240K expected), and the market briefly ticked up. But then Friday’s official jobs report showed strong but cooling hiring (209K jobs added vs. A sizzlin’ labor market means the Fed may keep rates higher for longer to cool inflation, and traders upped their bets of a July hike. “Good news” = “bad news”?… After ADP’s piping-hot jobs report came in at double expectations (nearly 500K private-sector jobs added), the Dow and the S&P 500 had their worst day since May. Hilly SF has been a “hey look, it works” city for autonomous-vehicle makers, but officials say the cars create traffic, block fire trucks, and even whiz through crime scenes. Waymo and Cruise both have standalone apps, and Uber plans to start offering Waymo rides later this year. Currently, the city has restrictions for when and where driverless rides can happen. Zero-conversation Ubers… This week, California regulators are expected to approve permits for Waymo and Cruise to run their driverless ride-hail services 24/7 anywhere in San Francisco. The US’s biggest healthcare provider posted a strong $5.6B profit in May, but its streak could be losing steam as older people rack up higher insurance bills. But last month, UnitedHealth said its costs are rising as older adults finally return for pricey procedures. As Americans postponed non-urgent surgeries, insurance giants got to keep their monthly premiums without having to cover as many doc bills. Hip surgery back on the iCal… Health insurers padded their profits during the pandemic as folks hunkered down at home and avoided germy waiting rooms. Piling on to streaming woes, AI’s causing unrest as writers and actors worry over how chatbots and deep fakes might replace them (see: “Black Mirror”). The problem: mini rooms hire fewer writers and offer lower pay - and contracts often last only a few weeks. While OG writers’ rooms (think: “Friends,” “30 Rock”) typically employed 7 to 10 staff writers for several months, “mini rooms” are becoming the norm. Tiny rooms, big problems… Much of the Hollywood unrest is a result of streaming’s rise, as studios like Netflix and Disney hustle to crank out new content to keep subscribers happy. If it runs over 100 days, about $81B in direct wages from 800K film and TV jobs could be at risk. Losing gold: The writers’ strike is said to be costing California $30M/day. It would be Hollywood’s first two-union strike in more than six decades. Oscar status: 1K+ actors (including A-listers like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence) said they’re prepared to strike if a SAG deal isn’t reached by Thursday. Then last week, the unrest intensified with actors in the spotlight: the SAG-AFTRA union, covering 160K entertainers, also failed to get better terms from studios, and extended its contract deadline. In May, the Writers’ Guild of America (repping 11K+ scribes) went on strike to demand higher pay and stronger job protections. ![]() Rolling up the red carpet… Hollywood’s picket lines could grow longer as more showbiz workers fight for better contracts. Hollywood strikes intensify as the streaming model turns studios into content farms ![]() Stranger Things meanwhile is Netflix’s golden goose, a critical and commercial success that has become a cultural phenomenon.Showbiz 1. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. Writing does not stop when filming begins. and Discovery are consolidating to combine their respective content libraries to better compete.ĭuffers here. Traditional workhorses like the Marvel Cinematic Universe have disappointed, investors are pressuring studios like Disney to focus on profitability rather than subscriber growth, and media giants like Warner Bros. The strike comes at a sensitive time for Hollywood. Abrams, the filmmaker behind the latest Star Wars trilogy and a Star Trek reboot, took to the picket line to protest, as did Ted Lasso’s Jason Sudeikis, in solidarity with other writers. The duo are not the only big-name creatives to oppose studio pressure to remain behind their desk. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike.” “Writing does not stop when filming begins,” the Duffer Brothers tweeted on Saturday. ![]() The brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of the supernatural world of the Upside Down, posted to social media they are downing their proverbial tools after collective bargaining talks between writers and studios collapsed earlier this month.
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