Tag: writers strike

  • ‘Pray for forgiveness’: The Nun is taking Warner Bros to court

    ‘Pray for forgiveness’: The Nun is taking Warner Bros to court

    Looks like The Nun doesn’t just haunt abandoned abbeys, she can also become a nightmare for film producers when they neglect to give her fair financial compensation.

    Bonnie Aarons, the actress who played the creepy demonic sister from the horror franchise ‘The Nun’, is taking Warner Bros to court for not providing her with the fair share of earnings from the film’s merchandise.

    According to the lawsuit filed on August 15 in Los Angeles, the contract signed between Aarons and Warner Bros stated she would receive $71,000 from the the film ‘The Nun’ which released in 2018, along with box office bonuses, but the studio missed out on a key part stated in the actor’s contract:  the right to receive “gross receipts from merchandise” featuring her likeness as the demon nun. 

    Aarons had featured in the film ‘The Conjuring’ where she played the demon Valak, then went on to reprise her role in the film ‘The Nun’ which became a box office hit, grossing around $365 million worldwide. A sequel, ‘The Nun 2’, is releasing across theatres in a few weeks.

    The suit has argued that Warner Bros exploited Aarons by refusing to give her the complete amount they had made from the merchandise of ‘The Nun’:

    “Instead of accounting and paying in a transparent fashion, Warner Bros. obscures and hides the true amount of Ms. Aarons’ rightful share of merchandising revenues, all while continuing to exploit her,” the suit reads.

    It noted that Aarons had not relied on prosthetics to don the role of the terrifying creature, but it was the actor’s particular features that boosted merchandise. A significant portion of the merchandise alludes to Valak, as she’s the most popular character from The Conjuring cinematic universe.

    The shocking revelations of actors exploited by studios has arrived in the light of the SAG-AFTRA strikes currently happening across Hollywood, as actors and writers have together protested against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers regarding contracts and low residuals offered despite how popular franchises had gotten. Actor Mara Wilson, who had been the lead of the popular movie ‘Matilda’ and then ‘Mrs Doubtfire’, took to Twitter to reveal she was never able to make enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.

    “I haven’t acted much as an adult, but I WAS on a recurring character on one of the most critically acclaimed animated shows of all time, as well playing an actual Disney villain. But thanks to streaming, I have never once made enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.”

    Actress Mandy Moore, who starred in the critically acclaimed series ‘This Is Us’ shocked social media users when she revealed her residuals amounted up to 81 cents only.

  • Stranger Things, Abbott Elementary, Yellowjackets: Here’s why your favourite shows are in jeopardy

    Thousands of Hollywood movie and television writers are participating in a nation-wide strike, protesting for better wages and shares of the profits from streaming platforms.

    Members of the Writers’ Guild Of America (WGA)- which represents 11,500 writers working in film, television and other forms of entertainment, had been in negotiations for six weeks after which the strike was announced on May 2, in a letter written to The Alliance Of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP):

    “Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal — and though your strike vote gave us the leverage to make some gains — the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing.”

    A report shared in March by WGA stated that while the number of jobs has soared in the entertainment industry, budget allocations towards television and film writers has largely reduced by 4% in the last decade. Vox reported that as television shows have begun shortening their seasons by going for 8-10 episodes in comparison to 22 episodes per season, writers are paid less for their jobs. Adding that for movie screenwriters, their salary has not increased since 2018, which means that during inflation, their salaries have reduced by 14%.

    The guild demanded that studio owners address the rise of the ‘mini-room’, a practice in which two or three writers are hired to work on a show rather than the usual seven, before it is even picked up for production. The letter highlighted that with this practice, writers are paid less than they generally receive for a regular writer’s room, and are usually disposed off when production begins.

    What does this mean for all of our favorite shows? The last time a strike happened was in 2007, causing several hit shows like ‘The Office’ and ‘Breaking Bad’ to delay production and cut down several episodes.

    This time, the popular shows whose production is under threat include Netflix’s monster hit ‘Stranger Things’. Los Angeles Times reports that although writing for the 5th season began last year in August, Netflix did not confirm that the scripts had been completed.

    Showtime’s hit comedy series ‘Abbott Elementary’ has already put its Season 3 on hold with several writers participating in the protest to improve their wages. Speaking to Democracy Now, writer Brittani Nichols demanded that the studio start prioritizing their workers, rather than Wall Street.

    Critically acclaimed thriller series ‘Yellowjackets’ has also announced a halt in production, as confirmed by the co-creator Ashley Lye. In a tweet, she revealed that work on Season 3 has stopped until a fair deal is negotiated with WGA

    Popular late-night talk shows like ‘The Late Show’ and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ have already shut down production and popular television host Seth Meyers addressing the strike during a segment and sent solidarity to the writers:

    “I love writing. I love writing for TV. I love writing this show. I love that we get to come in with an idea for what we want to do every day and we get to work on it all afternoon and then I have the pleasure of coming out here. No one is entitled to a job in show business. But for those people who have a job, they are entitled to fair compensation. They are entitled to make a living. I think it’s a very reasonable demand that’s being set out by the guild. And I support those demands.”