Los Angeles Times

Mary McNamara: The studios thought they could handle a strike. They might end up sparking a revolution

Actress Kristen Schaal joins fellow members of SAG-AFTRA and members of the Writers Guild of America in picketing outside the Warner Bros. studio lot, in Burbank, California, Friday, July 14, 2023.

LOS ANGELES — If you want to start a revolution, tell your workers you'd rather see them lose their homes than offer them fair wages. Then lecture them about how their "unrealistic" demands are "disruptive" to the industry, not to mention disturbing your revels at Versailles, er, Sun Valley.

Honestly, watching the studios turn one strike into two makes you wonder whether any of their executives have ever seen a movie or watched a television show. Scenes of rich overlords sipping Champagne and acting irritated while the crowd howls for bread rarely end well for the Champagne sippers.

This spring, it sometimes seemed like the Hollywood studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers

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