Great write up. The lens of basketball brought me to this page and breakdown of JB's new contract, but I resonated a lot with the analysis of money & art.
It's tough to monetize art. This is coming from a writer and actor that is also a business executive and doing an MBA. Today, art must come with a level of entrepreneurship -- an ability to understand the economics within the world of art and how to get your piece. It's tough. But there is no shame in that. I feel like most artists have other means of income, and that shouldn't be looked down upon at all.
Yeah I think there’s this common misconception, in particular with writers and actors in film/tv that our lives are somehow going to be absolved of any other form of financial burden, that our entire incomes are going to be derived from what we do. That may be true for a tiny fraction of people, but as the wga and sag strikes have laid bare, mostly everyone else, if they’re lucky, is in the middle class, and trying to ensure that they can live a healthy and fulfilling life. One of the things that gets in the way of this financial clarity is the secrecy of the industry. Before the strike, my experience of “the industry” had always been one where money was actually a secondary concern. The more important concern for those of us in it, or wanting to be in in it, seemed to be to prove/show that we were in it. This is extremely dangerous for multiple reasons, but one of the main reason is it allows the suits to think that it’s okay to give us nothing because we’re happy with the status that comes from our positions. Status doesn’t pay the pills and the strikes have blown the doors on that wide open. When this is all over, the money will hopefully be a lot better, but I also think we’ll all be better off knowing that the veneer of status has been blown wide open as well and exposed for the crock of shit that it is. Community is the only way forward.
This is so poignant. I remember not being paid for 4-6 months for non union work -- money that I needed. Or being offered insanely low rates to be involved in production for major streamers (ahem, Amazon). It was like I wasn’t supposed to care about money and just be glad I had the privilege of being able to act.
Hopefully this does change. I feel like there has been awareness raised and the public now realizes how much a lot of people are struggling even on their favourite shows.
Exactly, the public, but also the people who do the work, the writers/actors etc who willingly accept ‘status’ over money. Ask any major artist what’s more valuable, and they’ll tell you. It’s being compensated for your labor. As writers and actors lose the heir of specialness around themselves, and become more open with their struggles, as the scourge of celebrity becomes exposed for the bullshit that it is, the more all of us will benefit, actors, writers, and society alike.
Great write up. The lens of basketball brought me to this page and breakdown of JB's new contract, but I resonated a lot with the analysis of money & art.
It's tough to monetize art. This is coming from a writer and actor that is also a business executive and doing an MBA. Today, art must come with a level of entrepreneurship -- an ability to understand the economics within the world of art and how to get your piece. It's tough. But there is no shame in that. I feel like most artists have other means of income, and that shouldn't be looked down upon at all.
Yeah I think there’s this common misconception, in particular with writers and actors in film/tv that our lives are somehow going to be absolved of any other form of financial burden, that our entire incomes are going to be derived from what we do. That may be true for a tiny fraction of people, but as the wga and sag strikes have laid bare, mostly everyone else, if they’re lucky, is in the middle class, and trying to ensure that they can live a healthy and fulfilling life. One of the things that gets in the way of this financial clarity is the secrecy of the industry. Before the strike, my experience of “the industry” had always been one where money was actually a secondary concern. The more important concern for those of us in it, or wanting to be in in it, seemed to be to prove/show that we were in it. This is extremely dangerous for multiple reasons, but one of the main reason is it allows the suits to think that it’s okay to give us nothing because we’re happy with the status that comes from our positions. Status doesn’t pay the pills and the strikes have blown the doors on that wide open. When this is all over, the money will hopefully be a lot better, but I also think we’ll all be better off knowing that the veneer of status has been blown wide open as well and exposed for the crock of shit that it is. Community is the only way forward.
This is so poignant. I remember not being paid for 4-6 months for non union work -- money that I needed. Or being offered insanely low rates to be involved in production for major streamers (ahem, Amazon). It was like I wasn’t supposed to care about money and just be glad I had the privilege of being able to act.
Hopefully this does change. I feel like there has been awareness raised and the public now realizes how much a lot of people are struggling even on their favourite shows.
Exactly, the public, but also the people who do the work, the writers/actors etc who willingly accept ‘status’ over money. Ask any major artist what’s more valuable, and they’ll tell you. It’s being compensated for your labor. As writers and actors lose the heir of specialness around themselves, and become more open with their struggles, as the scourge of celebrity becomes exposed for the bullshit that it is, the more all of us will benefit, actors, writers, and society alike.