The film industry of the world does not seem to exist: after the pandemic that devastated cinema halls, the strike of Hollywood workers against the use of AI algorithms instead of human creators
After a voice strike that threatened to bring Hollywood back to the silent film years, even writers, writers and actors have decided to join hands in protest against artificial intelligence infiltrating the movie-going state. write scripts, replace actors, and make worker representatives see red. Thus, the protest spread like wildfire, so much so that even long-awaited films were delayed.
“We rise together. We are building a worthy and just future for the working people of the whole world!”@AFLCIO The president @LizShuler brought down the house at our World Congress!#UNIRisingTogether pic.twitter.com/eHIHouzHhK
— UNI Global Union (@uniglobalunion) August 27, 2023
AN EMPTY MOVIE AGAIN?
“Damage within damage”, especially for those who manage the box office, denounces the relevant US association, with cinemas slowly recovering from the damage caused by the pandemic (a situation similar to the crisis in which Italian cinemas are also entangled, with excellent closures like the historic Odeon cinema in a stone’s throw from Milan Cathedral) is now in trouble again, with an increasingly real risk of arriving without autumn programs when users return from vacation.
You are challenging a system that exploits creators and performers, and your voices are rewriting the script for a fairer industry! 🎭✊ #SagAftraStrong pic.twitter.com/NxuyXRUZO8
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) August 28, 2023
A situation that doesn’t seem easy to fix. Last month, the main union of American actors, the Screen Actors Guild, which represents 160,000 more and less well-known faces, refused to negotiate with producers and streaming platforms over a new contract.
EXCELLENT SACRIFICE
Uproar causes the long-awaited sequel to Denis Villeneuve starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya to be postponed to March 15, 2024: Dunes 2 it was scheduled to be released in theaters on November 3, 2023. This is a significant economic loss for Warner Bros, given that the fall period is more profitable. For comparison: the first of them earned 40 million dollars in the first weekend.
IMPACT AGAINST AI LEAVE HOLLYWOOD WITHOUT A FILM
Second GQ protests will slip films like Deadpool 3. Applicants Luca Guadagnino, originally scheduled for September 15 but already rescheduled for April 2024; White bird Mark Forster, which will not be released until the first quarter of next year.
Same fate and sequel Dirty Dancing with director Jonathan Levine already rescheduled from February 2024 to summer 2025; Kraven the Hunter JC Chandora was originally expected in October but has been pushed back to the end of August 2024. In addition to Dune 2, another Warner film is likely to be delayed: Godzilla x Kong: New Empirewhose major label schedule was scheduled for the weekend now occupied by a sequel Dunes.
And even those films that did not suffer from the protest, in any case, suffered from demonstrations of solidarity between actors and directors, as happened at the London premiere of the film. Oppenheimerescaped from the cast.
The last strike that could paralyze the American film industry dates back to the 1980s, when it manifested itself in the fair distribution of profits from the growing home video market, when the VHS format began to be imposed even on movie theaters. The protests lasted 10 weeks and cost the industry several million dollars.
WHY AI SCARES HOLLYWOOD ACTORS
A counter-proposal by movie majors to pay actors and voice actors for digital versions of the image and voices, with the condition of always ensuring proper use, was immediately rejected by the sender: “They would only pay us once and use it.” for an indefinite period ”is afraid of artists, is very jealous of their faces and tone of voice.
The strike, lasting more than a hundred days, will have an economic impact on the order of billions of dollars and, according to observers, could continue for the next several months. At this point, the economy of California, the US state where Hollywood is located, would record a $3 billion loss.
EVEN PLATFORMS EXCEED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Even on-demand TV platforms are stumbling on the use of AI. In the past few hours, X, formerly Twitter, has been a hotbed of controversy regarding one of the most anticipated shows of the next Amazon Prime season. fall outwhose poster, according to various users, would have been created by AI, given the large number of even blunders such as misaligned objects, women with three legs, overturned cars.
Amazon ($514 billion in revenue) is unable to hire a real artist. pic.twitter.com/4bbDq6vyhI
— Kenny (@KenneyNL) August 24, 2023
An AI-assisted cover art practice used primarily in China. According to the report The rest of the world in an Asian country, the search for professional video game illustrators has fallen by 70% due to artificial intelligence. Since workers’ rights are not particularly protected in China, development companies have begun to massively implement AI, tirelessly, without pay, with inexhaustible creativity, and, most importantly, very quickly.
AI REGULATION SUMMIT
Meanwhile, prominent US industry figures investing in artificial intelligence algorithms will meet on September 13 in the US Senate. Mark ZuckerbergCEO of Meta, e Elon MuskxAI CEO passing through Sundar Pichai (Google) Jensen Huang (Nvidia) Satya Nadella (Microsoft) Sam Altman (Open AI) ed. Eric Schmidt (co-founder of Google) in an attempt to provide the US legislator with the information needed to pass the first regulation on this issue, which, as we already see, will have serious consequences for employment.