Valhalla Entertainment

Taylor Swift and the end of the Hollywood writers strike – a tale of two media narratives

Retrieved on:

Thursday, September 28, 2023

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, they were abuzz about Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday.

Key Points:

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, they were abuzz about Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday.
Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had left Arrowhead Stadium together in Kelce’s convertible, confirming dating rumors.
Across online media platforms, the WGA announcement on Sept. 24, 2023, ended up buried under headlines and posts about the celebrity duo.

Manufacturing consent online

This particular occurrence is fascinating, however, because the AMPTP represents some of the media conglomerates that directly disseminate news.
At the time of this writing, CNN.com has three headlines about the WGA strike and eight headlines about Swift at the Chiefs game.
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky’s 1988 book “Manufacturing Consent” outlines the problem of media ownership by conglomerates.
Per Pew Research Center data, a majority of Americans get their news from online sources.
The role of algorithms is a key focus of emergent research on manufacturing consent online.

Corporate media coverage of labor issues

The muted coverage of the writers strike fits into a longer historical pattern of tension between labor movements and corporate media.
When not covering labor issues in a negative light, corporate media has a track record of ignoring and minimizing these issues.
Communications scholar Jon Bekken’s meta-analysis of media coverage discovered substantial drops in coverage of labor issues by major outlets like the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and CBS throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century.

Laugh Factory Hollywood Hosting Benefit for Writers, Actors and Others Impacted by the Strikes

Retrieved on:

Friday, August 11, 2023

Laugh Factory, Climate, Life, Internet, Entertainment Community Fund, Television, Valhalla Entertainment, Multimedia, Creativity, Masada, Motion, Forward (association football), Film, Entertainment, J. B. Smoove, Film industry

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Laugh Factory Hollywood will host a "Stand Up for Strikers" benefit on Tuesday, August 15th at 8 pm. to support not only writers and actors, but those in the entertainment industry who have been caught in the crossfire and are out of work because of the writers' and actors' strikes. Funds raised will go directly to the Entertainment Community Fund.

Key Points:

I have devoted my life to comedy for the last four decades, and I know how important writers are.
— Jamie Masada, Laugh Factory Owner
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Laugh Factory Hollywood will host a "Stand Up for Strikers" benefit on Tuesday, August 15th at 8 pm.
to support not only writers and actors, but those in the entertainment industry who have been caught in the crossfire and are out of work because of the writers' and actors' strikes.
This will be just one of many Laugh Factory fundraisers to support writers, actors and entertainment community members who are affected by the strikes.

Computer-written scripts and deepfake actors: what’s at the heart of the Hollywood strikes against generative AI

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Working conditions, adequate pay, and the increasing encroachment of artificial intelligence (AI) into their professions.

Key Points:

Working conditions, adequate pay, and the increasing encroachment of artificial intelligence (AI) into their professions.
But in the current strike, the specific concern is a subset of AI known as generative AI.
It is crucial that an equilibrium is reached between protections for creative professionals, and the application of generative AI as a useful tool.

Remind me, what is generative AI?

What is significant about generative AI is the capacity to undertake the so-called “learning” process relatively autonomously and to generate original content.
Many of us are most familiar with generative AI as the technical process that gives us increasingly sophisticated deepfakes.
Generative AI has taken off in the mainstream through companies such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Meta and OpenAI.

So what is happening in Hollywood?

This would significantly reduce opportunities for people entering the workforce to gain necessary expertise in their craft.
Questions arise around how these works would be attributed, who or what would be given credit, and consequently how payment would be allocated.
But many experts and industry professionals see this proposal as alienating writers from the creative process, repositioning writers as copy editors.
One of the most dystopian scenarios to be put on the table by big studios has been termed “performance cloning”.

It’s also a question of copyright

With generative AI, consent is closely bound together with issues of copyright.
Comedian Sarah Silverman is currently suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement.
She alleges their AI models were trained on her work without her consent, and were consequently able to roughly reproduce her comedy style.

We need collaboration without exploitation

An early example is David France’s 2020 documentary Welcome to Chechnya, which explores the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in Russia.
We need regulatory measures that enable creative collaboration with generative AI while ensuring creative workers are not exploited to further centralised power.
Read more:
The exploitation of Hollywood's writers is just another symptom of digital feudalism

Directors Guild of Canada BC District Council Secures Resounding Strike Mandate

Retrieved on:

Friday, April 8, 2022

Television, Valhalla Entertainment, DGC, Assistant director, District council, Royal Air Force Film Production Unit, Association, Safety, Industry, Media, Film, Production, Directors Guild of Canada, Directors Guild of America, Workplace, Motion, BC

92.2% vote yes in fight for respect, fairness and safety

Key Points:

92.2% vote yes in fight for respect, fairness and safety
VANCOUVER, BC, April 8, 2022 /CNW/ - The Directors Guild of Canada, BC District Council (DGC BC), announced today that in its first-ever strike vote, members and eligible permittee logbook holders have voted 92.2% in favour of a strike mandate.
We thank our members for the solidarity they have shown with this overwhelming mandate.
Their strength and resolve make it clear that respect, fairness and safety in the workplace are non-negotiable, says Allan Harmon, District Council Chairman, DGC BC.
The Directors Guild of Canada, BC District Council (DGC BC) represents the creative and logistical personnel in the film and television industry in British Columbia.

Directors Guild of Canada BC Calls Vote for Strike Mandate

Retrieved on:

Monday, April 4, 2022

VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2022 /CNW/ - The Directors Guild of Canada, B.C.

Key Points:

VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2022 /CNW/ - The Directors Guild of Canada, B.C.
District Council (DGC BC), has called a vote for a strike mandate.
"For the first time in our history, the DGC BC is calling on its members to vote in favour of a strike," says Allan Harmon, District Council Chairman, DGC BC.
The Directors Guild of Canada, B.C.