Pettiness as its peak. Trimmed trees at universal studios picket lines.
Pettiness as its peak. Trimmed trees at universal studios picket lines.
Photo @ChrisStephensMD Power to the writers and the actors. Support the workers if you can: https://secure2.convio.net/afa/site/Donation2?df_id=8117&8117.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T
The Washington Post talked to the studio and the city this week and established some important key points.
NBCUniversal acknowledged they trimmed the trees, but they claim they trim these trees annually and it just happened to coincide with the strike:
A spokesperson for NBCUniversal confirmed to The Post that the company had pruned the trees. Universal’s confirmation was first reported by Deadline.
“We understand that the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd. has created unintended challenges for demonstrators,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “That was not our intention.”
NBCUniversal is working to offer picketers shade coverage, pop-up tents and water, according to the spokesperson. The company has maintained the trees for years and prunes them annually in partnership with arborists for safety ahead of the “high-wind season,” the spokesperson said.
The city confirmed the trees are supposed to be managed by the city, the studio did not have a permit to trim them for the city, and that no permits had been issued to trim those trees in the last three years:
L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a tweet Tuesday evening that his office is investigating the trimmings. The pruned trees are managed by the city, though businesses can obtain permits to trim trees from the city’s Bureau of Street Services, Mejia said. He added that they should be trimmed every five years.
On Wednesday morning, Mejia said the city had not issued permits for the ficus trees to be trimmed and had not issued any tree trimming permits for the location over the last three years.
The NBCUniversal spokesperson declined to comment on the controller’s statement.
Looks like it hasn't been pruned like that before going back to 2007.
3800 Barham Blvd
Go out and give the protestors some big ol' tent things.
Fucking assholes. Time to buy some E-Z Ups and line the sidewalk with them
Toilet paper those mfers.
People are acting like AI generated content is something new, but it's been going on for years.
Fuck them.
I wish I could say I can fight them with my wallet but I haven't paid for a service or movie except the very rare and occasional trip to the movies, in over 10 years. They still make tons of money despite putting out bad products. We get maybe 1 or 2, maybe 3 good movies or shows a year if that. The rest is crap. Lets be honest. Hollywood has been barfing up old ideas and re-making them more than coming up with new stuff for a long time now. People still pay the prices and go to the movies. Our standards have fallen very low but we are all willing to pay even more for it.
How many people went to see Barbie or Oppenheimer this week? All those people just spit in the face of everyone on strike.
And the actors who get paid way more than they deserve or need to. They demand it. They ensure the movie is going to cost millions of dollars, right off the bat. Before even thinking about the budget for the rest of the film.
And then you throw AI and the real legitimate concerns on how the industry is changing because of it. But then again, who's industry isn't changing because of it. I think many of us are learning that we all are going to have to adapt and use the new technology to survive or get left behind. Especially in the entertainment industry.
I am not complaining that they are striking or that they don't deserve to get paid what the need or that their concerns are not legitimate. I support them 100%. But there are a lot of moving parts, public opinion etc.
With the quality of the entertainment produced in recent years being so bad, many people have lost sympathy. Most people are don't care if AI creates some stupid show they watch, as long as it produces something better than what Hollywood has been putting out. What people have been complaining about for years and ignored.
Executives don't care. They just see dollar signs. They have always taken what was there and tried to squeeze as much money out of as they could. They aren't in it for the art. If they can get away with screwing people over, they are going to do it. They have ALWAYS done it.