Accidents and death plague The Dream Factory as unionized crews neglect safety. The Teamster and IATSE unions threaten to shut down Tinsel Town...again. Will OpenAI's text-to-video model transform filmmaking? Is the sun about to rise on Hollywood's day of reckoning?

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants

SHOW NOTES

Additional Reading:

Marvel Crew Member Survived Deadly Bomb Before On-Set Death | Daily Beast | February 9, 2024

State-funded report says NY’s $700 million film tax credit is a bust | Gothamist | February 13, 2024

State Fines Sony Pictures in Fatal Forklift Accident on Set | Los Angeles Times | August 3, 2001

Mandie Loeb-DeMeskey | New York IATSE Workers Vote for a New President Amid a Climate of Fear and Turmoil | Variety | November 30, 2022

Sora | Creating Video from Text | OpenAI

Morph Studio | Text-to-Video

LTX Studio | AI-generated Video

Additional Viewing:

Photos: Modified Film Equipment

OpenAI's "SORA" Just Shocked Everyone | TheAIGrid | YouTube | February 15, 2024

Jaron Lanier Looks Into AI’s Future | AI IRL | Bloomberg | November 15, 2023

Mourners pay respects to Marvel crew member | NBCLA4 | YouTube | February 19, 2024

Timothy Holcombe Accident Scene Video | Spider-Man | March 6, 2001

H.B. Halicki death - KNBC 4 Los Angeles 1989 | August 20, 1989 | YouTube

Senator on NYS Tax Incentives | YouTube | February 12, 2024

Scene 173 | Int. Barge Compartment | Salt begins her revenge on the Russian gang | Salt (2010) | YouTube

Triple-T Theme Music:

“Lets Go”, created by Mark July | Pixabay

Additional Music:

Emotional Piano Sad Background Music for Videos by Oleksii Kaplunskyi, Lesfm | Pixabay

Meditative Background Music by Universfield | Pixabay

Emotional Thoughtful Piano by Ashot Danielyan | Pixabay

Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece, "Alien", is the lens through which James examines the forces threatening independent movie and television producers with extinction in the Hollywood parasite colony.

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants

SHOW NOTES

Additional Reading:

The Producers Union | Website

Blumhouse | Website

Genome Spotlight: Christmas Island Rat | The Scientist | March 24, 2022

Miami Blue Butterfly | Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

Knopf v. Producers Guild of America, 40 Cal. App. 3d 233 (1974) | Decision & Order

Additional Viewing:

Producers & Directors Panel Presented by The Producers Union | Tribeca Film Festival 2023 | YouTube

The Role of the Film Producer | Paula Wagner | Spotlight | Cooke Optics | Youtube

Tom Cruise Receives David O. Selznick Achievement Award | 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards | February 25, 2023

Additional Podcast Listening:

The Business Genius Behind Get Out | Episode 650 | Planet Money | NPR | March 29, 2017 [Jason Blum]

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 14 | Billy Ray, Jason Blum, Craig Mazin & Lilly Wachowski | August 10, 2023

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Billy Ray & Jennifer Fox | September 1, 2023

Triple-T Theme Music:

“Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay

Additional Music:

"Inspiring Cinematic Ambient Music" by Aleksey Chistilin via Pixabay

"Hooray for Hollywood" by Richard A. Whiting & Johnny Mercer

"I Wanna Be a Producer" by Mel Brooks

"Snatch" by OctoSound via Pixabay

James uses “The Sting”, Universal's classic 1973 film about grifters and conmen, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, to explore how studios and streamers create and perpetuate a culture of out of control spending in Hollywood.

