Failing Leaders Failed Creatives
Media & entertainment's leadership crisis
U.S. film & television production, a core component of the global media & entertainment ecosystem, has essentially shut down.
111 days ago, The Writer’s Guild of America — representing 11,500 film & television writers — went on strike over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). 73 days later, the actor’s union SAG-AFTRA — representing 160,000 media professionals and entertainers — also went on strike.
A simultaneous strike by actors and writers hasn’t happened in over 60 years.
An industry shutdown is really bad for creatives. It’s also really bad for shareholders. And audiences. That’s self-evident.
Some view the combined WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes as symbolic of rising corporate greed. They point to David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, who had a 2021 compensation package valued at nearly $250 million. Others view it as symbolic of the power of collective bargaining amid decades of declining union membership.
I think that these are totally valid ways to view the conflict. But as someone who aspires to be a leader in the media & entertainment industry, I view the conflict as a colossal leadership failure. Media executives — including Bob Iger, David Zaslav, Bob Bakish, Ted Sarandos, and Greg Peters — have failed to do their job.
Their job involves, in my opinion, one of the most difficult and complex balancing acts. It all revolves around the delicate balance between art and commerce. I call it the art-commerce balance. Art (or media, in the example of film & TV), cannot exist if those who create it cannot meet their needs. To do that, in our current economic system, art must be monetized in some form.
Art and commerce represent inherent juxtapositions. Each have their own set of systems, incentives, and stakeholders. The sway of commerce, while capable of tarnishing the authenticity and potency of art, is paradoxically essential for art to truly flourish. Achieving balance between art's intrinsic value and the commercial mechanisms that sustain it is a delicate act that demands careful orchestration. It demands the careful coordination of people, resources, and systems — including agents, producers, and managers — operating in tandem with the artistic process led by actors, writers, directors, performers, and various technical crew. Media & entertainment executives sit at the helm of the art-commerce balance.
What we have witnessed in the last two months is the unraveling of the prevailing art-commerce balance caused by unprecedented technological disruption in the media & entertainment industry. The disruption started with streaming and has accelerated its pace recently with the rise of generative AI.
Media executives have failed to properly steward in this technological disruption while preserving the art-commerce balance. It’s understandable — the technological disruption that’s occuring is significant. Finding the art-commerce balance was really difficult, and since the balance has shifted, now it’s even more difficult!
My hope is that young people are viewing this conflict, particularly the executives who allowed it to happen, and deriving valuable lessons. We cannot have a robust creative ecosystem without strong leadership. I hope that the next generation of media leaders can be proper stewards of creativity, and be able to properly manage the art-commerce balance through continued disruption. I plan to be part of that group.
To close, here’s what Zaslav said on the matter during Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q2 earnings call a few weeks ago:
We’re in the business of storytelling. Our goal is to tell great stories, stories with the power to entertain and, when we’re at our best, inspire with stories that come to life… Our job is to enable and empower [the creative community] to do their best work.
Yes, David. It’s your job. And you’re failing at it right now.