Los Angeles — Hollywood scribes met with studio executives Friday for the first time since the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike just over three months ago.
The more than 11,000 film and television writers that make up the WGA have been on strike since early May. In mid-July, they were joined on the picket lines by the approximately 65,000 actors in the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, SAG-AFTRA, a move that has shuttered nearly all scripted Hollywood production.
It marks the first time since 1960 that both guilds have been on strike simultaneously. The economic impact has been especially heightened in California, where film and television production accounts for more than 700,000 jobs and nearly $70 billion a year in wages, according to the California Film Commission.
“We are really fighting for the rights of the people who are working and living in the city,” Burbank Mayor Konstantine Anthony told CBS News. “And that’s really who I represent. I didn’t get voted in by studios.”
Anthony is also an actor along with being mayor of Burbank, which is home to several studios, including Disney and Warner Bros.
“If people aren’t coming to work, if people are on strike, they’re not spending money at their local grocery store,” Anthony said. “All of those secondary industries are greatly affected by the loss of that income.”
That includes Alex Uceda’s catering company, which feeds Hollywood production crews.
“At the end of last year, we were working like 10, 11 jobs every day,” Uceda said. “It drops to maybe one or two jobs now.”
Uceda, who estimates he has lost about 70% of his business in that time, has had to lay off nearly half his employees since the WGA strike began.
Several big stars — including the likes of Oprah, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson — have each made donations of $1 million or more to the SAG-AFTRA’s financial assistance program.
“I beg all the people from the studio, please, please make it happen, you know, for the good of everyone,” Uceda said.
Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are negotiating separately with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents all the major Hollywood studios. Among the most hotly-contested issues for both groups are residuals from streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence.
Earlier this week, the WGA informed its members that Carol Lombardini, AMPTP president, had reached out and “requested” Friday’s meeting “to discuss negotiations.”
“I think it’s hopeful, because it’s been crickets, it’s been silent for a long time,” SAG-AFTRA member Chad Coe told CBS News of Friday’s meeting.
Paramount Pictures, one of the studios involved in the negotiations, and CBS News are both part of Paramount Global. Some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA or Writers Guild members, but their contracts are not affected by the strikes.
As the Hollywood writers’ strike approaches the 100-day mark, Writers Guild of America (WGA) negotiators will meet on Friday with representatives of the major studios for the first time in three months to discuss whether contract talks can resume.
The 11,500 members of the guild walked out May 2, citing an impasse over pay, streaming residuals and other issues such as setting curbs on the use of artificial intelligence. Next Wednesday marks the 100th day of the strike.
Ahead of the meeting, the WGA’s negotiating committee issued a statement to union members, saying it was time for the studios to abandon the tactics they used during the previous writers’ strike in 2007-08, including allegedly spreading misinformation about the real impact of the strike.
“We challenge the studios and AMPTP to come to the meeting they called for this Friday with a new playbook,” the WGA said in an email. “Be willing to make a fair deal and begin to repair the damage your strikes and your business practices have caused the workers in this industry.”
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Striking Hollywood writers set to restart negotiations with studios after 3 months
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of Walt Disney DIS.N, Netflix NFLX.O and other companies, called the WGA rhetoric “unfortunate.”
“Tomorrow’s discussion with the WGA is to determine whether we have a willing bargaining partner,” the AMPTP said in a statement, adding “Our only playbook is getting people back to work.”
Previously, the group said it had offered writers generous increases in compensation, and put forward improvements in the residuals paid to writers for making their movies and TV shows available on streaming services.
The work stoppage is taking a toll on florists, caterers, costume suppliers and other small businesses that support the entertainment industry. Those impacts were magnified, on July 14, when members of the Screen Actors Guild went on strike, after being unable to reach an agreement with the studios on a new three-year contract.
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Hollywood actors and writers on strike
The AMPTP issued a statement, saying the actors had walked away from more than US$1 billion in wage increases, pension and health contributions and residual increases.
The twin job actions are rippling broadly through the entertainment industry, halting most work on scripted series for the fall TV season as well as film production. The strikes also cast a pall over British Columbia’s creative industry, which has become a hub for American film and TV production.
Fox is expected to announce that television’s Emmy Awards will be rescheduled to air in January due to the strikes, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a person familiar with the plans.
The impact of Hollywood strikes on Alberta’s film industry
Meanwhile, Warner Bros Discovery warned investors Thursday that uncertainty over the dual strikes could delay film releases and impact its ability to produce and deliver content.
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Some writers turned to social media Thursday to demonstrate their resolve and solidarity with the negotiating team.
“This strike ends when we get our target deal. NOT before,” wrote Jorge A. Reyes, writer and creator of the series “Kevin Hill,” on the social media platform now known as X.
“And it should be THE BEST DEAL. We didn’t spend this time or come this far to just get something just okay. Something I’m sure our valiant leadership is aware of. We’re behind you, as solidly as we were on Day 1.”
