Bradley Whitford FTW

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

All of us at @sagaftra stand with @WGAWest and @WGAEast. Because this is fucking ridiculous.

[hlthe2b]

1. No doubt. And network series, that used to include 2 dozen or more episodes each year are now,

maybe a dozen and streaming programs usually 6-10 at most.

But, I fear that AI is going to be used to try to replace them and that is something I REALLY don't want to see. Any more than the horrendous dominance of "reality tv" that took over/emerged during the last strike.

[highplainsdem]

4. The studio heads are refusing to negotiate on AI, other than offering an annual meeting

to discuss technology:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217876481

[Artcatt]

18. Bottom line: the power class wants 100% profit, 0% cost

[2naSalit]

2. My friends "in the business"...

Say that one of the few functioning feudal systems in the US is the entertainment industry.

[highplainsdem]

3. These writers are fighting for all of us.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. +1

[Delmette2.0]

6. This is why I love Unions!!

When a union is organized into a cohesive voice, theycan make life better for everyone.
Even if you are not a union member, support those who are.

[Joinfortmill]

9. Amen to that

[Delmette2.0]

25. Thanks!

[OMGWTF]

22. THIS! THIS! THIS!

Unions "set the floor" for the rest of us.

[Delmette2.0]

24. Then they set the table.

Ever heard the saying " If you are not at the table, you are on the menu".

I like your user name.

[highplainsdem]

26. +1,000,000

[calimary]

31. Very proud to be a union member.

Solidarity!!!!!

Especially when the numbers and comparisons are SO DAMN lopsided.

[dchill]

7. Kick. Recommend.

[Joinfortmill]

8. Unbridled capitalism.

[Bobstandard]

10. Vulture capitalism.

[nevergiveup]

11. A lot of diversity in that group.

[WhiteTara]

12. Last strike, they replaced writers with reality tv

this time, prolly with ChatGP or whatever it's called.

[Aristus]

13. Get ready for a tidal wave of televised dumpster juice.

They can call it: "Who Wants To Marry A Vulgar, Boorish, Disgusting, Talentless, Stupid, Ugly, Selfish Millionaire?" and just run a bio on Trump on an endless loop.

[WhiteTara]

27. that's the best reason in the world to dump cable

or maybe all tv?

[Moostache]

14. My recommendation?

Turn it all off until or unless the proceeds are split more equitably, period.

I have a bunch of books that I can and will turn to in place of any scripted TV or movies and I suggest that many follow in that pursuit. It is also the only way we are EVER going to get better response from these people pictured in that Whitford tweet.

These people understand only one thing - money. They could not care less about literally everything else, as long as the money flows, they are deaf, dumb and blind to the world.

[marble falls]

15. Vampire capitalism. Their yearly salaries shouldn't even be their their lifetime salaries.

[CaptainTruth]

16. Every time I see Bradley Whitford I think of the Aerosmith guitarist.

Brad Whitford

[Iggo]

17. Schrodinger's Brad.

Don’t know which one it is until you click.

[ggma]

20. Awesomely cool response...

And I can't stop smiling!😹

gg

[CaptainTruth]

21. Lol!

[OMGWTF]

23. Like Joe Walsh. There's the deadbeat dad Rethuglican former congressman and then there's

Joe Fking Walsh (which is what we call him around our house), the greatest guitar player of all time and a genuinely nice guy.

[CaptainTruth]

35. Yes! I have that same experience.

"No, not that Joe Walsh."

[FakeNoose]

19. You probably remember Bradley Whitford from West Wing

He's still doing movies and mini-series, but not as active now.

West Wing is one of the greatest shows of all time.

[CaptainTruth]

37. Actually no, this is the first I've heard of him.

Never watched West Wing, although I know a lot of folks really liked it, including now, you!

My wife & I watch mostly documentaries & a few fantasy/sci-fi shows.

Thanks for introducing me to a 3rd Brad Whitford!

[Silver Gaia]

43. I know him from The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.

Do you watch that? It's in the realm of sci-fi/fantasy, although it's a dystopian nightmare. He plays Joseph Lawrence and he's awesome there, too.

[CaptainTruth]

47. No, we don't have Hulu.

We mostly watch things on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, & our TV included free Samsung TV Plus which has a ton of programs.

For us it's mostly Netflix & Amazon & they have plenty of things we want to watch.

[Silver Gaia]

48. We went to HuluLive when we ditched cable

and like it a lot! We wanted to keep MSNBC and local news, and this way we have those, and more that we enjoy. But we have Amazon Prime and Netflix, too. It's still much cheaper than cable was!

