Barry Diller, a businessman and television and film media expert, revealed that the entertainment industry could suffer a catastrophe if a quick solution to the strikes by screenwriters and actors is not found.

Many artists recently decided to join the protest launched by the Screenwriters Union in early May to demand better working conditions, higher pay and a reduction in the use of artificial intelligence to ensure that holograms will not replace them. There hasn’t been such a significant strike since 1960; however, Hollywood could face major and long-lasting consequences if a solution is not found soon.

The former president of Paramount Pictures Corporation and founder of Fox Broadcasting Company explained that although it will be difficult to reach an agreement to mitigate the strike, it is necessary to do so before September to avoid an “absolute collapse” of the industry.

“Next year, there’s not going to be many programs for anybody to watch. You’re going to see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies. The result of which is that there will be no programs. And at just the time the strike is settled, that you want to gear back up, there won’t be enough money. So this actually will have devastating effects if it is not settled soon,” he said during his appearance on “Face the Nation.”

AI will not replace actors

Diller also spoke about artificial intelligence and the concerns generated around this topic. The entrepreneur stated there is too much hype regarding this new technology but stressed that he does not believe this intelligence can replace writers or actors in the coming years. In fact, he felt that AI could help rather than hurt them.

“AI, which I think is just overhyped to death, in terms of the worries that there is and writers are going to be replaced rather than assisted, which is what I think will happen.”

The solution

The media mogul said that a good option to end the demonstration is to cut 25% of the salary of the highest-paid actors and executives in the industry to try to reduce the gap with the lowest paid.

“You have the Actors Union, saying, ‘How dare these 10 people who run these companies earn all this money and won’t pay us?’ While if you look at it on the other side, the top ten actors get paid more than the top ten executives. The one idea I had is to say, as a good-faith measure, both the executives and the most-paid actors should take a 25% pay cut to try and narrow the difference between those who get highly paid and those that don’t,” he said.