On Friday, on PaleyFest LA's “Morning Show” panel, Reese Witherspoon said it's “probably a good thing” that studios will produce fewer TV shows in the wake of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA double strike.
“What I'm seeing now, after the strike, from the buy/sell situation side of things, is that part of the strike is a reset of studios and streaming services that aren't making a profit, but also resizing, reworking, cost cutting. ,” explained Witherspoon, himself a media entrepreneur and co-founder of Hello Sunshine. “So you're probably going to see less stuff, which is probably a good thing, right? It was chaos. It was a flea market. It's okay to slow down a little bit. But there's more intent in it. Yes, it's going to be a little difficult.”
Witherspoon was speaking as part of a panel discussion on The Morning Show hosted by Kara Swisher, where she was asked about the state of media today. First, she said the situation is “changing rapidly” and that “we're going to be able to foresee what our viewers are doing and watching, and where our full-time, non-stop work will be.” Stated.
“People are constantly competing for attention, social media, YouTube, all of that. I think young people are consuming far more media on social than they traditionally are. They’re not going to movie theaters anymore. My kids don't go to the movies anymore.”
She added that streaming has dominated media for years, but things are changing again. She says, “Streaming was the biggest boom in the last three or four years, and then it became endless, continuous content. Literally anything could sell. And that's not the case anymore.”
Sitting next to co-star and co-EP Jennifer Aniston, Witherspoon agreed that the stream of content could somehow “slow down,” adding that the star-generating power of hit projects is no different in today's Hollywood. I looked back on how things had changed.
“I'm so worried and wondering what the world is like for artists. I mean, will careers like ours ever be possible again? Without data transparency, where people can truly become stars? Is there a chance it will surface? How do we know if something worked or didn't work?”
Witherspoon praised Netflix for providing some degree of transparency regarding the performance of its movies and shows, but added, “They know it and they're talking about it.” But others don't. And it's difficult how to negotiate as an actor. As a producer, how do you market it? How do you assess the value of something if you don't know where you sit in the landscape?”
“You rely on independent sources,” she continued. “Analytics companies like Parrot and Nielsen are trying to understand more about who is watching what on stream. But there's also a real amount of data. They just have a lock on it. is.”
The lengthy conversation also included “The Morning Show” co-stars Mark Duplass, Karen Pittman, Nicole Beharie, Tig Notaro, Nestor Carbonell, showrunner Charlotte Stout, and EPs Michael Ellenberg and Mimi Rader. The session concluded with questions regarding another key part of the strike negotiations. : Use of artificial intelligence.
Witherspoon said that in her opinion, AI should be embraced. She said, “I don't think AI will come to your job. Someone who knows how to use AI will come to your job. So learn about it.”
“It should be a tool for us to layer our own creativity, our own humanity, and our own ethics…and I think it's a tool for women, people of color, and sometimes their development. I say it's important for people who are alienated from others in the realm, they really need to have our consciousness expressed, so we have to get into it…try not to be scared. Let’s jump in. Let’s lean in.”