Hollywood veteran James J. Harker shares frank and audacious stories, commentary, and analysis about what actually goes on behind the scenes in movies and television. Thousands of Tiny Tyrants shines a spotlight on the famous and nameless producer conmen, divas, nepo babies, and union toughs fighting to dominate and survive in La La Land.
Accidents and death plague The Dream Factory as unionized crews neglect safety. The Teamster and IATSE unions threaten to shut down Tinsel Town...again. Will OpenAI's text-to-video model transform filmmaking? Is the sun about to rise on Hollywood's day of reckoning? WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants SHOW NOTES Additional Reading: Marvel Crew Member Survived Deadly Bomb Before On-Set Death | Daily Beast | February 9, 2024 State-funded report says NY’s $700 million film tax credit is a bust | Gothamist | February 13, 2024 State Fines Sony Pictures in Fatal Forklift Accident on Set | Los Angeles Times | August 3, 2001 Mandie Loeb-DeMeskey | New York IATSE Workers Vote for a New President Amid a Climate of Fear and Turmoil | Variety | November 30, 2022 Sora | Creating Video from Text | OpenAI Morph Studio | Text-to-Video LTX Studio | AI-generated Video Additional Viewing: Photos: Modified Film Equipment OpenAI's "SORA" Just Shocked Everyone | TheAIGrid | YouTube | February 15, 2024 Jaron Lanier Looks Into AI’s Future | AI IRL | Bloomberg | November 15, 2023 Mourners pay respects to Marvel crew member | NBCLA4 | YouTube | February 19, 2024 Timothy Holcombe Accident Scene Video | Spider-Man | March 6, 2001 H.B. Halicki death - KNBC 4 Los Angeles 1989 | August 20, 1989 | YouTube Senator on NYS Tax Incentives | YouTube | February 12, 2024 Scene 173 | Int. Barge Compartment | Salt begins her revenge on the Russian gang | Salt (2010) | YouTube Triple-T Theme Music: “Lets Go”, created by Mark July | Pixabay Additional Music: Emotional Piano Sad Background Music for Videos by Oleksii Kaplunskyi, Lesfm | Pixabay Meditative Background Music by Universfield | Pixabay Emotional Thoughtful Piano by Ashot Danielyan | Pixabay
Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece, "Alien", is the lens through which James examines the forces threatening independent movie and television producers with extinction in the Hollywood parasite colony. WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants SHOW NOTES Additional Reading: The Producers Union | Website Blumhouse | Website Genome Spotlight: Christmas Island Rat | The Scientist | March 24, 2022 Miami Blue Butterfly | Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Knopf v. Producers Guild of America, 40 Cal. App. 3d 233 (1974) | Decision & Order Additional Viewing: Producers & Directors Panel Presented by The Producers Union | Tribeca Film Festival 2023 | YouTube The Role of the Film Producer | Paula Wagner | Spotlight | Cooke Optics | Youtube Tom Cruise Receives David O. Selznick Achievement Award | 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards | February 25, 2023 Additional Podcast Listening: The Business Genius Behind Get Out | Episode 650 | Planet Money | NPR | March 29, 2017 [Jason Blum] Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 14 | Billy Ray, Jason Blum, Craig Mazin & Lilly Wachowski | August 10, 2023 Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Billy Ray & Jennifer Fox | September 1, 2023 Triple-T Theme Music: “Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay Additional Music: "Inspiring Cinematic Ambient Music" by Aleksey Chistilin via Pixabay "Hooray for Hollywood" by Richard A. Whiting & Johnny Mercer "I Wanna Be a Producer" by Mel Brooks "Snatch" by OctoSound via Pixabay
James uses “The Sting”, Universal's classic 1973 film about grifters and conmen, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, to explore how studios and streamers create and perpetuate a culture of out of control spending in Hollywood. WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast Transcript | EP4 | Hollywood & The Big Con ADDITIONAL VIEWING: The Sting (1973) | Universal Woody Allen: A Documentary (2013) | by Robert B. Weide | New Video Group ADDITIONAL READING: Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists | by Steven Bach | Newmarket Press (1999) Why Hollywood Producers Think They Need a Union Again | TheWrap.com | May 21, 2023 Inside ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan’s $350M ranch amid spending scandal | NY Post | May 10, 2023 Paramount Global Mulling 1,000-Plus Layoffs Amid Shari Redstone’s Talks...| Variety | December 12, 2023 For Sale” Sign on Paramount Will Shape Shari Redstone’s Legacy | Hollywood Reporter | December 15, 2023 ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING: Why 'Yellowstone' Is One of TV's Most Expensive Shows | The Journal Podcast | May 12, 2023 Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 11 | Striking SAG-AFTRA Joins WGA... | July 14, 2023 Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox...Why Producers Need Union Protection | September 1, 2023 MUSIC CREDITS: “Lets Go” by Mark July via Pixabay The Entertainer | written by Scott Joplin | The Sting Motion Picture Soundtrack (1973) Solace | written by Scott Joplin | The Sting Motion Picture Soundtrack (1973) News Background Music | Music by Unlimited via Pixabay Best Jazz Club in New Orleans | Music by Paolo Argento via Pixabay
George Clooney and his band of wealthy actor-producers execute a daring raid on SAG-AFTRA headquarters in a clever but ill-fated scheme to free thousands of Hollywood workers held hostage by reckless union leaders. WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast Transcript | Episode 3 ADDITIONAL READING: SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee Message to Membership | SAG-AFTRA | October 19, 2023 No ‘Barbie’ Costumes: SAG-AFTRA Warns Members That Some Halloween Choices Could Violate Strike Rules | Deadline | October 19, 2023 Inside the A-List Pressure Campaign and Powerful Call That Brought SAG-AFTRA and Studios Back to the Table | The Hollywood Reporter |October 24, 2023 Fran Drescher’s Emotional Support Plushie Revealed: This Jellycat Heart Is Stealing the Show at SAG-AFTRA Negotiations | Variety | October 26, 2023 SAG-AFTRA 2023 LM-2 (File# 00-391) | U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Labor Management Standards MUSIC CREDITS: “Lets Go” by Mark July via Pixabay "Cool Guys" by Serge Quadrado Music via Pixabay "Comedy Cinematic" by Roman Senyk via Pixabay
Hollywood's unionized A-list predators continue to be protected by "cinematic immunity". But have the WGA and SAG strikes pushed studios closer to using federal law to purge the guilds and unions of powerful producers and managers? WEBSITE: Thousands of Tiny Tyrants: The Mostly Movies Podcast Transcript | Episode 2 ADDITIONAL READING: The White Album | Joan Didion | Simon & Schuster (1979) Netflix, Amazon, Disney, and others spent a record $23 billion on original new content last year–so why is everyone watching movies and TV from the past? | Aden Ikram | Fortune | June 29, 2023 FORM NLRB-502 (UC) | The Unit Clarification Petition ADDITIONAL PODCAST LISTENING: Commentary Podcast | Giving Notes on the Writers Strike | September 29, 2023 Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 18 | Jennifer Fox On Strike Summer & Why Producers Need Union Fox Protection | September 1, 2023 Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, Week 22 | Billy Ray Dissects WGA Deal With Negotiators David Goodman And Chris Keyser | September 29, 2023 MUSIC CREDITS: “Lets Go”, created by Mark July via Pixabay "Comedy Detective", created by Yevhen Onoychenko via Pixabay