Apparently anything that gets critical attention is overrated or pretentious. Also whats so irritating is that ppl dismiss it as ‘just another IP-movie’. I’m really hoping Dune: Part 2 hits big, because for fucks sake its based on a fantastic book, its not ‘just some random IP film’, it stands apart as a unique movie with a lot of hard work and care by the artists involved with it

[@AbsoluteAbsurd]

Yea, Dune was just beautiful.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

Shame he didn’t make the navigators and sand worms look as cool as in the Lynch version because all you’re left with without them is a mediocre story.

[@bradwoods371]

The problem with Hollywood is quantity over quality.

[@dmac7128]

I would say its more of the complete lack of variety of genres, and types of stories that is its biggest problem. The major studios actually put out a lower number of movies compared to just 5 years ago because the ones they do green light are so expensive to make, they prevent them from green lighting smaller mid budget movies

[@dennisd9875]

@@dmac7128 I think he also is including the massive 'can't even finish in my lifetime' content floating around on all the streaming platforms. There is a massive change from quantity to quality in the past few years as a result of the streaming wars. everyone is trying to be top dog in the future and that's not going to be the result

[@Ribulose15diphosphat]

Depends on How you define Quality. If you say Quality=Budget it is the opposite. -Taking a sum, to fund a single cliche-Blockbuster that is meant to please a large Demografie is what they are doing now. And if it fails a lot of Money is lost. -Taking the same sum, to fund 5 independent Autuer-Films. If 4 of them flop and the fith beace an all-time classic you won. And are less vulnerable to changing viewer taste.

[@Joh_290]

Old hollywood movies I watched from the 2000s and 2010s is better President Ronald Reagan would be rolling in his Grave Seen how awful hollywood is in 2020s

[@michaelt7153]

This is why Everything Everywhere All At Once was a hit. It took so many chances yet was expertly directed and with heart

[@gadget00]

It's a great analysis of the situation. I think the main driver of all this nonsense was Netflix starting to make feature films and entering the Academy. When the movie studios saw their livelihoods in danger with this new "hot tech company with rising stocks" entering their territory (a company they were licensing their own media libraries, even worse) they thought they could "pulled it off" on their own and go attack Netflix back in it's own territory: internet streaming. Now they are like a math equation and are cancelling each other on both spaces: online streaming as a service does sucks now and is severly fragmented, and offline entertainment movies and shows are also very bad as well. In the middle are the actual writers and actors, the "content creators", that are been hammered on both sides online and offline to "produce content quick and cheap" to lure investors to pump up the stock eventhough the audiences won't respond. That game is coming to an end. Again, great analysis and just straight on point with that observation of the studios trying to "out-Netflix Netflix" and derailing their whole business in the process

[@hcxpl1]

Although I mostly agree I'd argue Netflix only started to push its own originals bc it already knew that those vast catalogues it enjoyed would soon be swept away from them; I mean, it's not like the studios "saw their livelihoods in danger", they saw a new opportunity to make more money and maybe even bypass the cinema not having to share the profit with distributors, and sooner or later they would come for streaming, as soon as it was technologically viable for most people... I'm not sure where this leaves us in terms of "the cause" of all this, since we also can't ingore things like how a cinema ticket is pretty costly nowadays or even something like the VFX industry and how it affects the production of films nowadays.

[@jacobq.2204]

Yah it couldn't be the total decline of any actual good writing and original ideas right? Naw it has to be these other issues that are making people jaded on entertainment. Look at John Wick, Mission Impossible, Extraction, Fury Road. None of them have scripts for "modern audiences". None of them have forced diversity. None of them have a political or social message. They are just good. Now look at the bombs. Most, not all, have progressive writers writing total shlock for "modern audiences". Its garbage and you guys know it but this channel refuses to accept that. Terrible writers and activists ruin everything.

[@captainbrodude8251]

​@@jacobq.2204Spider-Verse especially the second one was pretty diverse and progressive and are doing quite quite well tho. The original Star Wars by Lucas's own words was partly a subtle Critisicm of the Vietnam War. Fast and the Furious for all its faults, have a huge global following in large part due to its Global cast. Not sure if what you're saying adds up

[@antoniofernandesmarchetti1097]

Look at the other side: look How diversas is Morbius... Kkk Jokes aside, as i always say, the problema is not "woke" pra "moderno" writing, it's Just bad writing.

[@nifftbatuff676]

No the problem wasn't Netflix. It was Hollywood again.

[@StephenLeGresley]

I've worked in this industry behind the camera for a decade now and it's absolutely bloodthirsty in the ways that studios try to get away with paying people as little as possible. There are jobs I've worked (can't say names) where I have been paid very little and put in long hard hours, but in one of those cases it's because I was working on a war movie and I really believed in the subject matter. And it's important to remember that those of us who work as crew on a production don't get anywhere near what the actors make and for us job security is even less assured We are seeing so many institutions both in and out of the entertainment industry being ripped apart by corporate greed and it has to stop. Please support this strike in any way that you can. These are the people who work themselves ragged to bring to life all the stories that entertain us and they deserve fair treatment. Thank you.

[@supersleepygrumpybear]

How do you think Hollywood will compete with foreign markets? Some of our favorite recent shows / movies have been Korean, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Brazilian, South African, etc.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@supersleepygrumpybearHollywood competes as they always have for a century now: big dumb blockbusters. There is a reason no other countries tries to compete in making big dumb blockbusters for a international audience.

[@crazyralph6386]

I’ll support the regular filmworkers who simply shut their mouths and go to work in order to pay the bills, but you can’t ever expect anyone of sound mind, to support these woke activist writers, who have basically high jacked the industry with their garbage film/tv content in the past 13 years? They should all be fired for new blood, and maybe Hollywood might have another chance.

[@ekwensu8797]

@@crazyralph6386 okay grandpa, lets go to bed now

[@thatgamenpc3480]

I think the writers most certainly have a reason to go on strike. Studios don't treat them well and force them to write movies that spoon feed people politics. Something needs to change and the writers have to get paid better and not be forced to write crap stories with a bunch of political messaging.

[@micahbonewell5994]

Your point on Studio's ignoring older audiences I think is quite key. As older audiences are more likely to see a movie in person rather than stream it, they have the most disposable income, and the baby boomers are a huge generation in terms of population. They are probably missing out on a large underserved customer base.

[@jonoboio1233]

I recently saw No Hard Feelings and oh my god I realised how much we need these kind of mid budget smaller films. Fun films to break up all the Marvel and Star Wars kinda stuff

[@KungFuWombat]

Billionaires really think they can just squeeze every drop of productivity and creativity out of writers and actors and then move on the second these people ask for fair compensation and treatment. Absolutely disgusting.