Dua Lipa has seemingly responded to the news that she has been sued for $20 million, by posting a trio of sultry Instagram photos on Thursday. The 27-year-old singer showed off her incredible curves in a skimpy satin mini-dress. She casually posed by the pool in the photos she shared from during a holiday in Albania.
Dua Lipa drops stunning photos amid Levitating copyright dispute
Dua Lipa looked stunning in a pale pink metallic dress with a low-cut front and a super short mini skirt. She kept her long, dark hair open as she posed for photos by the pool.
Lipa, who recently starred in the hit movie Barbie, shared the photos on her Instagram and captioned them as: “All I do is beach.”
Taking to Instagram, Dua shared a series of pictures from her luxurious getaway, showing off her incredible figure in a sexy selfie.
One user commented on the video, “Kenergy on”. Another user commented, “There is so much beauty in this world…that sometimes it becomes impossible to resist it”. A third netizen commented, “And what a good job you do at the beach”.
However, Dua doesn’t seem to be affected with Music producer Bosko Kante suing her for using a recording made with his talk box in remixes of her song Levitating. The singer is currently enjoying a luxurious getaway in Albania, and she’s making sure she makes the most of it.
Dua Lipa sued for copyright infringement over song levitating
Bosko Kante, a musician, has accused Lipa of using his talk box in her Levitating remixes without his permission. Talk boxes are devices that turn your voice into a musical instrument. Bosko is currently seeking $20 million in damages from Dua Lipa.
According to the lawsuit, Lipa also used Bosko’s work on her The Blessed Madonna and Missy Elliott remixes, as well as a DaBaby remix.
As per a court filing in June 2021, Lipa’s lawsuit against Warner Music Group was dismissed, while a separate claim brought forward by a songwriter Sandy Linzer and songwriter L. Russell Brown was dismissed as well.
Meanwhile, Lipa also faced another lawsuit in 2021, in which she was accused of posting an unauthorized photo of herself on Instagram.
Hollywood’s biggest stars have put their money where their mouth is and contributed big sums to a relief fund for actors amid their ongoing strike against major Hollywood studios.
On Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance announced the nonprofit raised over $15 million in the past three weeks for its Emergency Financial Assistance Program, with donations of $1 million or more from a number of A-listers.
Big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey were among those contributing huge sums to the relief fund — following in the footsteps of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who in July made a “milestone” undisclosed seven-figure donation, the largest it ever received at the time.
The list of million-dollar donors also includes George and Amal Clooney, Luciana and Matt Damon, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Hugh Jackman, Deborra-Lee Furness, and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, the foundation said.
“Dwayne Johnson helped kick-start this campaign by giving a historic seven-figure donation,” Vance said in a statement. “And, two longtime champions of our Foundation and leaders on our Actors Council, Meryl Streep and George Clooney, stepped up with $1 million donations, emails, and many calls to action rallying others to give generously.”
Streep, a three-time Oscar winner, said actors must stand together against corporations who are seeking to take the “humanity” out of their profession.
“I remember my days as a waiter, cleaner, typist, even my time on the unemployment line,” Streep said. “I am lucky to be able to support those who will struggle in a long action to sustain against Goliath. We will stand strong together against these powerful corporations who are bent on taking the humanity, the human dignity, even the human out of our profession.”
Despite the big boost of support, Vance said there is still more money to raise as the strike continues with no clear end in sight.
“We’ve crushed our initial goal because our people are coming together, but we still aren’t done,” he added. “Our fundraising will continue in order to meet the overwhelming needs of our community now and in the future.”
For the first time since 1960, both Hollywood actors and writers are on strike simultaneously, a move that has effectively shut down scripted production across the industry. The Screen Actors Guild has more than 160,000 members, although the strike only affects the union’s roughly 65,000 actors.
Editor’s note: Paramount Pictures, one of the studios involved in the negotiations, and CBS News are both part of Paramount Global. Also, some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA or Writers Guild members, but their contracts are not affected by the strikes
Los Angeles — Union leaders told striking Hollywood writers Tuesday night that they plan to meet with representatives of studios to discuss restarting negotiations after the first official communication between the two sides since the writers’ walkout began three months ago.
The Writers Guild of America sent an email to members saying the head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations, requested a meeting on Friday to discuss the resumption of contract talks.
“We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information,” the email read. “As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.”
It wasn’t immediately known whether a similar overture was made to union leaders for Hollywood actors, who have been on strike since July 14.
SAG-AFTRA and WGA picketers walk outside Netflix studios on August 1, 2023, in Los Angeles.
Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP
This is the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the actors’ guild’s president.
Asked about the prospect of talks with either guild, a spokesperson for the AMPTP only said in an email that, “We remain committed to finding a path to mutually beneficial deals with both Unions.”
An Associated Press email to a representative of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents striking film and television actors, wasn’t immediately returned.
The AMPTP represents Hollywood studios including Paramount, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Sony, Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney.
Talks between screenwriters and their employers collapsed on May 1, and the first of the two walkouts that have frozen production in Hollywood began a day later. Issues include pay rates amid inflation, the use of smaller writing staffs for shorter seasons of television shows, and control over artificial intelligence in the screenwriting process.
