Last week I posted a video on TikTok and Instagram that got some pushback. It was in connection to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike that’s been going on for the past week. I concluded that one of the main issues currently happening in Hollywood is the streaming model, and I suggested we go back to an ad model to ensure actors and writers received royalties and better pay.
Whew, this got a lot of push back (see video below). For starters, I’m not sure why people think I’m not on the side of writers and actors but I’m making an attempt to correlate issues with a possible solution. Also, in the video, I said that the only streaming service that’s profitable was Zeus, but according to IndieWire Hulu and Netflix are the only major streaming services that were. They also suspect that other smaller streaming services are profitable but it’s unknown because of these private companies don’t reveal this kind of information often.
This sounds like music streaming. The costs to license and maintain these platforms are high and as a business, you could understand why royalties would decrease under this model while still being on the side of actors and writers. Back before streaming, a movie was released in theaters, then to second run theaters then it went to home video. After all that, movies are licensed to pay television networks like HBO and Showtime. Then at the end of the movie’s cycle, which could be years later, the film ends up on a basic cable network and or network TV. While all of this happens, people also get to rent these titles at stores like Blockbuster. Streaming broke this cycle completely.
One of the demands made by WGA and SAG-AFTRA are an increase in pay and residuals. An overwhelming amount of people think greed is causing this shortfall in pay but two things can be true at the same time. I believe the streaming model as we know it has to change in order to compensate for streamings limitations. If anyone thinks this can happen from subscribers alone are ignoring the fact that there isn’t much profit, if any, that is coming from the model people expect to draw from. Again, I’m all for people getting an increase in pay, but I think writers and actors should also demand multi-tiered models for all streamers to ensure that the business they work in can operate profitably and, so all writers and actors can earn a living wage. Pay the writers and actors but also, fix the streaming model.
