![Noah Hawley, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Lindsay Dougherty and Miky Lee](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Print-Issue-29-fea_future-Hollywood-Insiders-Split-Getty-H-2023.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1)
The actors union and the studios have ceased negotiations for the time being, extending Hollywood’s “summer of strikes” into at least the late fall. Eventually, however, this too must end (right?). And while the town will breathe a much-needed sigh of relief when that happens, the tensions and problems that led the industry to the breaking point have not gone away. The contraction of production, the end of Peak TV, the uphill battle for theatrical and the coming fights over artificial intelligence — these issues will haunt the entertainment industry for years to come. To that end, THR turned to four savvy insiders from different corners of the industry — showrunner Noah Hawley, director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Teamsters boss Lindsay Dougherty and producer Miky Lee — to mine their areas of expertise and predict what might come next. Their assessments may not be entirely rosy, but even in challenging times, each sees a pathway to push the industry forward.
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Noah Hawley on TV's Coming 'Clarity' Era
The last five years in Hollywood, as in America, have been defined by complexity. We’ve seen it both in the sophistication of prestige TV, and in the labyrinthine distribution systems we have to navigate in order to watch it. I think the next five years will place the emphasis on clarity. The audience of the near future will shy away from entertainment that feels too “real” — i.e., topical and morally ambiguous. At the same time, the market will consolidate. Five hundred shows will become 300. Ten streamers will become five. With fewer shows and films to watch, stars will become more meaningful in attracting audiences, with celebrity offering its own kind of clarity.
In this new phase of the business, viewers will gravitate toward stories that make sense to them, not ones where the imagined world, like our real one, is divided and hard to fathom. This doesn’t have to mean a retreat to formulaic procedurals, but it will challenge storytellers to innovate inside a smaller box. My hope is that this emphasis on clarity will preserve the gains we’ve made in whose stories get told, but I think we’ll see less demand for experimentation and creative risk overall. That said, I know filmmakers will rise to the challenge. Every Hollywood era has had its gems. I’m excited to see (and hopefully make) the classics of our future.
Noah Hawley is the creator of FX’s Fargo and upcoming Alien.
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Gina Prince-Bythewood on the New Playing Field
The WGA strike achieved many things, but most importantly, the industry was forced to recognize the power of the writer. Everything starts with the script — creative voices are the engine of our industry — and that had not been respected for a long time. The strike also created an environment that encouraged us to unify. Creators, showrunners and hyphenates like writer-directors came together in a big way for the first time with an intention to improve our industry moving forward. One of the big topics was diversity.
We’ve all heard the narrative that our industry is now going to contract. And we know, historically and now, that when the playing field is smaller, people of color are too often left on the sidelines. We need to fight this as a foregone conclusion. We need the industry to change that narrative.
There’s this embedded assumption that diverse voices mean less money at the box office, and it is just not true. The data has shown us this. According to an Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report released Oct. 3, there is no statistically significant relationship between the gender or race/ethnicity of the lead character and box office performance. When white male leads were compared to underrepresented female leads, there was no significant benefit to having a white male in a starring role. Diverse stories, diverse leads, diverse directors can make the same amount of money as films with white leads and white directors.
But to get a film into the theaters now, the industry relies on an eventized model. What is a big enough film, a big enough story, a big enough spectacle to get audiences out of their houses, into cars, to the theaters? That model, too, often looks the same. For decades our industry has put out a wide swath of films in theaters, in terms of genre and budget, and we need to get back to that — but with a substantial change to the biases that have gripped our industry for more than a century, with more movies from diverse filmmakers and diverse casts. Not just for this moment, but for good.
Gina Prince-Bythewood is the director of The Woman King and The Old Guard.
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Lindsay Dougherty on the Next Big Labor Battle
On May 3, the second day of the writers strike, all the leaders of Hollywood’s unions showed up in solidarity to a WGA member meeting at the Shrine Auditorium. Historically, Hollywood labor hasn’t been as united. With contract fights, we all have spoken to one another, but not as much as we should have. In 2023, that changed. We’ve seen with the dual strikes throughout this summer that if we stick together, we’re stronger. The Hollywood Teamsters are getting ready for bargaining next year, as are IATSE and unions that are part of Hollywood Basic Crafts and include IBEW Local 40, LIUNA! Local 724, OPCMIA Local 755 and UA Local 78. And we’re all talking.
When it comes to the upcoming negotiations, we’re looking to change the livelihoods of our members in a bigger way. There are a lot of issues that we’ve been trying to tackle for years. A major focus for us in next year’s bargaining will be finding a reasonable and profitable streaming residual structure that protects and grows our pension and health plan to fight for better benefits for members. We also have to make certain that our members are making sufficient wages to survive in areas where mortgages are high, like Southern California and New York City. The typical 3 percent increase will not be enough.
I think many workers are frustrated that these companies that they’ve worked for for years, if not decades or even generations, have no problem putting the writers on strike for five months — which also impacts the other unions. These companies know that IATSE, the Teamsters and Hollywood Basic Crafts are hurting the most because they depend on hourly wages. So I think there’s a lot of disdain for these companies because they don’t have any loyalty to their workforce. The power dynamic has been off-balance for decades, mostly in favor of the employers. But a strike can show you the power of the workers.
Our members are paying attention. And as labor leaders, we all should be extremely transparent about what we’re asking for and involve members in the process every step of the way. There also must be some militancy, because this is a fight. It’s never not a fight in the labor movement. We’re up against employers that will continue to either violate our contracts or get away with whatever they can and work our members to the bone with less compensation. We have not seen them do anything other than that.
Could more Hollywood unions go out on strike next year if employers are not willing to give a fair deal? That’s up to the employers. Clearly they have miscalculated this entire bargaining cycle. The work stoppages never should have happened; they didn’t have to happen. And I think, hopefully, the companies learn a lesson and try to be more productive and proactive next year when it’s our turn to keep Hollywood moving, while also addressing the changing nature of the business and what workers need to make a living in this industry.
Lindsay Dougherty is director of the Teamsters’ Motion Picture Division and vp of its Western Region.
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Miky Lee on the East-West Content Pipeline
The pandemic indisputably brought about a profound transformation in the entertainment industry. Players are reevaluating their business models to adapt to and navigate shifts in audience taste and behavior. We must continue to ask ourselves, “What kind of story will work?” This question serves as both a challenge and an opportunity.
One thing is certain: Hollywood is shifting its attention to international content for global reach. Director Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite win at the 2020 Academy Awards, followed by Minari and Everything Everywhere All at Once, has lowered barriers, bringing more Asian content and creators into the spotlight. Streaming platforms have opened their doors to more diverse stories from around the world, from Squid Game to The Glory, Crash Landing on You and Beef. Films like Past Lives have shown us that the global audience is ready for multicultural stories.
We anticipate more projects that bridge the East and West. For example, director Park Chan-wook is working on The Sympathizer for HBO and Bong is writing, directing and co-producing an American sci-fi film, Mickey 17, while producer Lynda Obst and director JK Youn are collaborating on a film about K-pop. We are also witnessing a rise in the representation of creators from diverse backgrounds, not only onscreen but also behind the scenes, thanks to the legacy of such Asian talent as Ang Lee, Chloé Zhao, Michelle Yeoh and Janet Yang. Content with distinctive originality and universal themes will thrive.
Miky Lee is vice chair of Korea’s CJ Group and an executive producer of Parasite.
This story first appeared in the Oct. 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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