“I had hoped that we would already have had some kind of conversations with the industry by now,” SAG-AFTRA Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press earlier Tuesday, before the email was sent to writers. “Obviously, that hasn’t happened yet, but I’m optimistic.”
Picketers have marched outside major studios and network offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
Editor’s note: Paramount+ and CBS News and Stations are part of Paramount Global, one of the companies affected by the strike. Some CBS News staff are WGA and SAG-AFTRA members but work under different contracts than the writers and actors who are on strike.
London — In the heart of the English countryside, a multimillion-dollar set of the mythical land of Oz — complete with the thatched roof houses of Munchkinland, and a yellow brick road to boot — lies empty.
Production on the set of “Wicked” — a film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, and starring Ariana Grande — has shut down in the U.K. for the foreseeable future, as the effects of the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes are being felt far beyond Hollywood.
London is the third largest center for movie production in the world. Major productions being shot in England’s capital, like “Wicked” and the Walt Disney-produced “Deadpool 3,” have paused all production until further notice.
While U.K. labor laws prevent Equity — the British performing arts and entertainment trade union — from striking with Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America, actors and writers in the U.K. have been marching in solidarity with their U.S. colleagues.
Comedian Rob Delaney, a SAG-AFTRA member and one of the stars of “Deadpool 3,” told CBS News at a solidarity march in Leicester Square last week that the strikes are necessary to make large Hollywood studios care about “quality and quantity.”
“They’re like toddlers,” Delaney said of the studios. “They say ‘look at all the money’ and then we ask for a nickel…and they’re like, ‘No we don’t have it.’”
A member of the Equity, the British performing arts and entertainment trade union, speaks during a rally in London’s Leicester Square to show their solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in the U.S. Along with the Labour MP John McDonnell, many famous British actresses and actors attended the demonstration, including Rob Delaney, Andy Serkis, David Oyelowo, Hayley Atwell, Brian Cox, Simon Pegg, Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter.
Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
“I’d rather be on set today, but today’s job is to be here making sure that people less fortunate than me get paid properly,” he added.
“Succession” star Brian Cox, also in attendance at the London rally, told CBS News that writers are the lifeblood of the industry.
“You couldn’t have a show like ‘Succession,’ with as many Emmy nominations as we’ve had, without great writing,” he said. “It’s nonsense to think that you can circumvent writers, you can’t. They’re the basis of what we do.”
Many film and television workers in Britain say that the best outcome for the industry globally is for SAG- AFTRA and the WGA to get the terms that they want.
“The idea of being like the Hollywood film industry, or a Hollywood stunt person, is kind of almost like an outdated kind of myth now,” British stuntman James Cox told CBS News earlier this week. “Because now, such a large chunk of the work is here in the U.K.”
Cox warned that the economic impact in the short term will be severe for peers in his profession.
“It’s the unknown element, which is probably the most distressing for most of the performers,” he said. “To say, ‘Now you guys are unemployed, we don’t know how long for,’ there’s going to be kind of stresses and strains across the whole hierarchy of the film industry.”
Among the sticking points for writers and actors in the U.S. is the decline in residuals from film and television work due to the growing market dominance of streaming platforms such as Netflix. Another major issue has been the use of artificial intelligence, which British performers say also poses a threat to the livelihoods of film crews globally.
“AI as a creative tool, is worrying because…it can’t really create anything,” actor Simon Pegg told CBS News at Equity’s SAG-AFTRA solidarity rally last week.
“Only we can do that,” he added. “So to rely on it is to rely on mediocrity, and we can’t do that.”
For James Cox, AI threatens the fundamental value of movie making. He says audiences could lose the magic of cinema.
“That’s ultimately, probably, the question at the crux of the AI issue,” Cox said. “What do the people want to see? Do they want to see something human, or something distinctly unhuman?”
The approximately 11,000 members of the WGA have been on strike since early May, while SAG-AFTRA joined them on the picket lines in mid-July. Of SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 total members, about 65,000 film and television actors are on strike.
The two unions are negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents all major Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures, which along with CBS News is part of Paramount Global.
U.S. entertainment companies are widely expected to see a quarterly earnings bump driven by the ongoing strikes. The Writers Guild has been on strike for more than three months and the Screen Actors Guild voted to join them in July. Alex Weprin, media and business writer for the Hollywood Reporter, joined CBS News to discuss where the money is going.
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America’s biggest media conglomerates already had plenty to contend with heading into their next earnings roadshow: the tough ad market, the tricky metrics of streaming, the slow and painful death of traditional television. Now, as the handsomely compensated faces of these companies spin their latest quarterly financial results to Wall Street, an even more menacing bête noire looms large: the complete and indefinite shutdown of the scripted entertainment business.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Ted Sarandosacknowledged of the ongoing writers and actors strikes during last week’s Netflix earnings, the first up at bat. “There are a handful of complicated issues. We’re super committed to getting to an agreement as soon as possible.”
