Two simultaneous strikes have brought Hollywood to a standstill in recent months, delaying production for movies and TV shows across the board.
Although the Writers Guild of America reached a deal with studios to end a 148-day strike, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) are still on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The SAG was looking for better working conditions and a promise to not use Artificial Intelligence (AI). The SAG and AFTRA strike are also looking for a clause preventing AI from replacing actors on set, they want a new labor contract and some streaming service regulations.
As a result of the strikes, many celebrities have acted in different ways. The five main late-night talk show hosts, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert, made a podcast called “Strike Force Five” to support their striking workers and out-of-work staff. It gives listeners access to a more unfiltered version of the hosts because they are allowed to say whatever they please without the network having a say.
Others aren’t so fortunate and have to rely on the unions to try to negotiate a better contract. Former UCSB student Jack Cullinane is an aspiring film director whose plans have drastically changed because of the strike.
“Instead of jumping right into the industry I will be taking eight months off to study abroad in Ireland where my uncle lives,” Cullinane said. “Eventually I still want to become a director but with all the labor disputes happening right now I can push that back and get a better education to prepare myself a little more.”
Many people can’t watch new episodes in recurring TV shows like “Blue Bloods” or “Modern Family” so they are stuck watching reruns of old episodes.
Lots of people have been watching older movies and TV shows like Cal Poly student Danny Brodsky.
“I’ve never really liked the newer movies and shows so I enjoy apps like MAX and Amazon Prime Video where you can see great movies like ‘The Departed’ and ‘True Romance’ which some people in our generation haven’t even seen,” Brodsky said.
“The Departed” is one of my personal favorites because of the actors, starring Jack Nickelson, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg. It is directed by my favorite director Martin Scorsese as well.
Another option is to look up your favorite actors and directors to see what movies and shows you haven’t seen which is how I found ‘The Departed’.
Delaney Sheridan is a former Delta College student, who graduated in 2022 with an agriculture degree, and now attends Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. Unlike Brodsky, Sheridan prefers to watch older TV shows.
“I enjoy shows like ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Gilmore Girls’ because I feel that was the best TV when I was young. ‘Gilmore Girls’ is always fun to watch around the Fall and the characters like Rory are very relatable”. She also likes to watch sitcoms. “I really like to watch ‘South Park and ‘Family Guy’ because the episodes never get old and I always find them funny.”
The influence of “The Sopranos” is felt in some of the more recent mega-hits, like “Breaking Bad.” It created a following for an anti-hero and the writers were able to keep viewers interested because “The Sopranos” created movie-like episodes with no ads and 55 minutes per episode.
James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in “The Sopranos,” won three Emmy Awards and five SAG awards. His role in “The Sopranos” is described as the greatest performance in television history by many critics.
After Gandolfini’s death in 2013 Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan wrote “Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White.”