Industry News

Silver Lining: Hollywood Strikes Let Conservative Art Thrive

Daily Wire, Blaze TV and Angel Studios prep new films, TV shows

Hollywood is on strike. Again.

Writers Guild of America members put down their pens on May 2, silencing most late-night hosts and putting countless projects on pause.

The show still went on, to a degree, but that changed with this week’s SAG-AFTRA strike. Now, Hollywood actors have joined the scribes on the picket lines.

No acting, red carpet strolls or awards show appearances until further notice.

The WGA strike could last as long as the 2007 version, if not longer. Studios are threatening to stay on the sidelines until scribes have no other choice but to settle.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”

We don’t know how protracted the SAG sit-down will be, but it means there will be no new Hollywood shows or movies being produced for now.

That leaves two options for fresh programming down the not-so-short road, beyond projects already completed and ready to roll. Streamers are looking overseas to import foreign TV shows and movies to bulk up their content lineups.

South Korea is currently experiencing a cultural renaissance. Its music acts, known commonly as K-pop bands, are breaking international records and attracting millions of fans around the world. South Korean film has dramatically elevated its global profile with an Oscar win – for 2020’s Parasite – and special acclaim for its horror movies, most prominently Oldboy and Train to Busan.

We’re also being threatened with a deluge of reality shows to tide viewers over until the dueling strikes are settled.

There’s another option, though, one that wouldn’t be possible just a few years ago.

Conservative platforms like The Daily Wire, Blaze TV, Fox News, Angel Studios and various YouTube-based channels are cranking up their original programming efforts. That was underway long before the twin strikes shuttered Hollywood.

Now, they may be one of the only games in town.

“Gutfeld!” was at or near the top of the late-night heap before the writers strike. Now, it’s the only comedy showcase able to riff on the latest headlines. And, as a result, it’s consistently atop the ratings board.

Angel Studios began its film division earlier this year with “His Only Son,” a faith-based indie that quickly made back its original investment, and then some. The company’s second film, “Sound of Freedom,” is the summer’s sleeper smash.

That’s on top of its existing TV-style lineup, including hits like “Dry Bar Comedy” and “The Chosen.”

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Blaze TV debuted its first original film, “Re-Opening,” just a few weeks ago. More comedic content is on the way, in addition to the new video podcast/sketch series “Normal World” starring Dave Landau and Quarter-Black Garrett.

The Daily Wire got the jump on the competition with films like “Run Hide Fight,” “Shut In” and “Terror on the Prairie.” It’s still full-steam ahead for Daily Wire originals, including a line of woke-free children’s programming as part of a $100 million venture.

Angel Studios has more films in the pipeline, including “The Shift,” a dystopian tale heading our way this December.

After a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger with otherworldly powers, a man is banished to a tyrannical, parallel Earth where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.

The ongoing strikes won’t be settled overnight. And should the actors go back to work sooner than later they may not have any words to speak. The WGA strike is expected by all sides to be brutal. Both sides appear to be ready for things to get even uglier.

Need more fresh content? Try YouTube.

Comedians like Ryan Long, Tyler Fischer and JP Sears deliver cutting-edge laughs with their viral-friendly videos.

How To Work-Out Without Becoming a Far-Right Nazi

Other comedians have gone rogue, too, selling hour-long stand-up specials to consumers bypassing traditional gatekeepers.

Those efforts may intensify if the strikes persist.

The aforementioned platforms can’t compete with Hollywood in a traditional time frame. Nor can they replace the crush of content Tinsel Town produces regularly.

They still may enjoy a rare, valuable window where content-starved audiences look past ideological differences and give their stories a look.

11 Comments

  1. I believe Hollywood should disband. I mean, even the likes of Legendary and Skydance are trying to break out of the Hollywood system.

  2. What an amazing opportunity for alternative content. Those idiots in the guilds are handing their competition a big win. Let the strikes run long, long, long. Years if they want. Crash and burn Hollywood.

    1. @Reb

      However, conservative studios must prove they can do more than just preach to the choir.

      We saw this with “Terror on the Prairie,” which didn’t attract a big audience. This can be chalked up to the view of Daily Wire being Far Right, which won’t many Americans. By contrast, “Yellowstone” is a monster hit that appeals to a wide range of Americans, including the conservatives that Daily Wire was aiming for.

  3. While part of me says “Yeah, Hollywood should be shuttered” another part of me wonders what the alternative content will be. I don’t like most reality shows, “Duck Dynasty” being the exception. I liked “The Chosen” and I’m planning on watching season3. I didn’t watch “Terror on the Prairie” because I don’t subscribe to Daily Wire. My viewing is eclectic and I want options. Hopefully the alternatives will offer some conservative content but more importantly no pro Woke, transgender, climate change agenda BS.

  4. Foreign films have already been a major part of my movie diet. Lots of really good lecture-free ones out there.
    These people are about to learn the hard way just how must relevance they’ve lost.
    The Shift looks interesting. I’ll have to check it out.

  5. “We don’t know how protracted the SAG sit-down will be, but it means there will be no new Hollywood shows or movies being produced for now.”

    Sounds like … Tuesday.

    re: Angel Studios. I had no idea they did Dry Bar Comedy. I’ve seen segments of that on YT with performers ranging from amusing to hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, Sarah Millican can be quite entertaining, but it’s wonderful to find comedians who understand humor is more than just four-letter words, raunchiness, and petty political sniping.

  6. I can only imagine that those ppl striking think they’re so important to the well being of the nation, that the citizenry of FlyOverLand has some kind of sympathy for their plight…..LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL ….if they do think that, that, they’re nutz!
    Anymore, I mostly read, and watch ewetoob and whatever cable tv reruns are on. Plus there’s plenty of other ‘entertainment’ already available to watch…..so no, this ‘strike’ is simply some nice schadenfreude ‘entertainment’ to watch and enjoy.

  7. I was just remarking to my wife that we have Direct TV and Amazon Firestick offering hundreds of shows that cost umpteen millions to produce, but about the only thing I watch is YouTube shows made by individual content creators working out of their homes on a shoestring: Tasting History, Vinyl Monday, Daze with Jordan the Lion, Pitch Meeting, Tico & the Man, Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en, Emmymade, and on and on. I find them all much more interesting and creative and with with far more likeable hosts than any of the boring woke garbage on the major networks or streaming platforms. Just yesterday, it occurred to me how much expensive TV was going unwatched while I thoroughly enjoyed Tico the singing parrot “performing” “The Sound of Silence.” And I felt zero regret over my viewing choice.

  8. So the Far Left writers won’t be preaching and pushing trannies, ClimateHoax, toxic masculinity evils, women empowerment over-representation, and Socialism, for a long time?

    Thank you, God.

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