Netflix, of course, has a good story to tell. After the great subscriber stumble of 2022, the company now appears to be back on track. It brought in 5.9 million new subscribers from April through June, while cracking down on password sharing and introducing a cheaper ad-supported tier, once an unthinkable prospect for the 16-year-old streamer. Netflix also has a famously prodigious content stockpile that includes oodles of strike-exempt reality and documentary fare. Plus, it doesn’t have to worry about television ratings and box office figures and the like.
The same can’t be said of the other programming behemoths set to report earnings over the next couple of weeks—Comcast on July 27, Warner Bros. Discovery on August 3, Paramount Global on August 7, and Disney on August 9. “In some cases, the challenges are greater than I had anticipated,” Bob Igertold CNBC during a July 13 interview from Allen & Co.’s annual mogul retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho. The longtime Disney boss, who recently re-upped through 2026, talked about “making sure that our cost structure reflects the economic realities of the business,” and “dealing with businesses that are no-growth businesses and what to do about them, and particularly the linear business.” (That would include ABC, FX, Nat Geo.) ”We have to be open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses.” Iger’s next comment was the one that made news: “They may not be core to Disney.”
Whether it was an off-script slip of the tongue or a flare fired in the direction of potential TV-network shoppers, Iger’s remark seemed to capture the ominous cloud hanging over earnings season. A subsequent CNBC headline declared, ”The media industry is in turmoil, and that’s not changing anytime soon.”
Hollywood’s blackout is only magnifying such anxieties. (As one trusted Hollywood source texted me this week: “The tensions continue to rise like the heat on both coasts.”) Depending on the duration of the dual strikes—Labor Day falls on the more optimistic end of the timeline, and it’s of course possible they could last into the end of the year—the real impact isn’t likely to be felt until the third or fourth quarter. The longer the strikes go on, the bigger the implications (such as the potential to encourage cord-cutting and subscriber churn, for one), and the worse things get for all parties involved, from the studio bosses to the talent to the consumer.
“If this goes past summer,” an industry heavyweight tells me, “it’s gonna start having a real impact on the content flow and what 2024 looks like in terms of being able to put content out on all platforms.” Another big shot says, “It’s time for the grown-ups to get in the room, close the door, and bring this to closure.”
In the short term, without any expensive movies or shows in the making, Wall Street can appreciate the free cash flow. (Netflix told investors last week that it had bumped its own projection from $3.5 billion up to at least $5 billion for 2023, thanks to the production savings.) The caveat, of course, is that the bill on those short-term gains will eventually come due.
“We know traditional media companies are in dire need for incremental cash flows thanks to the pressure from the pivot to streaming, acceleration of cord-cutting, and secular challenges facing TV advertising,” reads a research note that MoffettNathanson issued Friday. “The strikes shutting down productions may benefit 2023 cashflow…but, as we saw post-COVID, any short-term gain is unlikely to last once production ramps back up.”
Between October 2008 and August 2009, a band of thieves broke into the homes of several young Hollywood stars, such as Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Audrina Patridge, and Orlando Bloom, stealing more than $3 million in cash, jewelry, and high-end designer goods.
But these weren’t your typical robbers. They were teenagers from the San Fernando Valley. One thief, Alex Neiers, was even the star of a hit reality show on E!
The press would ultimately call these burglars the ‘Bling Ring’ because of the flashy swag they stole from their victims, then sold online or wore casually around town.
On this week’s episode of the Dirty Money Podcast, Entrepreneur editors Dan Bova and Jon Small rehash the bizarre story of the string of robberies that captivated not just Hollywood—but the world.
In addition to this being a shocking story of greed and privilege, it’s also about the beginning of a new kind of internet celebrity: People who rose to fame not because of their talent but because they were good at generating attention.
The Bling Ring came of age in the early days of social media when nobody truly realized its power and influence. They monitored the accounts of celebrities to find out whether or not they were home, using new tools like google maps to figure out how to break it.
Later, the police would use these same tools to capture the suspects and bring them to justice.
Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a “milestone” seven-figure donation to a relief fund for actors amid their ongoing strike against major Hollywood studios.
Following the announcement that thousands of film and television actors in SAG-AFTRA were going on strike beginning July 13, leaders of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation — a nonprofit group associated with the union which provides emergency assistance to members — sent a letter to 2,700 of the union’s highest-earning actors, explaining the financial strains the strike would cause, Variety reported Monday.
Shortly after, Johnson’s team made an undisclosed seven-figure donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Emergency Financial Assistance and Disaster Relief Fund, the union confirmed to CBS News Tuesday.
“While the Foundation does not disclose amounts from its donors, we can reconfirm Dwayne Johnson contributed a 7-figure to its charitable Emergency Financial Assistance Program,” a SAG-AFTRA representative said in a statement, calling it the “single largest donation” since the foundation was created in 1985.
For the first time since 1960, both Hollywood actors and writers are on strike simultaneously, a move which has effectively shut down scripted production across the industry. The Screen Actors Guild has more than 160,000 members, although the strike only affects the union’s roughly 65,000 actors.
