It’s been interesting reading the commentary section of articles presenting the latest on the WGA & SAG-AFTRA strike, particularly the negative comments, giving me a strong sense of “I’ve seen this before” to say nothing of still experiencing it even now.
The negative comments amount to essentially either the writers & actors are overpaid, nothing’s going to change or if anything will be worse than before, or for the writers & actors to quit being selfish so the rest of the film production crews don’t lose their homes and have jobs to go back to.
That last argument particularly resonates with me as I’ve heard from a number of Sonic fans over the years how selfish I was to fight for my copyrights which allowed me to claim ownership of my characters and stories. Just like the negative commentators of the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike fail to see the big picture, so too did Sonic fans.
Regarding the current strike, members of the WGA & SAG-AFTRA can’t afford to give one inch to the AMPTP or they may as well call it a career, because what they had will no longer exist.
Even now, actors are presented contracts in which their likeness can be used on licensed products without further compensation to the actors, with all proceeds going to the producers and studios. The AMPTP has made it clear they want to hire actors who fill in the backgrounds of a film shoot to come in and be scanned, paid a day’s rate with their image usable in any permutation imaginable without further compensation thanks to AI.
Before I even learned of this aspect of the contract negotiation, I was already speculating studios would hire talent off the street, scan their image and pay $100K or thereabouts for a Forever License. I now discover I was being far too generous and studios really are that despicable.
Then there’s the “writers & actors are being too greedy” argument. Anyone who’s ever been involved in a TV or film production knows not only do these people work hard for the money, there wouldn’t be a production at all without them. The other major sticking point the general public – and even some media writers – fails to take into account is that the vast majority of writers and actors are not on the receiving end of the great contracts and dollar amounts discussed in the trade papers. Far from it.
Instead, Disney should be asked why they agreed to pay Bob Iger $27 million a year plus bonuses for the next 2 years. On top of that, there’s a number of Disney executives receiving 7 & 8-figure compensation for doing God only knows what. Instead of pointing fingers at the writers & actors who are the most responsible for getting the project off the ground, one should be pointing fingers at the mediocre execs with the great paychecks and ask what they contributed to a project’s success or if they’re shouldering their fair share of the responsibility for a project’s failure.
I still get hammered for fighting my battle against Archie Comics even though the facts are completely on my side. What else was I supposed to do once Archie filed a lawsuit demanding I pay them $250K on the grounds of tortuous business interference? Just give up and end up even worse off than I was before? That wasn’t even an option. I had to fight at that point. Even more, I had to go the distance if I wanted to come out the other end having survived the ordeal.
Working in comics and the film industry is akin to working in the Circus. There is no stability. There’s only the next show. Unlike comics, at least many professionals working in the film industry belong to a Union, which offers benefits such as health care and a pension. Only the ignorant proclaim that all Unions do is take your money and allow the deadbeats to keep their jobs. There is no deadwood on a film set. People have to bust their tails and prove themselves for the next job, especially if they want to move up the ladder. People in comics can only envy people working in films for what they have.
When I started working in the animation industry, I thought I’d be looked down upon because of my comics experience. If anything, I was surprised at the respect I was treated with. As one storyboard artist said to me, “Unless you’re the director or writer on a film or animated TV series, everyone else is just a passing glance tacked in the end credits. In comics, your credit starts on Page 1. People know who you are and what you did.”
Comics publishers are like studio executives. Neither truly respects the talent for their success. They’re well aware of many others would love to work on the projects they produce and take advantage of that reality with as much ruthlessness as one can imagine. It’s reflected right there in the contracts they issue. And it explains why they would rather shut productions down rather than even provide so much as an extra crumb to the talent.
Even today, I still receive email demanding I turn over my stories and characters to SEGA to do with as they please without any form of compensation to me. The individuals expressing those thoughts are not shy in stating whatever I created is SEGA’s by devine right trumping any legal rights I have.
Overall, I feel this moment in Hollywood is actually a microcosm of everyone’s life in general. We’re all just hanging on trying to make it through to the next day, not knowing what tomorrow will bring, with most hoping things will go back to the familiar we all used to know. The funny thing is, deep down, there is no going back to what was. There’s only a race to an uncertain, unwritten future, where life will never be what we once knew.
I don’t mean that to sound dark and apocalyptic. If anything, I think change can be good. And it’s high time the wealth started to be shared more equitably instead of preserved for the fortunate few. The working class deserve at least that much.
It took me from September 2008 to well past mid-2013 to complete my legal journey in some respects, while other respects are still out there just waiting to be detonated. The same applies to the WGA & SAG-AFTRA. They’re on a journey for their own survival, one which will come with an armistice, but not a final solution, as the business evolves leading to another battle at a fork in the road yet to be arrived at some later date.