[@TheWolfXCIX]

Have you watched modern Hollywood movies, most of these writers are activist hacks and the companies are absolutely right to let them strike themselves into unemployment

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

People should side with writer and actor not greedy, selfish, out of touch ceos or dumbass twitterers with blue check marks

[@damiantirado9616]

It’s capitalism. Hopefully Americans wake up and fight back

[@clarkmichaels822]

The problem is that they're right. For everyone who quits there are ten people lined up to take over. It's the same in the gaming industry. You find something people are passionate about and the people working there will take almost infinite amounts of abuse to be able to keep doing it. And the people in charge know this and will abuse it.

[@windupstudios8960]

Just like every other corporation lol

[@JayFingers]

As a writer, I thank you for such a well-researched and informative video. This perfectly explains what’s wrong with the industry and why it’s found itself in its current situation. We’re definitely witnessing a watershed moment, not just for entertainment, but for labor relations across the board. It’s going to be very interesting to see where this will lead. I’m hoping for the best. 🙏🏾 Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this.

[@jamesremus6777]

We stand with you. The industry is nothing without good writers.

[@franug]

From afar I envy how strong your unions are. Keep going strong, history shows us that this is necessary for change to come✊️

[@solarmaru49]

All unions claim their cause is for labor relations generally. It won’t be, try not to over exaggerate.

[@Vivi_9]

@@solarmaru49 way to simp for the corporations lmao

[@therokku7393]

@@Vivi_9 more than simping is reality, Unions dont benefit equally on all jobs, in construction and trades you know what you re getting and unions can push bcs of that, they can stop production if they can, but entertainment is a second need, certainly it isnt a good life to dont have movies, but most people need to eat and have shelter first, also in entertainment you cant know exactly how a movie/series will perform, even with good publicity you cannot predict succes unless you have an ip backup, Into/ Across the spiderverse was bold in their animation and narrative techniques, but its spiderman, the name alone brings tickets, the same with Batman, but Franchises goes against art itself in the sense that you cannot produce art the same way you produce copper or bread, Financially succesfull Art depends too much on the audience, is a High Risk/ High Reward business, that why unions there are kinda pointless in art, bcs the audience change so fast that sometimes you require quick decisision making and Unions arent that fast by nature, the only way i could see better results its in a new wave of studios with new bosses that have money upfront, A24 like Midnight said, the bosses probably stars of the past mixed with new people, Art is not a Tech Startup and it shouldnt, but also isnt a factory where you can pin point every cost and performance and negotiate objectively as a worker/union, you can negotiate hours and treatment in art, but not so much comercial success, the only solution i think right now is trying to "make a house", with a house you have a tight budget and schedule, we will pay you x ammount monthly for 4 months and then we will see, art has never been a stable business and the examples are there

[@Pssybart]

Bad sequels have always existed. But in the past they sucked because the studio's would often put less money and effort into them for each entry. Think of Son of Kong, the Superman sequels, the Jaws sequels and the direct to video Disney sequels. That's probably because the studio's just treated those projects as quick cash grabs. It's remarkable how the budgets for these films have skyrocketed recently. It just shows how dependent the studio's have become on them. What are essentially B-movies have become our main entertainment.

[@angus_bangus]

it’s ridiculous that studios can’t figure out that it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at a project if it isn’t even well written. these execs just don’t care about quality or the people behind that quality.

[@teastrainer3604]

Many "box office failures" are actually budget failures.

[@bigj1905]

"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time." -Leonard Bernstein

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

"Reflect upon the Past. Embrace your Present. Orchestrate our Futures." --Artemis 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨ "Before I start, I must see my end. Destination known, my mind’s journey now begins. Upon my chariot, heart and soul’s fate revealed. In time, all points converge, hope’s strength re-steeled. But to earn final peace at the universe’s endless refrain, We must see all in nothingness... before we start again." 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨ --Diamond Dragons (series)

[@Banzai431]

Man I've been saying the same thing for ages. I sorely lament the loss of the mid-budget film.

[@MrRapmaster19]

The biggest casualty for me is the R-rated mid-budget comedy. It's pretty much dead due to social media and comedy being incorporated into just big blockbusters these days.

[@Urvy1A]

I don't. Those films are not exciting anymore.

[@Urvy1A]

@@MrRapmaster19 People are sensitive these days in the wake of MeToo

[@MrRapmaster19]

@@Urvy1A sorry to burst your Quanon bubble, but that’s not the reason why. It’s the fact young people don’t see them anymore, so they’re not profitable. Same for most romcoms.

[@choreomaniac]

@@MrRapmaster19they do see them, just on their phones on streaming. If you want relationship drama, you can get it far better in a 100 episode anime or K-drama than in a 3 hour film. How complex can you actually get?

[@taylorgayhart9497]

I saw an interview with a Matt Damon and he said that because of the rise of streaming, and sheer plummeting of DVD sales, movies now have to make all their money in theaters, which means massive blockbusters only. But then those require massive budgets, which requires an ever bigger return, and a larger gamble *every* time. I would like to see streaming invest more in quality movies, not necessarily blockbuster level graphics and production, just well made movies. Gone are the days of the low budget romcom, but those are some of the most rewatched movies of all time. I think we need less MASSIVE action blockbuster and more just well told stories.

[@me-myself-i787]

Also, movies can be made with great graphics with really low budgets. Look at My Little Pony: A New Generation. Or Kane Pixels' Backrooms series.

[@jacobyullman5005]

I think part of the reason behind Hollywood playing it safe with movies is also due to the collapse of physical media sales. Before streaming, when the only way to watch the movies you want at home was by buying DVD's, movies could afford to take more risks with decent sized budgets, because even if they didn't make their money back at the box office they could still get their money back via DVD sales. Streaming isn't as simple when it comes to making money, since they earn revenue based on advertisements and subscriptions. I think the streaming bubble is going to burst, if it hasn't already started to. When it was just a handful of streamers, they were able to attract subscribers with the sheer breadth of content for a small subscription fee, which made it more economical to pay that fee then pay for DVD's. But now that content has been divided between so many streaming services, most services don't actually have enough in-demand content to draw in all the subscribers they would need. Now DVD's are unbelievably cheap in comparison, and streaming is basically a glut of content no one wants to watch, with the few desirable shows and films spread across several increasingly expensive services. It's basically just satellite TV at this point, and it's not sustainable for the industry in the long run. There is still a Redbox in my town, and only a few months after Spider Man: No Way Home reased in theaters I was able to buy No Way Home for less than $4.