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Actor and retired professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has donated an unprecedented “seven-figure” amount to SAG-AFTRA amid the actors union’s strike, a representative for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation told HuffPost on Monday.
Of the 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members, roughly 2,700 of the union’s highest earners received a letter from the union’s president, Courtney B. Vance, and executive director, Cyd Wilson, detailing the need for financial assistance amid the work stoppage.
Johnson’s seven-figure donation is the largest lump sum the union has received from a single donor since it was founded in 1985, a representative told HuffPost, referring to it as a “milestone.”
The exact amount of Johnson’s donation has not been disclosed. However, Wilson told Variety, which first reported the news on Monday, that the sum will likely help 7,000 to 10,000 members through the union’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program.
“It is a call to arms for all of us to know that we just have to step up however you can,” Vance told Variety. “Dwayne is letting everyone know, ‘I’m here. What are you going to do?’”
A representative for Johnson did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The impact of the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strikes aren’t just being felt in Los Angeles or New York, but also in states such as Georgia, Florida and Texas, which have seen a spike in film and television production in recent years. Mark Strassmann reports.
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Director Greta Gerwig’s all-pink “Barbie” had a glamorous estimated opening day at the box office Friday, bringing in $70.5 million — the biggest opening for any film in 2023 so far.
The massive figure, reported by Variety, beat out June’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which made $51.8 million on its opening. The number combines the $22.2 million “Barbie” earned in previews on Thursday, and $42.8 million on Friday, playing in 4,243 theaters.
“Barbie,” a Warner Bros. Discovery movie — and Mattel’s first foray into the film industry — had an intense marketing campaign leading up to its release — from a real life Barbie Dreamhouse in Malibu, to licensing deals with fast food chains. And based on its box office success, it paid off.
The Grove’s theater marquee announcing the opening of “Barbie” movie in Los Angeles California, on July 20, 2023.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
If the film hits its estimated three-day opening weekend total of at least $155 million, per Variety, it would pass “Super Mario Bros.” for the biggest debut of 2023. It also has a chance for the biggest-ever opening weekend for a female director.
The all-pink fantasy, which caters to audiences of all ages, stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu — among other big names — and tells the story of Barbie and Ken, who decide they want to see what the real world is like.
The other blockbuster of the summer, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which released the same day as “Barbie,” also reeled in big numbers, opening at $33 million. According to Variety, “Oppenheimer” is on track to have one of the highest grossing opening weekends for an R rated film.
“Oppenheimer” — a darker three-hour historical drama about the development of the atomic bomb — stars Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. Though its story is a stark contrast to “Barbie’s” cotton candy comedy, it has one thing in common — getting audiences back into theaters for a “summer movie spectacle.”
Fans — 200,000 of whom bought advanced tickets to see both movies on the same day according to the National Association of Theater owners — have coined the name “Barbenheimer” to refer to the shared opening day of both.
Since the pandemic began, movie theaters have seen a decline in attendance, and ticket sales haven’t quite bounced back — down 20% since 2019, according to data from Comscore.
The summer releases of fan favorite franchises “Indiana Jones” and “Mission Impossible” underperformed, indicating that blockbuster movies may no longer be attracting audiences the way they used to.
Added to the mix — two major Hollywood strikes by writers and actors which has halted scripted production — are set to slow theater traffic even more as studios struggle to create new content.
“Movies don’t write themselves. You have to have actors in front of the camera,” media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CBS News. “So this is going to be very important that this gets resolved — the sooner, the better.”
And while “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have seemed to breathe new life and excitement into Hollywood and movie theaters, with the strikes looming above the industry’s head, the big question is, “What’s next?”
It’s a classic holiday film tale: small towns, snowflakes and star-crossed lovers.
But this year’s queue of beloved holiday movies may be considerably smaller due to the worldwide shut-down of productions caused by current Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Glitch SPFX is an Ottawa-based special effects company responsible for simulating most of the artificial snow in holiday films produced in the province in the last five years — the majority of those films for American studios and networks.
Now, Glitch SPFX founder Ben Belanger said the company is completely out of work.
“It went from us working on literally three films at the same time in June … and then it was the writers’ strike that seemed like it was going to be nice and short.”
Glitch has been in business for 10 years, but Belanger said the last five have been especially lucrative due to deals with American networks such as the Hallmark Channel, known for pumping out some of the most talked about holiday films each year.
Many of those films have been produced in Canada, with small-town locations in Ontario and British Columbia as well as the nation’s capital Ottawa flourishing with business the past few years.
But due to the strikes this year, the number of holiday films produced in Canada for Hallmark and similar networks will be greatly reduced, experts say — not because of the crews, but actors.
1Development Entertainment Services is an Ottawa-based production company with a focus on holiday, made-for-TV movies. Like Glitch, almost all of the studio’s projects are in collaboration with American unions and networks due to having a larger market and audience size.
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Founder of 1Development, Shane Boucher, said it’s a big deal for networks to have at least one American star in a holiday film. That’s why many companies will likely choose to wait out the actors’ strike instead of working on new projects with an entirely Canadian cast.
