Barry Diller, former CEO of Paramount and 20th Century, warned about “an absolute collapse” amid Hollywood strikes.
As Hollywood faces its biggest strike in history due to unpaid settlements and work shortage, Barry Diller – the former CEO of Paramount and 20th Century Fox, gave a dire warning.
In particular, Diller recently appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation”, stating that if the writers’ and screen actors guilds’ strike in Hollywood is not resolved soon, audiences will no longer have any entertainment works to watch as Christmas approaches.
According to Diller, if an agreement isn’t reached within the next couple of months, viewers will cancel their subscriptions due to having little to watch, leading to an overall reduced revenue for the entertainment industry. In addition, the longer the strike becomes, the less money studios will have to run programs again and pay settlements.
Currently, Hollywood actors’ guild SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WAG), which represents tens of thousands actors and screenwriters have gone on strike together, refusing to work after 5 weeks of failed negotiations with studio executives and producers.
In addition, with lacking faith between the parties, “devastating effects” can be expected, and Hollywood may collapse as a whole, said Diller.
Regarding the ongoing circumstances, Diller suggested a “settlement deadline” of September 1st, and that top studio executives and top-paid actors could take a 25% pay cut as a “good-faith measure” to try and narrow the difference between “those that get highly paid and those that don’t.”
At the same time, Diller specifically mentioned AI, which he called “overhyped to death” in terms of the impact it will have on writers’ and screen actors’ jobs.
“Writers will get assisted, not replaced,” Diller stated, adding, “Most of these actual performing crafts, I don’t think they are in danger of artificial intelligence.”
Source: k14, CNBC
