As new technology continues to disrupt the entertainment industry, Hollywood producers and entertainers alike are angry and demanding reform. The web of power structures that dominate Hollywood today have created silos of content, making it difficult for original, independent creators to achieve their goals. This is where Web3 technologies come in. Web3 is allowing creators to remove the various intermediaries who currently stand between them and their audiences, building new relationships and new venues for self-expression and direct engagement without having to go through the sometimes confusing and expensive legacy media structures that exist today. This article will explore how Hollywood’s angry creators are driving the need for Web3 technologies and why this could revolutionize the entertainment industry.
1. Hollywood Struggles to Compensate Creators on Web2 Platforms
Unsustainable Compensation
The digital revolution created immense profits for Hollywood studios, but it also brought about an inability to compensate creators in the industry for their work in a sustainable way. Producers are often frustrated with revenue sharing agreements that fail to keep the lights on. Studios refute these claims of unfair compensation arguing that they are generous with creators with big ideas and loyal viewers.
Stagnant Content
The talent behind content production is increasingly being excluded from seeing returns for their effort. These conditions lead to stagnation in creativity as content creators are discouraged from creating new ideas. This results in streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime providing similar content as they delve into adapting the variety of movie ideas that once flooded the industry.
Exploitation
- Movie studios try to exploit creators by asking them to take a pay cut
- Creators don’t have control over how their content is priced
- Oftentimes, creators aren’t even credited for their work
Creators are exploited through different forms of manipulation while attempting to secure payment for their work. Many are asked to take a pay cut when their works make a lot of money. Moreover, they have no control over how their content is priced and rarely get credited for their work. It remains to be seen if streaming services will be able to resolve this growing issue or if the atmosphere will remain an exploitative one for creators.