“The SAG requirement is usually pretty high. There’s either a level of a Hallmark-known star … that’s going to help drive the viewership, or it’s just an American star that has a really high social media presence. Normally they’re higher than some of your top-level Canadians just because of the reach and the audience.”
Canadian studios will typically opt to hire domestic crews for tax credit purposes, which is more cost-effective.
Picketers carry signs outside Netflix studios on Thursday in Los Angeles. The strike by actors comes more than two months after screenwriters began striking in their bid to get better pay and working conditions.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Boucher said 1Development will not be one of the companies waiting out the strike and will work with networks to develop their own intellectual property (IP) in the meantime.
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“We’re usually busy servicing production, so that’s kind of the silver lining. It gives us an opportunity,” he said.
Boucher said his goal has always been to grow the film industry in Ottawa since joining 20 years ago. Since work with American unions and networks is currently off the board, he’ll be focusing on smaller projects to fill the gaps.
“My job over the next few weeks to a month is to … work on getting some sort of projects so that we can keep everybody working … regardless of where it comes from.”
ACTRA Toronto executive director Alistair Hepburn said there is a small chance that some holiday film productions will be able to secure an American actor.
SAG-AFTRA is working on an agreement in which independent producers — those not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — will be able to engage the services of a SAG member through a waiver system for the duration of the strike.
“That may be something that we see maybe even more of because they will be filling that gap,” Hepburn said in an interview with Global News.
Hepburn noted that even if Canadian productions are able to hire SAG-AFTRA actors, those projects cannot be distributed by AMPTP companies, such as Netflix or Disney. Instead, independent producers can sell their project’s wares to unaffiliated networks like Hallmark.
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“That is a very clear direction from SAG,” he said.
‘We are the victims here’: SAG-AFTRA president says as Hollywood actors go on strike
Belanger said that he’s fortunate to feel financially secure enough during Glitch’s uncertainty, but that he worries about many of his employees.
“I’m more worried about the guys whose pay cheques I sign. The guys that work for me are looking for whatever other income they can get right now.”
Belanger said that what his company is currently experiencing is similar to the strain felt in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also saw an industry-wide shut-down. A number of Glitch employees left at the time to supplement their income elsewhere, and not all returned.
However, Belanger said many of his staff are enjoying having a break. Though the holidays are still some time away, the summer season is typically the busiest for filming.
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“It’s a bit of an abnormality. They don’t seem to be too worried about it, but we also don’t know when we’re coming back,” he said.
SAG-AFTRA is entering its second week of striking. Hepburn said that he doesn’t know how long the strikes will go on and that doesn’t see a resolution coming soon.
“This is going to have an impact for months, absolutely months,” Hepburn said. “On not just performance, but the entire industry as a whole.”
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Having had the privilege of filming my own Netflix show, Buying Beverly Hills, I’ve gained leadership insights that wound up extending far beyond the realm of television. Over time, I came to realize that experiences and lessons learned during production have real value for those seeking success in a variety of ventures — even those not depicted on the small screen.
Read on to see the four lessons I took away from filming season one of Buying Beverly Hills.
One of the most crucial aspects of Buying Beverly Hills was its emphasis on authenticity. In an industry often associated with glamour and pretense, it was important to stay true to our core values and detail real-life obstacles and genuine interactions. My daughter, Alexia Umansky, showed viewers the challenges of being a green agent, for example, as she handled her first big listing (which happened to be our family home). As viewers got to watch mistakes made along the way, they were able to see the true process of being a newer agent and the challenges that come with breaking into the industry.
Similarly, entrepreneurs should strive to be authentic. Transparency and honesty build trust with customers or clients, fostering long-term relationships and solidifying your reputation. People connect with the truth, and by embracing it in your values and actions, you can differentiate your brand and create a loyal following.
As any entrepreneur knows, challenges are inevitable, and during production, we faced numerous ones, from tight timelines to unexpected hurdles. Joey Ben-Zvi, an agent at The Agency and a show cast member, learned firsthand the mishaps that can arise in this industry, particularly as he navigated listing his family’s property. In the end, though, we learned to view such challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation.
The same principle applies broadly: Rather than becoming discouraged by setbacks, embrace them as chances to learn, adapt and improve. By maintaining a positive mindset that always embraces problem-solving, you’ll reliably turn adversity into a catalyst for success.
Behind the scenes of Buying Beverly Hills, I had a dedicated team working tirelessly — from seasoned producers to PR gurus ready to market and launch the series. Collaborating with talented professionals who shared my vision was instrumental, and that lesson has real legs: Leaders should prioritize building a strong team in their own ventures. Surround yourself with those who complement your strengths and share your passion and values. Such a crew can help navigate challenges, provide diverse perspectives and drive innovation. Success is rarely (if ever) achieved alone.
Shooting the series was an indelible lesson in the impact and potential of a compelling narrative. Members of The Umansky Team, as well as other agents featured on the show, made a point of opening up and sharing their personal stories and professional struggles. Part of what I admired about our show — and what I believe sets it apart from similar programs — is that we showed the true process and experience of what it takes to make it in real estate, describing in detail the challenges and obstacles both new and seasoned agents face. In doing so, we created a deeper connection with the audience — genuine emotional engagement.