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast

Transcript | EP4 | Hollywood & The Big Con

ADDITIONAL VIEWING:

The Sting (1973) | Universal

Woody Allen: A Documentary (2013) | by Robert B. Weide | New Video Group

ADDITIONAL READING:

Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists | by Steven Bach | Newmarket Press (1999)

Why Hollywood Producers Think They Need a Union Again | TheWrap.com | May 21, 2023

Inside ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan’s $350M ranch amid spending scandal | NY Post | May 10, 2023

Paramount Global Mulling 1,000-Plus Layoffs Amid Shari Redstone’s Talks...| Variety | December 12, 2023

For Sale” Sign on Paramount Will Shape Shari Redstone’s Legacy | Hollywood Reporter | December 15, 2023

ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:

Why 'Yellowstone' Is One of TV's Most Expensive Shows | The Journal Podcast | May 12, 2023

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 11 | Striking SAG-AFTRA Joins WGA... | July 14, 2023

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox...Why Producers Need Union Protection | September 1, 2023

MUSIC CREDITS:

“Lets Go” by Mark July via Pixabay

The Entertainer | written by Scott Joplin | The Sting Motion Picture Soundtrack (1973)

Solace | written by Scott Joplin | The Sting Motion Picture Soundtrack (1973)

News Background Music | Music by Unlimited via Pixabay

Best Jazz Club in New Orleans | Music by Paolo Argento via Pixabay

George Clooney and his band of wealthy actor-producers execute a daring raid on SAG-AFTRA headquarters in a clever but ill-fated scheme to free thousands of Hollywood workers held hostage by reckless union leaders.

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast

Transcript | Episode 3

ADDITIONAL READING:

SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee Message to Membership | SAG-AFTRA | October 19, 2023

No ‘Barbie’ Costumes: SAG-AFTRA Warns Members That Some Halloween Choices Could Violate Strike Rules | Deadline | October 19, 2023

Inside the A-List Pressure Campaign and Powerful Call That Brought SAG-AFTRA and Studios Back to the Table | The Hollywood Reporter |October 24, 2023

Fran Drescher’s Emotional Support Plushie Revealed: This Jellycat Heart Is Stealing the Show at SAG-AFTRA Negotiations | Variety | October 26, 2023

SAG-AFTRA 2023 LM-2 (File# 00-391) | U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Labor Management Standards

MUSIC CREDITS:

“Lets Go” by Mark July via Pixabay

"Cool Guys" by Serge Quadrado Music via Pixabay

"Comedy Cinematic" by Roman Senyk via Pixabay

Hollywood's unionized A-list predators continue to be protected by "cinematic immunity". But have the WGA and SAG strikes pushed studios closer to using federal law to purge the guilds and unions of powerful producers and managers?

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast

Transcript | Episode 2

ADDITIONAL READING:

The White Album | Joan Didion | Simon & Schuster (1979)

Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and others spent a record $23 billion on original new content last year–so why is everyone watching movies and TV from the past? | Aden Ikram | Fortune | June 29, 2023

FORM NLRB-502 (UC) | The Unit Clarification Petition

ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:

Commentary Podcast | Giving Notes on the Writers Strike | September 29, 2023

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox On Strike Summer & Why Producers Need Union Fox Protection | September 1, 2023

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 22 | Billy Ray Dissects WGA Deal With Negotiators David Goodman And Chris Keyser | September 29, 2023

MUSIC CREDITS:

“Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay

"Comedy Detective", created by Yevhen Onoychenko via Pixabay

Who — rather than Netflix, Disney, and the big studios — are the predator Godzillas smashing up Hollywood and terrorizing the movie crew Bambis in pursuit of profit? In the first episode of Thousands of Tiny Tyrants, James J. Harker focuses his spotlight on the extraordinary efforts of Hollywood's guilds and unions to advance the interests of the powerful union-member producers and showrunners in their ranks, to the detriment of rank and file Hollywood laborers.

WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast

Transcript | Episode 1

ADDITIONAL VIEWING:

Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) - Full Movie (1 min. 33 sec.) | by Marv Newland | via Reading Movies | YouTube

Tom Hanks on the Writers Strike in Hollywood | PBS NewHour | YouTube

ADDITIONAL READING:

National Labor Relations Act | National Labor Relations Board | United States Government

Guide to Antitrust Laws | Federal Trade Commission | United States Government

ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:

Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 14 | Craig Mazin, Lilly Wachowski & Jason Blum On Hollywood’s Post-Strike Path Forward | August 4, 2023

Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast, Episode 39 | Two Cheers for the Writers Strike? | National Review

MUSIC CREDITS:

“Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay

"Morning Mood Edvard Grieg Flute Selection-4310", Created by JuliusH via Pixabay