How Much Are Hollywood Executives Really Making?

Executive pay in Hollywood

The current topic of discussion is the Writers Guild of America strike, and their members are expressing concerns regarding CEO pay. The question is whether it’s reasonable for them to make public the high compensation packages of their bosses. The answer would be no.

Brian, Wendy, and Thomas did research about how much money people in the entertainment and media industry get paid. They found out that they get paid a lot more than people in other industries. This has been happening for a long time.

Why it has become such a hot-button issue

Data from 10 companies that make movies and TV shows showed that the pay for their top executives went up 50%. This means that in 2021, these executives were paid a total of $1.43 billion. This occurred during the height of the pandemic and is up from the total pay in 2018.

Average salaries for top executives and compare them to other industries

In 2021, entertainment giants made significant investments in streaming content, with some companies expanding through mega-mergers resulting in the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery. Meanwhile, executive compensation levels dropped in the previous year due to investor pressure to make streaming profitable. However, C-suite is still profitable, as is the online gambling industry 1xBet from the leading betting company 1xCorp N.V., which is also profitable.

How much money is being made by Hollywood’s elite compared to regular employees

It is neither Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Co., nor Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix. David Zaslav, boss of Warner Bros. The Writers Guild of America said that Discovery’s CEO was wrong to get $247 million in pay this year, which includes money from the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger.

Netflix’s controversial password sharing plan and its impact on executive pay

Recently, David Zaslav was seen at a party in Cannes that he co-hosted with Graydon Carter. At this event, some famous people like Scarlett Johansson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Martin Scorsese were invited. But before that, Zaslav was in a video where students from Boston University shouted at him during his speech. They said he should “pay his writers.” Even though this made him look bad, Zaslav has not tried to fix it or change people’s opinion of him as the person who killed “Batgirl.” The writers of popular shows like “Succession” and “Veep” would not include such an obvious plotline in their scripts.

The new streaming service Max (formerly HBO Max) just started. But they don’t show the right respect for the people who make movies and shows. They call all of them “creators” in the credits, which isn’t fair to those who worked hard to produce them.

Studio executives do not want to lower their salaries to help writers get more money

This is a problem that affects not only the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers but also companies like Endeavor which owns WME, a talent agency. This talent agency has many important writers.

Debate surrounding this policy, including arguments from both sides of the aisle

The way people see the writers helps them stay strong and reach their goals. If they all work together, there won’t be any writing for a long time, probably until September when the Emmys show is on TV. Some people think it might even last longer than that.

Professor Scott Galloway from NYU Stern School of Business said in his blog post that the timing of the strike is not ideal. Streaming services have made it harder for studios to make money, so this might make it hard for writers to get what they want.

The studio executives are content with the money saved by not producing scripted TV shows. Streaming services have a lot of shows to watch. TV networks are looking for cheaper shows to show this fall.

Potential solutions to address inequality between executives and workers in Hollywood

Some people think that streamers with lots of content may be okay for a while even without making new videos. But because of the pandemic, they will not be able to make new videos, which could hurt both the streamers and their viewers. Inadequate content may result in more viewers shifting towards YouTube and TikTok. Fully backing the idea that studios hold the advantage in this situation is equivalent to adopting a short-sighted approach that contributed to this conflict.

The number of the week is $7.99, which is what Netflix will now charge U.S. users who share their account with people outside their household. This new policy wants people who are using Netflix without paying to either pay for their own account or to stop using someone else’s account.

Last year, Netflix informed investors that over 100 million users were watching Netflix by using someone else’s password

They disclosed this detail while they were experiencing a decrease in subscribers. The company wanted to help the users, so it made it easier for them to subscribe in other countries like Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Canada. Password sharers will be charged varying amounts based on their country.

Although the approach may lead to a temporary increase in cancellations, it is expected to improve Netflix’s average revenue per user figures and attract more sign-ups, particularly for the new ad-supported subscription tier ($6.99), which costs $1 less per month compared to adding a new user to an existing account.

According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, if 10% of Netflix subscribers choose to pay an additional $5 to $8 every month, the recent crackdown on password sharing could generate an extra $1.7 billion in annual revenue. This extra revenue could greatly benefit Netflix, and the only cost is the negative reactions from some customers.

Disney’s latest version of “The Little Mermaid,” directed by Rob Marshall and featuring Halle Bailey, earned $117.5 million in the United States and Canada as of Monday’s holiday.

Overview of key takeaways from this discussion

In comparison to Guy Ritchie’s “Aladdin”, which made $116.8 million during Memorial Day weekend 2019, the latest version of a classic film from the Jeffrey Katzenberg era had lower-than-anticipated ticket sales overseas. Despite being heavy in CGI effects, it only earned $63.8 million at the box office, with a notably weak performance in China at only $2.5 million, according to Artisan Gateway.

Domestic and international film websites have received numerous reports of review-bombing. IMDb and other platforms are cautioning users about the authenticity of the ratings because the movie in question features a Black actor as Ariel. Many one-star reviews have been posted for this title.