Entrepreneurs can leverage this same concept by effectively telling their story and that of their brand. So, share your journey, the values that drive your business and the impact you aim to make. Such a narrative will resonate with a target audience, and you’ll be able to use it to create a memorable and authentic brand. Through storytelling, you can forge stronger connections with both existing and potential clients, and so differentiate yourself from competitors.
Gwyneth Paltrow is pushing back against the “double standard” that celebrates men but devalues women as they age.
In a new interview with British Vogue, the Goop founder, 50, made it clear that she welcomes growing older while reflecting on the “weird” cultural expectation that women should resist aging.
“I think it’s culture’s problem. It’s not ours,” said Paltrow, who noted how women are judged more harshly for getting older than men. “As women, we want to be healthy, we want to be [aging]. This idea that we’re supposed to be frozen in time is so weird.”
The wellness guru gave credit to stars who are “embracing” growing older, like Andie MacDowell, who stopped coloring her hair after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“I love it when I hear somebody like Andie MacDowell, with her beautiful grey curls, talking about embracing aging and the difference between how we handle a George Clooney [versus an aging female star],” Paltrow said.
She added: “It’s handsome to go grey [as a man], but for women it’s like, ‘What do you plan to do about your wrinkles and your aging skin?’”
The “Avengers” actor, who said she enjoys seeing “examples of how you can age,” encouraged women to age “how they want to do it.”
“Some women want to address every single thing aesthetically, and some women want to be a fabulous French grandmother who doesn’t ever do anything. Everybody should be empowered to do it how they want to,” the actor declared.
Paltrow isn’t the only star to call out sexist double standards.
Just last week, actor Gabrielle Union slammed ageist internet trolls who criticized her for being “too old” to wear a thong bikini at age 50.
In September 2022, Paltrow, whose Goop brand produces several anti-aging products, admitted that she’d made peace with her wrinkles.
“I accept. I accept the marks and the loosening skin, the wrinkles. I accept my body and let go of the need to be perfect, look perfect, defy gravity, defy logic, defy humanity. I accept my humanity,” Paltrow said in a self-published essay on Goop’s website.
The Los Angeles City Controller’s office is investigating after several trees near Universal Studios property were trimmed — trees that were providing shade and relief from the blistering heat for striking members of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA.
The city controller, Kenneth Mejia, announced the office’s investigation Tuesday on Twitter, sharing before and after photos of the trees — the before showing fuller trees with leaves and the after showing the trees’ barren limbs.
“Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occurred outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket,” Mejia wrote. “The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees.”
Members of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents thousands of Hollywood actors, are on strike after the unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents television studios and streaming services — including Paramount Pictures, which, along with CBS News is a part of Paramount Global — could not agree on new contracts.
Residual pay and the use of artificial intelligence were key issues for the unions.
In a statement to CBS News, NBC Universal said it did not prune the trees to harm or create obstacles for picketers, and said that it cuts the trees near its property annually. Mejia said the trees should only be trimmed once every five years.
“We understand that the safety tree trimming of the ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd has created unintended challenges for demonstrators, that was not our intention,” NBCUniversal said. “In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year…We support the WGA and SAG’s right to demonstrate, and are working to provide some shade coverage.”
The trees in question fall under the jurisdiction of the city and are maintained by StreetsLA, which can issue trimming permits to businesses.
Mejia tweeted Wednesday that no trimming permits had been issued for the last three years, including the most recent trimming this week.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman said the Urban Forestry Division and StreetsLA were “investigating whether a citation can be issued.”
The trees have been crucial for keeping Angelenos cool during the extreme heat the region has been facing, according to Mejia. This week, temperatures in Los Angeles have hit the mid-90s.
The strain of Hollywood’s actors’ and writers’ strikes is being felt in productions all around the world, and film industry insiders say Canada is far from exempt.
Due to long-established industry ties to American unions and networks, most film and television productions in Canada have come to a screeching halt. Alistair Hepburn, executive director of ACTRA Toronto, says productions began slowing down in spring when rumours of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike began.
“There won’t be new shows recorded over the summer in time for a fall premiere.”
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Summer is typically the film industry’s most lucrative season across the board, he said, but this year will be “relatively slow.”
A lot of Canadian productions work with American studios and SAG-AFTRA actors, but just under half of the work done in provinces like Ontario is domestic, which includes shows like Murdoch Mysteries and Run the Burbs.
“It’s all of those shows that are filmed here using Canadian talent, Canadian writers, Canadian directors, Canadian crews to do the work. Those shows continue,” Hepburn explained.
Impact of Hollywood strike on Canada’s film industry
SAG-AFTRA is also working on an agreement where independent Canadian producers – not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) – will be able to engage the services of a SAG member through a waiver system for the duration of the strike.
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Independent Canadian producers will have access to actors who are dual card holders as well, meaning they have both a SAG-AFTRA and ACTRA membership.