[@jonnyc429]

I think the streaming model will be refreshed and something more akin to a Spotify model will succeed, with studios unified under an umbrella subscription and paid royalties from that.

[@EugeniaLoli]

@@jonnyc429 This is the viewer's wet dream. However, there's not much money to make from this, if all the IP is shoved in together as a bouffet. Even at $50/month won't be enough.

[@pabloabilez2656]

Yeah, my sister wanted to watch the Sandlot on Netflix but it was on Starz, which she didn't subscribe to. Streaming services suck. DVDs & video rentals need to make a comeback.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

I expect the number of streaming services to collapse down to a handful.

[@HapPawhere]

@@EugeniaLoli disney will not want that lol. less profit than making their own

[@amostills]

Top Gun and Avatar 2 made around 2 billion dollars each. I think people will show up to theaters if you give them something thats exciting or visually mind blowing. I think Audiences can see through movies that are slapped together with rushed VFX to make a profit and please shareholders. You gotta put in the work to make a movie feel special.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

a lot of the success of those 2 movies is down to there being literally nothing else to go see thats remotely interesting. sure, cameron and tom cruise have a good name, and i get why these movies are popular, theyre dumb action movies that anyone can see and have some fun with. the new mission impossible is also going to do well. but for me, these films have nothing to offer that i havent seen before in the original mission impossible film from the 90s, the first avatar movie, or the first top gun movie. if there were more original projects out there, these fan-bait sequels that only exist to make money without any artistic merit would not be doing this well. theyd still be profitable, but not to the tune of 2 billion.

[@darwincity]

In the meantime, The Last Wish made $600 Million on a $90 Million. Proves that you can get butts in seats if you try.

[@pablocasas5906]

​@@darwincityactually, Puss in Boots The Last Wish didn't cross the $500 million dollar mark, it recouped its budget, but aside from Illumination's Minions 2 and Mario Bros animated films haven't performed as strongly as they did in the past

[@jturner2577]

​@@pablocasas5906Across the Spider-Verse has crossed $600 Million.

[@alazkaalazka6087]

Facts. Audiences are smarter now. If it’s good people will show up

[@AsariNextDoor]

5:12 I wholly agree with that sentiment. Budgets do not make a movie good. A good vision and a good director to carry out that vision is much more vital. More money can be helpful, but money is just a tool. It's not the tools that make the art, but the artist.

[@YouLousyKids]

The real loss to theaters is great comedies. One of the best experiences of my life was going to the local theater when I was in college and seeing "The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad" with a packed audience of college kids. Every laugh was boosted by being in a roaring audience. Airplane, Animal House, Caddyshack, etc. all benefitted from the audience experience. Sometimes laughs would even make me aware of a joke I was missing. (To be honest, I *still* don't get the joke about Jane's anklet slipping down and why that's funny.) If it were to debut today and come out on Netflix, you'd never have that experience. It's still going to be very funny, but there was a reason TV used to have a laugh track as an attempt to make up for what you're missing by watching it in your home.

[@asimshareef6366]

Don't know why but I lost all the excitement for Marvel movies. Didn't feel anything even when they announced Avengers secret wars

[@anubusx]

Infinty War was where the mcu ended for me.

[@chasehedges6775]

@@anubusx💯👍👍. Thanos won

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

I lost that excitement some time phase 2. Though Phase 4 and Phase 5 have the only MCU movies I actively like (Spiderman No Way Home, Shang Chi, and GotG 3). So they are arguably better now than they were in the first 3 phases where I couldn't help but laugh at any drama or "emotional moments".

[@BLACKLIVESMATTER_MOVEMENTS]

I didn't lost my excitement because Hollywood especially marvel they were who gave me happiness when i was kid, and i can keep watching them❤

[@geoffreyrichards6079]

It was inevitable. After all they’ve set up with the first three phases, they can’t afford to stop making them. And rebooting them will only alienate the audience they’ve gained.

[@Pwn3dbyth3n00b]

It's not just Hollywood. ALL industries need to change but Hollywood is one of the few places with strong unions for the working class. We've had this issue of billionaires getting richer while the working class struggle. There is no place for people like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, etc hoarding all the wealth.

[@globesurfer122]

People always site those guys as being the worst examples, but all of them are essentially self made. No one talks about the Walton family, the Rotchilds, etc.

[@pkz420]

Musk and Zuckerberg are not "hoarding all the wealth". I'm not sure you understand how the economy and/or net-worth works. Elon does not have 250 billion dollars sitting in his bank account, or stored in a safe. Almost all of his wealth is the value of his active companies that are using that value to create products/services and pay a living to thousands of workers. There are wealthy people that sit on hordes. But the people you named are not them. The ones you named are some of the biggest sources of employment in the US. They are sources of money, through payrolls and purchases, not a drain.

[@jayfreeman5117]

@@globesurfer122 they are self made, but not like many think they’re. Most, if not all those guys were already rich before they attained billions.

[@planescaped]

No individual needs or even should have a billion dollars. Send it all to tax/charity after the $500 million mark. >__>

[@phil7144]

Worry less about what those people do with their own money and Worry more about what the federal government is doing with the tax money they extort from you every year

[@h.ar.2937]

At your prediction/explanation as to what happened back in the 70's around 12:40 I would say that it only makes sense that Hollywood would steer more towards writers/directors who are more unique and can attract/excite the audiences. Netflix is NOT a sustainable business model, and the fact that they are cracking down/showing ads is proof of that. Additionally, the movies these days are so stale - I call it the Marvel Quip Syndrome. You notice that a lot more movies have a writing-style closer to that of Marvel's with quippy one liners, and this just makes movies feel formulaic and inauthentic. Even horror movies these days have those quippy one liners, it's annoying! And finally of course, let's not forget that movies are getting MORE expensive and movie TICKETS are getting more expensive. So stale expensive movies dominating the theatres is definitely not enticing enough to attract people's attention to go to movies. Oh and let's not forget the stupidest idea of releasing movies simultaneously on both theatres and streaming services (though that stopped happening now, still I feel like the window of releasing to streaming services is too short). That isn't to say people don't go to movies. No Way Home , Avatar and Top Gun are proof that there is still a desire for people to experience movies in theatres. Heck, let's not forget that TENET (released during covid) was the highest grossing original movie since Dunkirk!! So even covid is not a valid enough excuse by itself in my opinion, although I do get it. Additionally, when general audiences can pick out glaringly OBVIOUS plotholes, piss-poor writing, and in a lot of cases somewhat bad acting (due to directors not knowing how to.. direct) then we have a big problem. Personally, I predict that the most successful directors/studios will be the ones who find innovative ways to maintain the quality of the movies (in terms of how it looks) while reducing the cost of production. That movie not only needs to be considerably cheaper, but will also need to have a unique vision and bring something new to the table. Why are people flooding in masses for some movies but not others? The answer is that those movies have pretty much one thing in common: a fresh and authentic experience. Those who can bring that, advertise it by letting everyone know, and can bring production down will be the successful ones. I think naturally big studios will gravitate towards that. I also think there is an aspect of Hollywood pretentiousness, since a lot of movies these days are more about the message through direct preaching instead of the experience itself/providing the audiences with unique feelings. Then it gets worse when there is a big disconnect with people not liking a certain movie/show whereas the pompous journalists/critics praise an obviously dog-shit project just to suck the teet of big corporations. That also needs to stop because it is insulting to the audiences. Rant over.

