Palm Springs Writer-Diector, Ron Oliver weighs in on Writers Strike
Palm Springs based writer and director, Ron Oliver is one of the thousands of writers fueling the billion dollar streaming industry.
He's worked on countless projects from the 'Goosebumps' film series to Netflix's 'Falling for Christmas.'
"It is pens down and nobody works," says Oliver.
Those pens have been traded for picket signs from coast to coast. Visible this week, as major networks and streaming services host up-fronts, a preview of programming plans.
Complicating it all, many people in the industry, including Oliver belong to more than one union and wear many hats.
"If you're a writer, director, the work sloshes back and forth all the time. When you're working on a film, you know, and I tend to direct the stuff I've written. So in my case, it would be impossible to separate to be honest with you," says Oliver.
The Writers Guild of America is working to establish job security in an ever-changing industry.
The Union is asking for healthcare and retirement benefits, as well as work duration and staffing minimums.
"They may get on a project only be able to work for five or six weeks out of an entire year, which is really problematic for people trying to make a living," says Oliver.
They're also negotiating streaming residuals.
"A corporation like Netflix, or like Amazon, any streaming service, those big corporations are making literally billions of dollars. And contractually, they don't have to pay the writers anything more than they set up in a contract from 10 years ago," adds Oliver.
The WGA is also fighting to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.
"AI will recreate actors, they can do it now, not not great, but they can do it. And eventually, what is left? What's the human element in creativity? What's the passion? What's the love story, somebody writes that comes in their heart will no longer be from their heart, it will be from some microchip.
