Had my first-ever book signing for Renfield Blues.
In a meadery.
Successful all around. Sold some books, signed some books, hung out with some people, and there was tasty mead in abundance.
Mostly friends and family, but still, not shabby at all.

If you're in the Atlanta area, check out the Viking Alchemist Meadery. They're a little ways West of Suntrust park.

Last time SAG-AFTRA and the WGA were both on strike, Eisenhower was in the white house and some cowboy actor called Ronald Regan was president of SAG.

And I'm seeing the first of my lovable cranky old assholes singing variations on the tune of, "Hollywood's been putting out crap for years now and they want more money? Fuck 'em. Stuff in the 80's, 90's, and aughts was better anyway."

Really?

Funny thing about those years.

Even if it took a while between gigs, you could bring in a tidy sum on residuals. Reruns, DVDs, they all added up.

A writer's room had 10 people, working 8-10 months to make a show with 18-24 episodes.

A writer could write a 15 page pitch and the producer could pass or pay to develop.

CGI was the new hotness, and it was letting us tell stories in new ways with every passing year.

What happened?

A few things.

In 2004, Return of the King sweeps the Oscars and makes it cool to be a nerd. The trilogy had two years of preproduction and involved thousands of people.

In 2007, Netflix launches streaming on demand. The studios balk, but soon see it as just another revenue generator.

That same year, The WGA strikes over video and DVD residuals, which hadn't been recalculated since 1985, and over new media compensation, sparked by a deal Viacom made to distribute episodes of South Park online.

That strike ended with residuals left unrecalculated and with a "New media" contract in place, which gave streamers terms much more favorable to producers than they did in traditional film & TV.

In 2008, Iron Man releases with plans for the MCU to accompany it. Marvel bets big on what turns out to be the next level up from a blockbuster: not just a tentpole summer movie that could make a lot of money once, but a string of blockbusters with proven fanbases that can be brought back in every year for years.

In 2009, rendering Devastator for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen destroys a render farm computer at ILM.

Visual effects, being non unionized and international, increasingly allows competitive bids for portions of film work, resulting in races to the lowest bid.

In 2010, Peter Jackson is hired to direct The Hobbit Trilogy with less than six months prep time.
Ian McKellen would later reveal that the half-assed nature of the production left him in tears.

In 2011, Netflix and the studios start seeing each other as competition instead of mutually beneficial companies.

Netflix starts investing in original content while major studios like WB and Disney plan to launch their own services in-house and keep those fees for themselves instead of licensing them to outside services.

In 2012, Rhythm and Hues Studios files for bankruptcy 13 days before winning their fourth VFX Oscar for the movie Life of Pi. Visual Effects Supervisor Bill Westenhofer's acceptance speech is cut off when he mentions Rhythm & Hues.

Two months later, The Avengers hits theaters. Today, it is the 11th highest grossing movie of all time.

In 2014, CBS All Access launches, merging into Paramount+ in 2020.

In 2015, Amazon launches Spike Lee's Chi-Raq as Amazon Studios' first original movie.

In 2019, Disney+ and AppleTv launch. HBOmax and Peacock launch the next year.

Which brings us to today.

19 of the top 20 highest grossing films of all time were released after 2007. 17 of them after 2010.
And yet they plead poverty.

That writer who could've written a 15 page pitch and gotten it passed or paid to be developed is expected to have an a list director, a list actor, a series bible, and a whole laundry list of shit that used to be a producer's job in order to have a chance in hell of actually seeing production.
And yet they plead poverty.

That writer's room now has 2-3 writers for an 8 episode series working 10 weeks at best.
And yet they plead poverty.

Co-stars, guest stars, recurring guest stars, series regulars in all but name are being offered the bare minimum and actors are being told to take it or leave it.
And yet they plead poverty.

The few stars left who can get a picture made by agreeing to sign on are all in their 70's, 80's, and 90's because they were all stars in an era where that was still a thing.
And yet the producers plead poverty.

The few stars under 50 who exist don't have nearly the decision making power you think they do. And a lot of the ones who might be are burning out instead.
And yet the producers plead fucking poverty.

The AMPTP openly said they want to scan background actors for a day's pay (which is about $150 or thereabouts) and then use that scan with AI in perpetuity.
And yet the motherfucking producers plead fucking poverty.

The movies and shows that you loved and went back to time and again were made by people who were making a living making them.

The ones that you're sneering at were made by people struggling to get by while making some asshole in a mansion a touch richer.

And you want to say fuck us while we're trying to change that?

Think about it.

Take care of yourselves out there.

It's usually just wrapped up in Law & Order BS.
To the tune of, "we better not let THEM be armed."
I mean, there was a ton of it wrapped up in Jim Crow all over the place. But that's easy pickings.
Just looking at the 20th century?
California's Mulford Act (It's even named after a Republican congressman) prohibited carrying loaded firearms in public. It was explicitly a response to the Black Panthers being openly armed when they patrolled neighborhoods, at one point marching on the capital building of California. It passed with bipartisan support and was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan, who vocally supported it. Thus began the slow descent of California into the neofeudal shithole it is today.
A year later, the Gun Control act of 1968 (publicized as a reaction to the mail-order firearms used to assassinate JFK and MLK) introduced the first four (later ten) federal prohibitions from owning a firearm in the U.S.
Of the four, three were definitely targeted at "undesirable populations."
Number one, felons.
I don't have to go into the ridiculous amount of things we've felonized over the years, do I? Nor go in depth as to who gets convicted more often?
Number two, drug users.
The 1968 version specifically highlights marijuana users.
It was a way to target BIPOC and hippies without coming right out and saying so.
As late as 2011, the ATF declared that holders of medical marijuana cards are automatically prohibited under this law.
Number three, adjudicated a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution.
The DSM included all the LGBT spectrum and all the kinks in 1968.
There are mouth-breathing cousin gropers out there arguing this week that number three should be held against the LGBT community thanks to the Nashville shooting.
If I can say nothing else, I have to say that it's YOUR second amendment too, godsdammit.
Use it if you need to.
Don't if that's your desire.
But do NOT let the assholes try and take it from you.