[@milkbucket3526]

I've been worried about whether Hollywood is going to fade out at some point and people won't be entertained like they used to, but with all the chaos that's been going, I'm hoping it's a wake up call for studios and executives to get the message that it's time to actually give some effort again, I feel like they've been too dependent on safe predictable stories for too long now and they need to make original, entertaining stories that aren't sequels or established brands

[@playstationaccount4473]

A new film industry has to spring up. I think one can in middle America....say Colorado or Iowa. It'll bring work for the masses there and they should revert back to the days of the 80s-90s where things seemed more professional. One thing that would be required is the removal of the internet and its influence which in my opinion is the number one reason Hollywood has deteriorated so fast and so bad.

[@JamesGilbert_]

As someone who wants to be in the film industry, this is an excellent video. You did a really great job highlighting a lot of the changes and dangers in the industry, both past and present.

[@dp_zee]

As someone who has been in the industry for 17 years... Have a backup plan

[@zack2thafuture]

@@dp_zee having a backup plan is a great way to ensure the original plan doesn’t succeed. I think it’s more about finding alternate ways to make money so you can finance your own projects.

[@werothegreat]

One big thing that needs to happen is, production companies cannot own streaming services. For the same reason that production companies can't own movie theaters. Streaming is a nightmare right now, there are so many different platforms, which is why so many people are just going to piracy. If there were one or two streaming services, that had basically everything, it would seem much more reasonable to subscribe to them, but these production bosses are so scroogy and stingy and just don't want to share anything, and it's making everything so much worse than it's ever been.

[@aname4390]

Yep, this is not a new issue and it used to be a problem when movies were first widespread. Each studio would only play their films on their own theaters until they were forced to separate.

[@stanfordite1]

Streaming is going to be banned and I look forward to every single American subscribed to a streaming service being prosecuted.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Bust those trusts!

[@shadowseeker97]

I mean ur just describing a duopoly at that point. A lack of competition I don't exactly see as a good thing. There just needs to be more original series as a whole. Like nbcs peacock being heavily tied to the snorefest "the office". Disney for all its evil corporate shenanigans is at least pumping money into shows like the mandalorian.

[@villainessy]

And everything you actually want to watch is rent only! Like what am I paying for???

[@15oClock]

One thing I think contributed to the streaming service bubble was 2020. Quarantine kept people cooped up at home more than ever, so with nothing else to do, they binged. That inflated viewership couldn't last forever, but shortsighted executives and investors didn't care as much as they should've. It's only a matter of time until most streaming services close, leaving only a handful left. Some will be free with ads, some will be free with an internet or phone service upgrade, I hear Walmart's delivery service offers Paramount+ with a subscription. Regardless, the big media companies may have to rely on third parties to stream their content more and more. Where does that leave the entertainment industry? God knows. As someone looking at the gaming industry, I'm seeing very similar trends, and you know where the most promising ideas are? The independent scene. I'd take a look at independent movies not from the major studios for the future. Whatever happens there defines what happens next.

[@caseysmith544]

But in the gaming industry I see all the platforms banning most indie to the point they go Computer and even then I see Apple, Microsoft going to block them to the point that the person had to go get a computer with long term storage memory just to use Linux just to get to play the games that could be downloadable and keep an Apple or Microsoft to do most of the stuff the person does because of compatibility issues with more and more items.

[@Tigerwolf102onYoutube]

Never lose your style man, it feels so vintage and dope.

[@_JWT]

I hope the screenwriters and actors get what they're striking for. Solidarity ✊✊✊

[@channel1344]

I don't

[@owensanfordstuff]

​@@channel1344don't watch their stuff then

[@mightquinnable]

@@channel1344right, I’m in support of them but then I remember there probably a writer or actor who fucking suck at what they do😂

[@Navi-Thirteen]

​@@mightquinnableso, if you and your coworkers could all get better pay and benefits, would you say no and break solidarity just because some people are worse than you or because you don't like them?

[@Mr_Mcgee_]

@@Navi-Thirteenhave you watched the things coming out of Hollywood? They are making less money for a reason, and the writers and actors have just as much of a hand in that as the executives. Demanding more money while profits have been dramatically decreasing is a recipe for disaster, especially when you consider that all of these actors and writers are easily replaceable, with thousands of non-union actors and writers waiting in the wings for their big shot. The actors and writers are making less because Hollywood is making less, the math here is not complicated. How do you expect Disney+ or Max to pay MORE when they are already losing billions per year? So to answer your question, solidarity means NOTHING if you are protecting the squeaky wheels. In fairness, I place less blame on the actors than on the writers, but the writers have NO excuse, this entire problem is of their own creation, and the actors guild deciding to jump onto a sinking ship are sealing their own fate. When you put out mediocrity, you get mediocrity in return. To blame the studios for the entire situation is beyond short sighted, each piece of the puzzle (actors, writers, studios, and directors) have all contributed to the downfall of the Hollywood system, and while I certainly feel bad for those who have contributed excellence in the field (of which there are many), I have little sympathy considering the overall lack of quality the studios and guilds have put forward in the last 5 years. This isn’t to say I don’t recognize the legitimate demands of the guilds (for example, the actors demanding protection from their image and likeness being recreated by AI and CGI is completely reasonable), but that the totality of what is being demanded simply isn’t realistic.

[@andris_reviews]

Great video! That's been one of my own surprising discoveries as I started reviewing films from the 2000's and 2010's, how insanely resourceful microbudget productions like 2010's "The Dark Lurking" and 2015's "Turbo Kid" were: neither film was made on a budget higher than $200,000, and it _really_ makes you question the necessity of blowing *hundreds* of millions of dollars on these films.