“We’ve been in constant contact with our colleagues at SAG-AFTRA and they are assuring us that they’re not looking to do harm to our industry,” Hepburn said.
Hepburn says he doesn’t know how long the strikes will go on and doesn’t see a resolution coming soon.
“This is going to have an impact for months, absolutely months on not just performance, but the entire industry as a whole.”
Hepburn emphasized that it’s not just performers that will be affected by the production drought. Directors, technicians, caterers and Mom-and-Pop hardware stores will feel the strain too.
“In Ontario, it’s 35,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the film industry. The trickle-down effect is real,” Hepburn said.
Shane Boucher, who is the founder of an Ottawa-based studio called 1Development Entertainment Services, says this is the first July in the industry where he hasn’t worked.
“It’s really an industry-wide shutdown. It’s a big deal,” Boucher said in an interview with Global News.
1Development is a service company, meaning they service other parent companies or networks. Almost all of the TV movies the company works with are American.
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Implications of Hollywood strikes on Canadian Film Industry
Boucher says business started as usual at the start of the year with approximately 16 productions lined up. When rumours of the WGA strike started, Boucher found himself scrambling to finish as many films as possible by June. Now, he doesn’t have any projects in production.
Many productions gained buzz when it was announced they were set to film in Canada this summer, including the first season of Cruel Intentions, filmed in Toronto.
Stefan Steen, a producer on the show by Amazon, says production has stopped until the strike ends.
“It’s completely devastating to the local film industry. Everyone currently filming U.S. productions has had to stop and all local crews are immediately out of work. Most get one week’s additional pay but that’s it,” Steen said in an email to Global News.
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‘We are the victims here’: SAG-AFTRA president says as Hollywood actors go on strike
Creative B.C., a program in British Columbia that supports the provinces’ creative sector, said in a statement on their website that they are “watching the situation closely” and “respect the process and all parties.”
“In our role as the economic development organization for motion picture in B.C., together with our local industry partners, we are concerned for the workforce, companies, industry, and people,” the group said.
“The industry is evolving rapidly, business models have changed, and addressing these changes is part of a necessary industry business cycle.”
Hepburn says anyone who wants to support the strike can vote with their wallets.
“It’s time to cancel your streaming account. That’s ultimately what is going to force the hand here. It’s going to be about financial hardships on the AMPTP companies,” he said.
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“There needs to be action taken by the public.”
Hepburn also says he hopes other countries will show solidarity in what performers are fighting for.
“SAG’s fight is everybody’s fight,” he said. “It’s a righteous fight on behalf of performers worldwide.”
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who is leading the actors’ union in its ongoing strike for better pay and stronger protections, said the “other side” of the dispute has stonewalled them and isn’t talking.
“I wish we would be talking to the other side,” Drescher, who is known for her starring role in “The Nanny,” told “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday. “We said we would start talking to them immediately. But they’re punishing us. They don’t want to talk to us.”
The “other side” is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade association that represents companies including Paramount Studies, which has the same parent company as CBS News.
“I think stonewalling is their preferred technique,” Drescher said, adding that there has been no communication— including meetings or phone calls — between the disputing parties.
Before Drescher spoke to CBS News, the alliance said the SAG-AFTRA union has mischaracterized negotiations and made the actors an offer. Drescher didn’t go into details of that offer when asked about the specifics, instead saying that going on strike is a “major deal.”
“Why would we go on strike if we were offered such an incredible deal? It doesn’t make sense,” Drescher said. “We’re not making $78,000 a day, like the CEOs of these companies. So it’s insulting for them to imply that we’re being kind of spoiled brats, when … working people .. just want to pay the rent and put food on the table.”
“They want to squeeze blood from a rock because all they’re interested in is showing their shareholders how much money they’re making and not losing,” she said, adding that many union members are struggling to even meet minimum requirements for health insurance.
CBS News has reached out to Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for comment.
The SAG-AFTRA strike, which started last week, comes months after screenwriters hit the picket lines. The strike stems from issues including financial compensation resulting from two different business models — one surrounding traditional broadcast networks and the other related to streaming.
Drescher said that in the past, during the days of the ’90s sitcom “The Nanny,” a show’s success relied on its longevity and ability to gather viewers and ad revenue, leading to multiple seasons with numerous episodes. This model involved syndication, cable broadcasts and global sales, generating revenue even after it ended.
“It was a very good business model. When the advent of streaming was introduced, the business model changed radically,” she said.
According to Drescher, there was a sudden shift in the industry where shows were labeled as limited series, made up of a handful of episodes per season. If successful, a series might run for three to four years under this new format.
“We don’t know what the numbers are,” said Drescher. “Those people that run the streaming channels are very secretive, they won’t tell us so they’ll give us some money that they say is what’s coming to us. But we can’t make enough when we’re only doing six to 10 episodes and it’s in a vacuum there’s no tail beyond the money we have to follow. That’s in subscriptions.”
Some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA members. But they work under a different contract than the actors and are not affected by the strike.
