Ben Affleck reassures Hollywood actors and writers that AI is unlikely to replace their jobs anytime soon, suggesting that movies will be among the last creative fields affected by AI advancements. During an interview, Affleck expressed optimism about AI potentially creating more opportunities in the film industry, although he acknowledged that the visual effects sector might face challenges.
Ryan Reynolds revealed that he paid the screenwriters of the first "Deadpool" movie out of his own salary to ensure their presence on set, as the production had limited resources. Despite the challenges, Reynolds believes the constraints fostered creativity and character focus. He continues to apply this philosophy in the upcoming "Deadpool and Wolverine" film, now backed by Disney.
The USC Scripter Awards honored the writers behind the feature American Fiction and the TV adaptation Slow Horses, with both the original authors and screenwriters sharing the top honors. The awards recognize the best adapted projects of the year, with American Fiction and Slow Horses winning in their respective categories. The Scripter Awards have a history of predicting the best adapted screenplay Oscar, and have previously honored acclaimed works such as Schindler’s List, No Country for Old Men, and Moonlight.
Screenwriters and industry professionals criticize Mattel's new "women in film" Barbie range for excluding representation of key roles such as screenwriters and crew members, highlighting ongoing issues with female representation behind the camera in the film industry despite recent successes. Studies show slow progress in increasing female representation in directing and writing roles, with only 16% of directors and 17% of writers being women in the top-grossing films of 2023.
Hollywood writers express disappointment after Mattel's Barbie Women in Film toy line for the "Career of the Year" collection excludes a doll representing screenwriters, sparking social media outcry from industry professionals who feel neglected and emphasize the importance of this pivotal career path in the filmmaking process. The absence of other vital film industry roles from the toy line also draws criticism, prompting calls for greater recognition of the diverse contributions to movie-making.
The annual Black List, a ranking of the top unproduced scripts in Hollywood, has been released, with "Bad Boy" by Travis Braun topping the list. Other notable scripts include "The Great Pretender" about Tom Hanks getting kidnapped, "Boy Falls From Sky" about a playwright's chaotic experience with the Broadway show "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," and "Spoiler" where a movie exec gets trapped inside a script. The Black List founder emphasized the importance of writers in the industry and celebrated the art form after a labor strike earlier this year.
Negotiations between Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters continue for a third day without reaching a deal, but substantial progress has been made. The involvement of top executives from Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery has contributed to the progress. The negotiations have focused on issues such as minimum staffing for television show writers' rooms and payments for streaming services. The writers' strike, which began in May, has been joined by the actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, whose demands include a share of streaming revenue. Picketing by writers has intensified, with themed pickets and increased participation.
Hollywood studios have made a new offer to striking screenwriters, including concessions on issues such as the use of artificial intelligence and access to viewer data. The offer also includes a better-than-20% increase in residual payments to writers when their shows appear on networks other than the one they were made for. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and Walt Disney Co CEO Bob Iger have been actively seeking a deal with the writers. The strike, which began on May 2, has been ongoing for over 100 days.
Jodie Turner-Smith, Susan Sarandon, F. Murray Abraham, and other stars showed their support for the SAG-AFTRA and WGA unions, who are on strike for better pay and protection against AI replacement. They joined picket lines in New York City and Los Angeles, holding signs and wearing union shirts. The actors, including Bowen Yang, Bob Odenkirk, AnnaSophia Robb, and America Ferrera, showed solidarity with both unions. Geraldo Rivera, although not covered by SAG-AFTRA's contracts, also joined the protests. The stars took precautions against the sun and made their voices heard in the fight for better working conditions and compensation.
Screenwriters in 35 countries are organizing rallies, social media campaigns, and picketing outside local Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) member offices in support of the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. The "Screenwriters Everywhere: International Day of Solidarity" event is scheduled to take place on June 14 and is organized by the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE), International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG), and UNI Global Union (UNI-MEI). The strike has caused fears that writers outside the U.S. could potentially steal jobs from striking WGA members, but many international writers guilds have issued guidelines to their members about steering clear of jobs that would ordinarily go to WGA members.
The Writers Guild of America is demanding a greater say in how AI is used in Hollywood, as AI-generated scripts become a possibility. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers rejected the proposal, offering “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.” The proposal says that material generated by AI or similar technologies is not considered literary material or source material for the purposes of the contract. The fear is that AI could reduce the time it takes for writers to carry out their work by at least 50 percent, leading to a reduction in employment and pay.
International film and TV unions have expressed solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) as its members prepare to strike. The Australian, Canadian and UK writers' guilds have advised their members not to work on active projects within the jurisdiction of the WGA, to pitch new projects designed for production within the jurisdiction of the WGA, or to cross picket lines, actual or virtual, for the duration of the strike. The strike is the first in 15 years and is over issues including compensation and the use of artificial intelligence.
The Writers Guild of America, representing 11,500 writers of film, television, and other entertainment forms, are on strike due to streaming services' use of smaller staffs and shorter stints, which has made sustained income harder to come by. Late-night talk shows will be the first to feel the strike's effect, while the impact on scripted series and movies will take longer to manifest. Guild strike rules prevent members from striking new deals, making new pitches, or turning in new scripts. This is the first writers' strike of the streaming era, and there is no template for how it will look months down the line.
Unions representing Hollywood writers and actors are seeking to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and similar technologies in the entertainment industry. The Writers Guild of America is seeking to ensure that no literary material can be written or rewritten by chatbots, and that studios cannot use chatbots to generate source material that is adapted to the screen by humans. Meanwhile, the actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, is flagging contracts in which studios appear to claim the right to use their members' voices to generate new performances. The unions are also pressing their case to ensure that AI does not receive a writer's credit on a project.
Screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson have exited an untitled Star Wars project alongside Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, only a few days after delivering a draft of the script. This news comes after Lindelof's recent comments at SXSW about the difficulty of creating a great Star Wars film. Production is not set to begin until 2024, with a release date of December 19, 2025.