[@actuallynotsteve]

I've seen a movie that took place in a single room, with the threat of nuclear war falling on the VP who just found out that he was now the President. While having to interact with fellow diners during the crisis. They probably filmed for a couple days, filmed the mock footage shown on the news for nothing, and I guarantee it's more interesting and intense than dial of destiny. They keep antagonizing the audience that established it to begin with, it's fucking crazy.

[@AL-lh2ht]

You do know at a budget of 200,000 people are being paid peanuts right? Like people are paid so low it’s exploitation.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@actuallynotsteveunless it’s a short film it takes far longer then just a few days to shoot a feature.

[@actuallynotsteve]

@@AL-lh2ht hence why they're passion projects by people looking to make it

[@andris_reviews]

@@AL-lh2ht We’re talking about independent films made by small studios/ambitious people doing it themselves, it’s not really exploitation because 1) everyone involved is likely a close friend and believes in the film and 2) a lot of the time the actors are doubling as crew as well.

[@dautolover]

It's funny how I felt the same way about No Hard Feelings. I went to see it with my wife and it brought back to times of seeing something other than your typical superhero movie.

[@vaxes]

The two things that are killing streaming are the binge model and the lack of regularity to releases. Everything dropping all at once causes a spike in interest that drops off quickly. Shows are not allowed to be given the room to grow an audience. This is then hurt by my second point. TV shows have always come out every year roughly at the same point. Now we get 1.5 years, 2 years or more between seasons. By that point interest is lost, you have to be a massive show to get the same audience back. Littler niche shows don't stand a chance, which they are then cancelled due to low ratings which then fuels the feeling of why bother a new show that you know is going to be cancelled.

[@shirw]

They really could have appealed to audiences, especially the over 40s, with an awesome adventure flic with Indiana Jones if they kept him and Marion together using their age/life knowledge to their advantage.

[@ChickenIandlEggs]

And what they did was take another beloved hero, break him down and have another strong female character replace him

[@couchalmark675]

Honestly even just the movie they made would have worked out fine if they'd just made it on half the budget. My over-40 father was chomping at the bit to see it and had a good time, and it made $260 million, which is certainly less than the previous movies but would still have made money if it was even made for Crystal Skull's $180 million. When it was twice the budget of the most expensive previous movie and twenty times the budget of the first movie, of course it was going to bomb. They didn't need to do multiple extended scenes of all-CGI with a digitally deaged Harrison Ford for the first half-hour.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

@@couchalmark675 They were on half the budget until they had to pause production because Ford got injured and reshoot because no one liked the flea woman becoming Indiana Jones.

[@jamiebraswell5520]

​@@donkeysaurusrex7881, they should have seen that coming way before it ever got to the filming stage, but agenda was more important. The reshoots fell on their own shoulders for taking such an obviously stupid direction with the original story in the first place. But hey, they never want to acknowledge reality until it is way too late, so they ensured the failure of the film with its hugely inflated budget. It really isn't even the fault of fans, even though they always lay such things on their shoulders. The people who are in charge guided the film into impossible territory with unrealistic expectations.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

@@ChickenIandlEggs Dude, hating women is not a personality.

[@Canadish]

Honestly? Let Hollywood die. It wont be missed. Id be interested to see a paradigm of smaller movie hubs around the continent and give some foreign cinema some more room to muscle in a bit.

[@thepaintingbanjo8894]

lol Hollywood "died" like three times since the start of the 20th century. It still came back in a new fashion. They're just really overdue for another cyclical collapse.

[@mightquinnable]

Like India, would be interesting

[@PhiloFery]

@@mightquinnableI’m very interested in Indian action movies, the creativity and insanity is something I don’t understand how we don’t have in super hero movies here

[@cmbeadle2228]

​​@@mightquinnablemerica is more culturally and socially homogenous than India, so you have less of a need for separate cultural hubs (aside for say Evangelicals, who have their own cultural ecosystem).

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

@@cmbeadle2228??? Evangelicals aren’t their own culture. I dont think u know very much about America. Also the US was making diverse sort of films and genres from the 40s onwards even if they didnt have different separate cultures. Hollywood is in the shit now but ppl pretend like it hasn’t been on the forefront for decades. You know, like the centre of cinema development for a long time. International cinema industries are the ones really bringing innovation now.

[@DarrenNoFun]

On tiktok there was a writer, he wrote for King of the Hill and other sitcoms and he used to open up residuals on camera and total it, and since the writers strike was an idea his channel has been awfully quiet. Comparing his residuals that are shows that rerun on network TV is really telling compared to seeing some of the residuals from Netflix. that writer got more than $1000 in a month all together. One actor from Orange is the New Black got $27 in a month.

[@DarrenNoFun]

There's been a break in this story, he hadn't be awful quiet, despite me not commenting on his videos, he blocked me.

[@bexyPTX]

I really hope that it doesn’t take too long for the execs to come to their senses and give the writers and actors what they’re asking for. Once that happens (or maybe even before), they’re gonna have to find and implement a new model of distributing media. The current system is not the answer. In any case, more mid-budget films would be nice.

[@yol_n]

The execs don't need to do anything. Like the video said the writers and actors will loose their houses. The execs don't want to sign the stupid contracts the union came up with. The union workers are the ones who should come to their senses.

[@Johnny.1994]

I am hopeful. Since the 2000s we haven't such a good year as this year. For 2023 we have Oppenheimer, Napoleon, Dune 2, Killers of the flower moon, The Killer and Ferrari. All these movies are directed from hall of fame directors.

[@rogueguardian]

This writers/actors strike is getting scary. I've seen arguments like "well serves them right the movies that have come out the last few years have sucked" or for the actors "they have millions of dollars they don't need to get involved" Chris stuckmann recently spoke out about this and I couldn't agree more with the guy. Not only do actors and writers deserve the pay they deserve, if we go down the road of having mostly everything Be AI generated then 1000s of passionate filmmakers will be out of a job. For context it doesn't just apply to the big names you see in the movies themselves guys, we're talkin background extras, small time writers, people you wouldn't give a second thought to. What worse if this technology would have come out in the 80s and they could replicate background actors faces or whoever they needed, and if those specific actors sign there likeness away that means constant profit for the studios but not the actual talent. You ever seen Black mirror it's basically that but real life now. (Didn't know how relevant that show could possibly become till now) All those billionaires that are afraid of losing 2% of their income can back off. They have enough. Pray to God that this crisis has a happy ending.

