(Left to right) Moderator and Variety TV Editor Michael Schneider interviews a panel of Paul Scanlan, Cheryl Snow, Dan Baron and Peter Busch during the “No-Holds Barred Discussion on the Future of Entertainment” session during SXSW 2024 in Austin, Texas, on Friday, March 8, 2024. (Photo by Kyle Heise/SZNS MAG)
SXSW welcomed a panel of industry professionals to the conference sessions at the Austin Convention Center on Friday to speak about the future of the entertainment industry.
The panel touched on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that ended last fall. Specifically, pay disparity.
“It’s the people in the middle getting squeezed,” Cheryl Snow said, an entertainment lawyer at Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc. in Beverly Hills. The high-level actors will always get paid, but it’s the low-to-middle-paid actors who struggle financially, panelists said.
The conversation ventured into how impactful social media can be for middle-range actors. Developing a social media presence can supplement income for actors who aren’t getting the big bucks, Snow explained. This approach stems from a lack of acting opportunities.
“Rarely does a client want to just do one thing,” Dan Baron, an agent at Independent Artist Group, said.
AI usage in production was another sticking point during the strikes. There was a mixed bag of responses from her clients, Snow said, but the storytelling capabilities of AI can be amazing.
Paul Scanlan is the co-founder and CEO of entertainment company Legion M, which is owned by fans and produces movies, television shows and digital content by partnering with creators, according to its website.
“AI’s going to be part of production, we all have to realize that,” Scanlan said.
Despite an optimistic outlook on the future of entertainment, Scanlan admitted his fear for the industry’s lack of evolution and overattachment to old traditions. The industry will always change, he said, but the audience never will, and that is who ultimately matters most.
For more news from SXSW 2024, keep reading SZNSMAG.com.
SZNS MAG 