[Hortensis]

39. Sure do. Was happy to see his name on this.

West Wing was shown all over the planet to give people a notion of what democracy, not being afraid of people in government, looked like.

Some here like to imagine that "speaking truth to power" is special and requires courage. What amazing nonsense. It's NORMAL. It's CONSTANT. It's EVERYWHERE from EVERYONE who needs to or happens to be in the mood.

At this moment I'm remembering the taxi driver telling Whitford he's voting for "the other guy" because Democrats want to raise his taxes. "Not YOUR taxes."

[Cha]

28. It all Starts with Writers.. without

their Creativity we have Nothing.

TY & Bradley Whitford! !

I'll always remember his tweets calling out Sarandon for her Stupidity.

[calimary]

32. The best protest sign I ever saw was, not surprisingly, on a Writers Strike picket line.

“In the Beginning Was the WORD.”

No. Freakin’. Kidding!!!!

GOD was/is a Writer. Say “Amen,” y’all!

[Cha]

34. I love it.. TY!! I love Writers, too..

they're Brilliant. The interesting ones, anyway.

[calimary]

38. Yep.

In the Beginning Was the WORD. And How!!!

I’ll never forget that. I remember seeing that and saying “SHIT, YEAH!” Even these many years later, that memory still makes me want to stand up straight.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

29. Not sure of the system internationally but I'm pretty sure I'll be streaming Britbox and Acorn

until WGA is treated fairly.

[TexasBushwhacker]

30. If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage

Bad writing is the one thing that cannot be compensated for with a big budget, big stars or dazzling special effects. People want a story.

[calimary]

33. OR AI-driven. That's a HUGE new wrinkle in the fabric.

[TexasBushwhacker]

40. I can definitely see AI being used for adaptations

There is so much formulaic writing in Hollywood already, I don't see how AI could be worse. With all the streaming channels there's an enormous demand for content.

[highplainsdem]

46. NO. You do NOT want to see AI used for scripts. NOT if you value human writers

and good writing.

But studios would love their audiences to say they're fine with it. Netflix is already trying AI artists for anime:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvmqkv/netflix-anime-dog-and-the-boy-ai-generated-art

Demand for new anime productions has skyrocketed in recent years, but the industry has long been fraught with labor abuses and poor wages. In 2017, an illustrator died while working, allegedly of a stress-induced heart attack and stroke; in 2021, the reported salary of low-rung anime illustrators was as little as $200 a month, forcing some to reconsider the career as a sustainable way to earn a living while having a life outside work, buying a home, or supporting children. Even top animators reportedly earn just $1,400 to $3,800 a month—as the anime industry itself boomed during the pandemic amid a renewed interest in at-home streaming. In 2021, the industry hit an all-time revenue high of $18.4 billion.

As the use of AI art becomes more commonplace, artists are revolting against their craft being co-opted by algorithms and their work being stolen to use in datasets that create AI-generated art. In January, a group of artists filed a class action lawsuit against Stability AI, DeviantArt, and Midjourney, claiming that text-to-image tools violate their ownership rights.

You can stand with humans and the artists, or you can stand with the people who don't want to pay the artists and who would be happy to replace them with AI.

ChatGPT and image-generating AI have been offered for free initially NOT because the companies behind them are altruistic, but to get people hooked. They want to get people, and businesses, both used to AI so they think it's fine, and hooked on it to increase demand as they jack up prices to make the huge profits they expect (and need to cover the huge expense of all this computing, which costs OpenAI $700K a day just for ChatGPT - https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-chatgpt-costs-openai-to-run-estimate-report-2023-4 ). Search engines using AI are ten times as expensive to operate as normal search engines, so the aim is to hook as many users as possible and then basically sell them to advertisers.

[TexasBushwhacker]

49. I didn't say I wanted it

I said I could see it happening, especially with adaptations. I agree, sticking with real humans is best.

[highplainsdem]

45. Mark Hamill's pinned tweet today:

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

36. K&R

[intrepidity]

41. Fuck these fucking motherfucking fuckers!!

So fucking sick of it! Eat the rich!!!

[czarjak]

42. But, it's about to trickle down.

[Stainless]

44. What in the actual fuck is going on with these greedy Bastards?

All white men too! Absolutely vile and disgusting situation that should never have been allowed to happen.

Making too much money always destroys a persons integrity and credibility IMHO. They're absolute scum.