[@silashurd3597]

Exactly. Stuckmann explained it way better than any conservative content creators or randos could

[@willissudweeks1050]

I don’t think people will go for AI written movies

[@gianni206]

There’s a lot of crappy actors and people in Hollywood. There’s a lot of immorality being pushed by the movies. If Hollywood dies, the only thing that’s changing is where we get our content from. It’s TikTok and KZbin and Korea. Nothing scary about that.

[@Lucky_9705]

Bob Iger and the rest of these billionaires are greedy pigs

[@MrRapmaster19]

@@willissudweeks1050 It's very easy to differentiate between an AI written script and a human-written one. A great KZbinr named KaylaSays did an experiment with this with Succession. It's night and day.

[@neilcameron7705]

In the 2010s I realised that the whole superhero genre film would one day finish. I enjoyed it, to be sure. But as soon as I finished "Avengers: Endgame" (which I enjoyed), I said to myself "Welp. No more superhero movies. That's it for me." I'm sure there were plenty of people like me who did the same thing. I did the same with Rogue One. Great film. Brilliant. I saw the original 1977 Star Wars when I was 8. And after seeing R1 I said to myself "It's never going to be better than this" and I made the decision to not watch any of the Star Wars films coming out after R1. I'm glad I did.

[@mari98_]

so happy to see you standing with workers!!! Video like this help break the studio propaganda that this is just a rich whiny actors problem, the system itself it broken and has been for a long time leading up to this

[@mari98_]

A great way to continue solidarity is to support indie production that where striking actors and writers can still be employed! the strike is against AMPTP, not movies and tv itself

[@Cadmus9501]

The majority of people that are on strike aren't famous nor rich, on top of that they no longer get residuals or any royalties for re-runs. Not only can they not pay rent much less a mortage, they get little to no experience from movies or TV shows, how do you expect people to grow professionally if they are not exposed to the production of movies/TV shows?

[@BlazeMakesGames]

I still can't believe some morons try to blame the writers for all the bad movies coming out. Do you think it was a writer's decision to make another Indiana Jones movie? Do you think the Writers decided to put all the shitty pandering in the Flash movie? 95% of the time when a movie has bad writing, it's not even the writer's fault. It's because higher ups kept laying out mandates on how things have to go or what movies even get funding in the first place, and then the writers are forced to work within their limits. It's like asking a painter to do a good job while handcuffing them to a tiger. The people the writers are striking against are the reason why we get so much low effort overly expensive trash

[@Plan73]

Well said. It's the marketing departmemt and the gazillion of producers putting their noses in the artistic process. Do you remember the Poochie episode in the Simpsons? That's it. How many movies has dozen of rewritings, dozen of different writers during the process? This is why you have a movie that is a frankenstein, incoherent, messy, with plot holes everywhere. And this is why, maybe after changing 2 directors and a lot of reshootings the budget of the movie skyrocket. There is a lot of micromanagement but not a real management about artistic vision, workflow and budget. In any other industrial field these people will be fired in a heartbit for incopetence. But no, they gains bonuses of millions and have the audacity to complain about the strikes. Shameless.

[@sigmacademy]

Stop trying to defend bad writers. IF they don't like how a studio treats their script, they can always leave. Several high-level writers do. If you stay as a writer, that's on you.

[@arturcirilo7601]

Also the same producers and execs sometimes really make incredible bad choices on scripts. So you can say it's almost always their fault, cause either they choose badly or they are meddling so much that it just blows up poorly.

[@TheJordanHageman]

Fantastic exploration and analysis - you’ve put into words, perfectly, how I’ve been feeling for quite awhile about Hollywood and why I’ve pretty much only gone out of my way to watch low budget and indie films for some time.

[@BingBangPoe]

4:56 See, this is where I think _Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3_ can really be a turning point to the MCU. The film has been met with nearly universal praise by being an emotional story with very personal stakes for the characters as opposed of fighting waves of faceless minions on a CGI greenscreen. It sure went back to the heart of the MCU from early phases.

[@fahimalfaisal7781]

You’re acting like every movie in early phases were all masterpieces ?LMAO !Phase 4 had many movies with heart !LOL

[@l.tc.5032]

I disagree the movie was mediocre at best. I regret seeing it.

[@danny9732]

It’s not a turning point because the guy in charge of that movie (James Gunn) left for a competitor

[@Los-galapagos]

@@l.tc.5032this has to be too 10 braindead takes. Like this is a laughable opinion. Even film bros and those type HEAVILY disagree with you ☠️

[@Croz89]

GoTG has also managed to stand alone from the rest of the MCU for the most part, you don't need to do a lot of "homework" by seeing other films to understand the plots. I think that's been a problem for some of the other films, most people haven't seen every film in the MCU and don't want to either.

[@TevyaSmolka]

I agree with you 100% because Hollywood really needs a reality check and stop focusing on streaming 24/7.

[@danielh1771]

Creativity is going into the internet. Not traditional media like TV and theatrical releases.

[@sigmacademy]

Also, with AI being increasingly used, people with genuine creativity can now compete (and the potential to surpass) any traditional industries. Also, the strikes in the US in the entertainment industry is the last gasps of a dying traditional movie industry, in as much the same way the digital news ecosystem is collapsing. The really smart ones would ALREADY have pivoted towards the new form of moviemaking, and not trying to fight over the last scraps of rapidly obsolete jobs. It's not like the movie industry is creating real bangers consistently anymore, either. Those AI enthusiasts said there was nothing to worry about, right?

[@stanfordite1]

@@sigmacademy AI is going to be outlawed and anyone who uses it will be going to jail. The movie industry is about to be rewound back to the Great Depression and WWII and its golden age with the return of the old Studio System. Look forward to MGM reigning supreme again over the box office as the dream factory that gave the world The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and other classics.

[@noobmasterruben5167]

Agreed. I’ve seen more people buzzing about Helluva boss, Murder drones or Dont hug me than I guess... Fubar, Secret invasion or Haileys on it(probably)

[@fujithegreat6069]

This. The amount of small independent animation channels on this very site is insane. They may not make lengthy videos but God damn, do they have heart and soul put in them.

[@curious5887]

True

[@vsf_dave811]

Hollywood is learning that pouring copious amounts of money into a movie doesn’t matter at all if the movie sucks. And audiences are getting a lot better at sniffing out movies that suck.

[@One.Zero.One101]

📌This is a great and informative video. One factor you forgot to mention is the biggest corporations are consolidating their power by buying up all the other studios. That means there's less studios to try something more innovative because everything is owned by one or two corporations. They basically all fall under a handful of executives who make the decisions for all of them.

