I AM NOT ANNOUNCING A RETIREMENT! DO NOT PANIC! Granted, I can’t stop you from being disappointed.
I had to start with that because it seems the recent retirement of a number of YouTube celebs have people on edge. While some of the big names in various communities have decided to move on to other projects or spend more time with their family, it inspired others to also rethink how they’re producing content. For example, it actually caused Gaijin Goombah, who looks at Japanese culture and media, to actually create MORE content by starting a Warhammer discussion channel. I’m not a Warhammer guy so I won’t be watching, but he decided to pursue something he really loves, but will continue his usual content.
Then you have big showings of comic success in the indie sphere. Most of it is coming from creators unhappy with the current content deciding to make their own. I can see more than ever that it’s possible to become a relatively successful comic creator with your own ideas. That won’t stop DC and Marvel from hiring people who couldn’t care less to play to other people who couldn’t care less but there you go.
Then…there’s me. I started BW Media Spotlight in 2008 with the goal of making myself a better storyteller, though in the beginning I was just doing it for fun and getting over my second trip to the hospital thanks to Crohn’s induced inflammation. It seems every time I’m ready to make a move forward in my goals I get sick. Last time was 2016, when I was in the hospital thanks to diverticulitis induced inflammation. And surgery. And a blood clot. And a hernia. And a kidney stone. And MRSA. You want proof there is a God? I’m not dead…though for some of you that might prove the opposite. That’s enough out of you. All of that is gone, except maybe the MRSA (I think if I’m hospitalized again all the nurses will still be dressed in plastic throwaway outfits), with just my usual sinus issues and some earwax build-up to be worried about as of this writing. While I’ve made some comics, I’m not where I’ve wanted to be, and I’m starting to realize that for all the good the site has done for me–the people I’ve met, the things I’ve gotten to talk about, keeping my sanity in check–it’s also hindered me. Not so much the site itself as they way I approached it.
So while some things are not changing–the feature article, the daily video, Saturday Night Showcase, Jake & Leon–there do need to be a few changes around here. With the daily comic reviews running out of content, now seems like a good time to alter how that works. It’s not a complete alteration, just some minor modifications that will help with my current biggest problem: time!
The Highs And (Mostly) Lows Of Hollywood’s Union Crisis
This article is not about Hasbin Hotel, because if it was…let’s just say I’d be talking as a Christian more than a critic, especially the Devil’s new and wacky backstory. However, the above video did inspire some other thoughts due to why it exists.
Hasbin Hotel started, like most shows, as a pilot, this one airing on YouTube. Creator Vivienne “Vizziepop” Medrano managed to get the show sponsored by A24, who got it on Amazon Prime Video. There was one change…actually a few changes from what I hear, but the one that matters here is that the entire voice cast had to be replaced. Why? It’s been suggested that A24 or Vizziepop herself wanted more Broadway performers and the like, the voice of the first character in the video stating so in the description of the video, which is hosted on his channel, but unions are also the chief suspect. The original voice cast were not part of a union, but A24 is one of those production companies who really like keeping their union pals happy, and so it could have at least been a factor, despite upset fans that the cast they already liked were replaced.
To their credit, the actors have been supportive, creating this song when they learned about the replacement but not releasing it until the show hit Amazon Prime and the A24 app. It’s a thank you to the fans who supported them and how much they enjoyed performing for the pilot and possibly even working with each other. YouTube animators don’t get to have their VAs in the same room like professional productions. They’re a class act in this regard, making their absence even worse (said the critic who hasn’t seen it because of religion and frankly this wouldn’t be my taste in shows anyway), but that’s Hollywood and the Hollywood machine.
It was the discussion of the unions that inspired this article, since it was the video being talked about in Literature Devil’s “Morning Nonsense” podcast that I first saw it, and unions were considered the party at fault. Even if this wasn’t the reason for the cast change, it indirectly brought the topic up, so I decided to just work it in, because I wouldn’t be discussing this at all either way otherwise. Unions are a part of our lives, for good and for bad. As of late in entertainment…it’s been mostly bad.
Continue reading →
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on February 21, 2024 in Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged commentary, strikes, unions.
1 Comment