THOUSANDS OF TINY TYRANTS: The Mostly Movies Podcast

Accidents and death continue to plague The Dream Factory as Hollywood unions & guilds neglect safety. Is OpenAI's text-to-video model, Sora, poised to transform motion pictures? The Theatrical Teamsters & IATSE unions threaten to shut down Tinsel Town, again. Is a day of reckoning at hand for Hollywood?WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny TyrantsSHOW NOTESAdditional Reading:Marvel Crew Member Survived Deadly Bomb Before On-Set Death | Daily Beast | February 9, 2024State-funded report says NY's $700 million film tax credit is a bust | Gothamist | February 13, 2024State Fines Sony Pictures in Fatal Forklift Accident on Set | Los Angeles Times | August 3, 2001Mandie Loeb-DeMeskey | New York IATSE Workers Vote for a New President Amid a Climate of Fear and Turmoil | Variety | November 30, 2022Sora | Creating Video from Text | OpenAIMorph Studio | Text-to-VideoLTX Studio | AI-generated VideoAdditional Viewing:Photos: Modified Film EquipmentOpenAI's "SORA" Just Shocked Everyone | TheAIGrid | YouTube | February 15, 2024Jaron Lanier Looks Into AI's Future | AI IRL | Bloomberg | November 15, 2023Mourners pay respects to Marvel crew member | NBCLA4 | YouTube | February 19, 2024Armorer explains what went wrong on Rust | News Nation | October 29, 2021H.B. Halicki death - KNBC 4 Los Angeles 1989 | August 20, 1989 | YouTubeSenator on NYS Tax Incentives | YouTube | February 12, 2024Scene 173 | Int. Barge Compartment | Salt begins her revenge on the Russian gang | Salt (2010) | YouTubeTriple-T Theme Music:“Lets Go”, created by Mark July | PixabayAdditional Music: Emotional Piano Sad Background Music for Videos by Oleksii Kaplunskyi, Lesfm | PixabayMeditative Background Music by Universfield | PixabayEmotional Thoughtful Piano by Ashot Danielyan | Pixabay

Can Hollywood's independent movie producers be saved from extinction?WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny TyrantsSHOW NOTESAdditional Reading:The Producers Union | WebsiteBlumhouse | WebsiteGenome Spotlight: Christmas Island Rat | The Scientist | March 24, 2022Miami Blue Butterfly | Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation CommissionKnopf v. Producers Guild of America, 40 Cal. App. 3d 233 (1974) | Decision & OrderAdditional Viewing:Producers & Directors Panel Presented by The Producers Union | Tribeca Film Festival 2023 | YouTubeThe Role of the Film Producer | Paula Wagner | Spotlight | Cooke Optics | YoutubeTom Cruise Receives David O. Selznick Achievement Award | 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards | February 25, 2023Additional 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, 2023Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Billy Ray & Jennifer Fox | September 1, 2023Triple-T Theme Music:“Lets Go”, created by Mark July via PixabayAdditional 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 PodcastTranscript | EP4 | Hollywood & The Big ConADDITIONAL VIEWING:The Sting (1973) | UniversalWoody Allen: A Documentary (2013) | by Robert B. Weide | New Video GroupADDITIONAL 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, 2023Inside ‘Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan's $350M ranch amid spending scandal | NY Post | May 10, 2023Paramount Global Mulling 1,000-Plus Layoffs Amid Shari Redstone's Talks...| Variety | December 12, 2023For Sale” Sign on Paramount Will Shape Shari Redstone's Legacy | Hollywood Reporter | December 15, 2023ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:Why 'Yellowstone' Is One of TV's Most Expensive Shows | The Journal Podcast | May 12, 2023Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 11 | Striking SAG-AFTRA Joins WGA... | July 14, 2023Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox...Why Producers Need Union Protection | September 1, 2023MUSIC CREDITS:“Lets Go” by Mark July via PixabayThe 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 PixabayBest 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 trite, reckless union leaders.WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies PodcastTranscript | Episode 3ADDITIONAL READING:SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee Message to Membership | SAG-AFTRA | October 19, 2023No ‘Barbie' Costumes: SAG-AFTRA Warns Members That Some Halloween Choices Could Violate Strike Rules | Deadline | October 19, 2023Inside the A-List Pressure Campaign and Powerful Call That Brought SAG-AFTRA and Studios Back to the Table | The Hollywood Reporter |October 24, 2023Fran Drescher's Emotional Support Plushie Revealed: This Jellycat Heart Is Stealing the Show at SAG-AFTRA Negotiations | Variety | October 26, 2023SAG-AFTRA 2023 LM-2 (File# 00-391) | U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Labor Management StandardsMUSIC CREDITS:“Lets Go” by Mark July via Pixabay"Cool Guys" by Serge Quadrado Music via Pixabay"Comedy Cinematic" by Roman Senyk via Pixabay

For decades, “cinematic immunity” has protected Hollywood's A-list sexual predators and the producers and managers who have infiltrated movie & tv unions. But by declaring war on entertainment financiers, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have pushed the studios one step closer to exercising their nuclear Oppenheimer Option, threatening to disrupt the delicate – and often illegal – balance of relationships in Hollywood.WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies PodcastTranscript | Episode 2ADDITIONAL 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, 2023FORM NLRB-502 (UC) | The Unit Clarification PetitionADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:Commentary Podcast | Giving Notes on the Writers Strike | September 29, 2023Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox On Strike Summer & Why Producers Need Union Fox Protection | September 1, 2023Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 22 | Billy Ray Dissects WGA Deal With Negotiators David Goodman And Chris Keyser | September 29, 2023MUSIC 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 PodcastTranscript | Episode 1ADDITIONAL VIEWING:Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) - Full Movie (1 min. 33 sec.) | by Marv Newland | via Reading Movies | YouTubeTom Hanks on the Writers Strike in Hollywood | PBS NewHour | YouTubeADDITIONAL READING:National Labor Relations Act | National Labor Relations Board | United States GovernmentGuide to Antitrust Laws | Federal Trade Commission | United States GovernmentADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING:Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 14 | Craig Mazin, Lilly Wachowski & Jason Blum On Hollywood's Post-Strike Path Forward | August 4, 2023Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast, Episode 39 | Two Cheers for the Writers Strike? | National ReviewMUSIC CREDITS:“Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay"Morning Mood Edvard Grieg Flute Selection-4310", Created by JuliusH via Pixabay