Why the Film Industry Hasn't Been Disrupted Yet, Part 5
One factor that I didn&#x27;t see mentioned in this post or the author&#x27;s previous post is the strength and influence of the union. I lived with an actress who had moderate enough success to do acting full time, have an agent, and be in the Screen Actors Guild. I was amazed at how much money she could pull in for just having a split-second role in a nationally broadcast ad, when it seems likely a company could finds hundreds of attractive, willing people to show up in an ad for a few hundred bucks. My impression from her was that doing non-union work as SAG member could easily kill your career, considering how most studios do not work with non union folks, as SAG would push back hard on them.<p>That said, the film industry is very much built on sentiment and brand. I&#x27;m a fan of movies from all eras, so I don&#x27;t understand why people are so thrilled to pay money to see a new movie when there are so many great movies in the past few decades, nevermind the past year. But people today really want to see Jennifer Lawrence&#x27;s new work, no matter how many other equally great actresses have had great roles in years past.<p>Same deal with franchises, in movies and in games. A fan-remake could remove Nintendo characters and assets and still have the exact same game mechanics and quality, but very few people would give a shit. We want to see the characters and worlds we grew up with and loved, regardless of whether the actual vehicle (movie, game, etc) isn&#x27;t particularly noteworthy.<p>Edit: Contrast film with other industries that have been disrupted. I like Seymour Hersh, but I don&#x27;t care if a great investigative reporting scoop comes from him or from a blogger, I just care about its veracity and impact. Same with software; John Resig seems like a great human being but that&#x27;s not the main reason for jquery&#x27;s dominance. Meanwhile, if Star Wars Force Awakens refused Harrison Ford&#x27;s demands and put someone else in as Han Solo, people would not be so accepting.<p>Note: I&#x27;m not saying the union is bad. It&#x27;s probably more useful to see the strength of the union as a reflection of the inherent strength and value that actors wield in moviemaking.