[@goldmemberpb]

This seems like the same issue video game industry is facing now. Games are just ballooning in price and scope and waiting to implode on itself. So, there needs to be smaller scale AA games in between the big releases to add some stability and variety to the industry.

[@legodude666]

The loss of medium sized developers following the 2008 recession and the titles that followed for the 8th gen were the canary in the coal mine for what was to happen in the video game industry.

[@wrestlinganime4life288]

Which allows indy to become more popular but yeah gaming can be scary especially with the amount of Crunch and shitty work environment from big companies

[@iraford5788]

The gaming industry is as healthy as it's ever been.

[@saisameer8771]

Quality gaming is still easy to find in the indie scene.

[@jesse76thgames80]

Those mid level studios are busy making mobile games filled with micro transactions

[@MrKyGuy]

Streamers and residuals are really wild. I saw a Tweet from Steven S. DeKnight that said; “So speaking of Daredevil, as showrunner of S1, part of my deal includes a little sliver of the backend. Never expected to see any on Netflix. But then Marvel/Disney pulled it and it ended up on Disney +. Now I’m part of an audit to try to get the money they owe me and others.” This strike is so important.

[@MrRapmaster19]

The streaming model needs to be killed off...BADLY. It doesn't benefit anybody. Consumers are overwhelmed by choice and spend too much per month for services they may only use a couple of times a month. Talent in front of and behind the camera don't get residuals or proper pay due to the insane levels of content being put out. Advertisers can't maximize an audience or be willing to spend and support services due to disparities in the model and sporadic audience interest. Last but not least, studios end up spending way too much on way too much content that doesn't drive in any sort of major revenue in the end beyond subscribers. IT NEEDS TO CHANGE. I might be crazy for saying this, but streaming needs to be way more like cable in the end.

[@actuallynotsteve]

​@@MrRapmaster19we went from a working model that had literally all content available, and customizable, through a single portal and menu. With shows airing weekly, one episode at a time. Then we got multiple portals that cost way less each, and dumped entire seasons in one post. But there were no ads. Now they're all doing episode at a time, and showing us ads. It's full circle.

[@Urvy1A]

So, streaming was a mistake, and actors and writers want more money for drugs

[@twinzzlers]

​@@actuallynotsteveFuck no, cable was an awful mess filled with ads where half the time you couldn't watch what you actually wanted to

[@actuallynotsteve]

@@Urvy1A That's basically it

[@MakiPcr]

There's literally no reason streaming shows can't be like the old shows, which is why I'm rooting for the strike

[@thedudeabides3138]

Great essay with some nice observations and I feel you’ll be proved right in your future predictions.

I think the best example of how awful Hollywood can be is Dan Schneider. He preyed upon children and young teens for years, worse than what Disney puts their child/teen actors through.

[@nerdgeekman]

Jennette McCurdy quit acting because of him, too

[@chasehedges6775]

“I really hate that man.” - John Hammond, Jurrasic Park(1993)

[@ChrisControversial]

My whole thing with that situation is he isn't the worst. Which is sad

[@DeadlyAlienInvader]

This is one of the reasons why I’m rooting for Hollywood to end up like Carthage!

[@uneek35]

True but huge tangent.

[@chasehedges6775]

Movies like The Firm(1993) and Michael Clayton(2007) are what we need. Love those movies

[@jordanmyers7266]

Ehh Clayton was ok the firm was way better

[@rogerkincaid931]

​@@jordanmyers7266 - More like the other way around, although I'd say _The Firm_ was better than OK.

[@darwincity]

Argo can be included in this list or no?

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Thats very specific and random and just films you liked specifically. They’re good but We just need better films, we need writers with support, thats it.

[@Toastcat890]

Not really we need more mid budget action films and family friendly films if the kind of films you mentioned were still profitable they are what we would be watching now those kinds of films are better left to streaming especially with how expensive it is to go to the movie’s most people would skip those two movies if they were made today.

[@demonxkiller1]

I wouldn't be suprised if studios like A24 try to fill the void that a lot of these big companies are making right now. Everything Everywhere All At Once had a tiny budget, and they did amazing.

[@mari98_]

They are! A24 is begin authorized to continue with union staffed projects because they were able to comply with the union contract agreement that Iger said were too “unreasonable”… A24 is valued at 3 billion and Disney is 160 billion…

[@Hyplum]

Great video as always. As a indie filmmaker this video is so true. Our film Four Amigos has international distribution, our 3rd indie Pizza Boy Rick will release later this year and we’re in the middle of production on our 4th indie Always Smile. The only way to excel independently is with original stories.

[@NotSoMax]

With the talk about the actors and writers strike I also always think about the artists that these studio are so dependent on but lack a strong union and don’t receive residuals, it’s pretty common for films that break box office records, bring in unfathomable amounts of money off the backs of these artists and VFX studios, to go under shortly after production wraps, after getting tons of awards they’re still underpaid and seriously overworked on insane deadlines but have no industry wide protection.

[@LexTakacs]

I thought about the same topic recently. If most big budget films flop, what will happen? While I also have no answer, I was thinking about a really big downfall of the big studios. The CEOs and other powerful people will not learn new ways, I guess, so they gonna run the companys into the ground. I truly hope that smaller studios can pick up on that momentum and bring quality films back into the cinema and become big but hopefully smarter themselves. I really liked your video, since it is more positive with the whole 60s repeating itself approch and you made some good points here.

[@NinjaLobsterStudios]

Downsize and sell off IP rights, whatever it takes to make sure executive payouts remain high (even if it is the last payout)

[@cmbeadle2228]

I think Warner Bros is the most likely big studio to be broken up and sold off.

[@jamiebraswell5520]

The first step is to stop catering to wokeness and stop letting liberals use the industry as a platform to force agendas. Stop being controlled by politics and just focus on entertainment again. It will take a long time to get people to trust Hollywood again, but this is where to start.

[@Dave102693]

@@cmbeadle2228 Its already is. CN was gutted to merge half with WB tv animation and the other half with Adult Swim, and that's just the beginning of the end for the company.

[@Dave102693]

@@thegoodhornet total collapse of WBD is on its way....and maybe, if they rely too much on streaming, Paramount next. The other studios is a toss up at this point.

[@PinkgloRadio]

Super happy this strike is happening and I sincerely hope they can hold out for the long play. Honestly, in practically every facet of society we need to be doing what these unions are doing. It's not okay, we as a people are not okay, the planet is not okay.

[@jakerockznoodles]

I quite enjoy going to see films from a variety of genres and I'm finding more and more that I will resort to seeing films at my local theatre's cinema that tend to be smaller budget films and/or foreign language films (or on the flip side, more locally produced projects). It's a shame Hollywood is so narrow in its focus but I'm optimistic that great stuff is still getting produced.

