Village Roadshow, no small player in the movie industry, this week filed for Chapter 11.

They have been having some legal issues with another major studio. But they sighted along with that their other overriding problem, the actors' strike.

You remember that? It was more than actors, of course, it was the whole industry. Hollywood came to a stop for months as they argued over pay and conditions.

Some of the pay and conditions were based around what was seen at the time as this frightening new development called AI that was potentially going to slash their work and income. They wanted protections.

It was eventually settled but, and here is the really big question, at what cost?

Hollywood has never come back and the movie industry has never been the same.

Irony of ironies a lot of people lost their jobs. Not because of AI, but because they never recovered from the shuttering as a result of the strike.

So given fewer movies were made, less income was generated, and the vicious cycle began. That was until someone like Village Roadshow could no longer go on, so they folded for Chapter 11.

Chapter 11, if you don’t know is not the end. It can be the end, but initially it's about some protection to get some affairs in order and potentially get a rescuer.

The lesson here is unionism. This is what this is. Hollywood, the film, and television industry is heavily unionised. It's one of those ideas that, once upon a time might have made a modicum of sense, but as the world and the workplace has changed and got increasingly sophisticated now presents as an old idea that does more harm than good.

So they go on strike, the multi millionaire actors back them , food parcels are handed out, they pound the picket line, and they eventually cut a deal.

Is that good? Not if you then go and lose your job, not if the studio then goes and files for Chapter 11. What's the point of that?

What would you rather have? More money for fewer people? Or more people? Because that’s what unionism does.

So, was the strike a win or a path to joblessness and business ruin? What do you reckon Village Roadshow would say?

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Episode 87: Live with Gary K. Wolfe!