NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As the Screen Actors Guild prepares for its final week of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Hutch Post spoke to Phil Morris, best known for his role as lawyer Jackie Chiles on Seinfeld.
The 64-year-old is also known for his numerous roles in comic based shows and science fiction, Hutch Post spoke with Morris ahead of his appearance in Hutchinson for Smallville Con.
"The people who pull the purse strings don't necessarily see eye to eye with our point of view," Morris said. "Ice Cube had an interesting quote the other day, I think it was in response to the writers strike. He says, 'my salary isn't based on your budget, but the size of my talent,'. That's kind of where we are here. It's what are you willing to pay. I mean, producers who are holding the purse strings do not create the content. They help produce it and distribute it. Without that content, you produce nothing, you distribute nothing. You earn nothing."
The Writers Guild of America has already been out on strike since May 1.
"The collaborative nature of this creative venture has to be taken into account," Morris said. "What we argued for, what the writers are arguing, what the directors are arguing and settled, what we as actors will fight for, is an equal share, or an equitable share, of our contribution to the creative process. Without us, there is no producer. They do not exist. We just want equitable working conditions, equitable pay scales, equitable pay rates, based on the platforms that are being realized."
Every innovation in content delivery is another battlefield on which creatives must negotiate for a fair piece of the pie.
"Back in the day, when I was a younger actor, it was the VHS tape scare, right? Then it was cable TV, then it was satellite TV, then it was the DVD revolution. All these different platforms that nobody had an idea were going to really blow up the way they did. Then, the creatives are left on the outside, because they are not the ones who pay the bill. What we need to do is understand that whether or not we're paying that bill, we are contributing to that in a way that the producers who are paying the bill, cannot."
Regulating the use of artificial intelligence so that creatives actually have to be hired and do original work and cannot be deepfaked into irrelevance is a key piece of the battle that must be addressed in any new contract.
CLICK HERE to download the HutchPost mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily HutchPost email news update.