[@geekypeeples9013]

On point with all of this thank you from a broken hearted SAG-AFTRA member trying to make it after all.

[@nerdgeekman]

You know it’s getting serious when Noel McNeal is getting disappointed in Hollywood. (He was Bear in the Big Blue House)

[@dontwannaname]

I would add that the residuals also allows a writer to get through the times where they are either not working (e.g. their show has just concluded production) or gives them the financial flexibility to work on new things (that may or may not be picked up).

[@urahara64360]

This definitely highlights for me a question I've been asking for years. How do streaming shows actually make money for the service beyond what the subscription model already brings in

[@JONPIAASU98]

Investors. Companies like Netflix and Disney+ haven’t been profitable since they started airing. So they attract investors to pay them 100’s of millions of dollars to pump money into their projects with the hope that name recognition and success of their projects will lead to enough subscribers and advertisers to make a return on investment.

[@josephcarnegie]

Your TV economic breakdown was super well researched and accurate! Residuals is a huge issue but perceived as "in the weeds" to those on the outside so thank you for explaining this in such clear terms.

[@CaptainCataractss]

That’s why I really like A24. They’re the only ones making mid budget movies that are creativity driven.

[@petevelasquez1858]

Blumhouse is making some good movies as well

[@me-myself-i787]

And Sony Pictures Animation. They're making a ton of original movies over the next few years, none of which are too expensive. And also Laika.

[@CristianGeelen]

Those big budgets definitely makes their movies not look better. Talent and passion makes movies look better. Artisanship.

[@thesixfootsixexperience8781]

You know it’s a serious video when the cap doesn’t feature any tv channel cutaways

[@sahilsehdev4235]

Completely agree with you. Ridley scott’s the last duel was one of the few movies that attracted a lot of older people to the cinemas. I remember seeing so many elderly people in the theaters for the last duel but no young people possibly due to the subject matter. I think its one of scott’s best films that dont get made anymore

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

There are still people in Hollywood like those behind Arcane, Invincible and so on that care and want to do good work. Unfortunately greatness is now the exception and not the norm. Edit: The people in the replies who say Arcane is a bad show are hilarious. lol.

[@cinderheart2720]

Arcane was done in France, not a drop of Hollywood in it.

[@Bas_karna]

Arcane and invincible are definitely not a good example of great writing LOL 😂😂 dude seriously

[@Quaquadaqu]

Arcane’s writing is terrible. It’s corny pre teen garbage.

[@superthon7762]

@@Bas_karnaarcane is lol wtf 😂try understanding lol

[@Huzsar]

@@Quaquadaqu I thought Arcane's writing was on the better end of the spectrum, couple minor nitpicks but over all it was very good. Can you explain to me what was so bad about it, and what do you consider to be good writing by comparison?

[@HeyFella]

Things are definitely shifting. Big blockbusters are bombing and a little raunchy comedy like No Hard Feelings is successful. It was nice seeing that and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City in a packed theater.

[@zakuraiyadesu]

Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!

[@maxordman4100]

Thank you very much for addressing this situation. I also miss getting more different movies and comedies that aren’t related to already established characters. I think you make a lot of good points. However unfortunately the main problem is that the rich people are still the ones in charge mostly. Their power and control has gone to their heads. The Strike situation is terrible but it is also a very solid and good cause. We certainly need a good mediator for the future of Hollywood. Anybody got a good recommendation? By the way thanks for bringing up Drake and Josh as well, it’s a wonderful childhood memory that’s easy to latch on to right now. I love rewatching classic Nickelodeon shows like that. It’s a terrific way to take my mind off the insanity of the modern world!

[@timemachinegeek]

I miss when flops were something of a rarity and not the norm. So many movies released post-2019 that I feel like would’ve made a profit had they been released before.

[@juegofuego6715]

Been watching Captain midnight for 8 years and this is his best content yet. So many good points made here 👏

[@Hellismary]

You make a very good point there’s no diversity in the film slates anymore at all. We need a balance of all types of films but even so I’m tired of spending all this money in theaters ! And the runtimes are INSANE.

[@tylercampion3204]

Great piece, love the nuance and opinions expressed.

[@walpoleandworcester]

I’ve been to the movies three times recently and every time, the theater barely had anyone there. I remember when I was younger these places used to be packed with people. Great analysis on what’s been going on with Hollywood and the lack of risk taking in these movies they’re putting out these days. They want to play it safe and streaming has gotten more of the spotlight now.

[@NathanSpies]

I would love to see more original stories! As well as young & upcoming directors

[@Urvy1A]

Go to your local film school then. Name me one young up and comer from film school that can do better

[@chrishei3111]

The bulk of the video has me feeling pretty worried and depressed, but I hope you're right about the chance for new blood to get into the industry and make some amazing movies! Things are bleak, I hope some good comes of this, even if it takes awhile

[@cieproject2888]

Love the Patrick Willems / Night of the Coconut clips snuck in there at the end!

[@fodgy]

Imagine if the biggest films of the 80s were "franchises" that made endless sequels and reboots of shit from the 30s and 40s. That's what Hollywood is now.

[@KyrieFortune]

don't tell this guy about Scarface

[@andrecosta8680]

​@@KyrieFortunescarface has no sequels

[@supersleepygrumpybear]

Right. The 80s (and 90s). When they made endless toys to tie into the newest, coolest franchises. And the most famous properties (i.e. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Conan, Batman) were movies designed to FEEL like they came from the pulp stories of the 30s and 40s.

[@andrecosta8680]

​@@supersleepygrumpybearwhat you mean saying that? I think he means the art movies

[@soapeydudd.93]

⁠@@andrecosta8680Scarface (1983) is a remake of Scarface (1932).

[@forrestmaher4545]

What Spider-man No Way Home did was make Hollywood realize audiences love nostalgia, but now nostalgia in Hollywood is cliche.

[@kaponosucks]

And they will continue that and not care what you people say

[@sadboijokes]

But nostalgia was used as a product far before No Way Home.

[@MrREAPERsz]

Nostalgia was used WAY before NWH. Spidey will never flop, so that's a bad comparison. That's why Sony won't sell him back to Disney.

[@shadowspider9]

@@MrREAPERsz 'Spidey will never flop' Then explain Amazing Spiderman 2.

[@AL-lh2ht]

Nostalgia has been used for a century right now. Hollywood have been making remakes or adaptation at the literal beginning of the industry.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Thank you for this insightful video analysis!