Actors are now reinforcing
the writers on the picket line
in Hollywood.
They're on strike to demand,
in part
better compensation from the studios
and the streaming giants.
The struggle for fair pay
being highlighted
by the stars of one of the first
hit shows from the streaming era
My God, I'm about to be so rich.
And you
to watch
That was Kimiko Glenn,
who played Brooke So-so on Netflix's
Orange is the New Black.
She earned
just $27 on that residual track
you saw there.
Her frustration
being echoed by many of her costars.
Leah Delaria telling The New Yorker,
I get $20.
I would love to know how much money did
Ted Sarandos make last year.
Well, here's the answer.
Sarandos, who is the CEO of Netflix,
according to the company's
financial statements, last year,
he received $20 million in base salary,
more than 50 million,
if you include the stock
and the options and bonuses.
Emma Myles,
Another Orange is the New Black
Alum, told The New Yorker.
When you're a kid, you have this idea.
Once I'm on something
that people actually see, I'll be rich
and you'll look around
after being on that
hit show and you're like,
Wow, I'm still in the same one
bedroom apartment.
Was this how it's supposed to be now?
Emma Miles and Leah Delaria join me now.
Emma
Can you
explain to the audience,
first of all, what
what are residual checks? Right.
What are they supposed to be?
And what does that financially look like
for you
once you've been on a show
like Orange is the New Black?
Okay.
Well, in terms
of how our business works, residuals
typically are paid out for network cable
movies,
and they're basically
a share of the profits that come from
the revenue from being on a network.
So there's a lot of advertising,
there's a lot of money
that comes with that.
So the residuals for network
is they're a lot,
lot higher, like much higher.
And we have certain bases in our contract
that say that they have to be
at a certain percentage
that have to be calculated that way.
Now, in terms of residuals, for Orange,
we were not based off
of network and cable.
We were off
we were based off of this
new thing called streaming,
which basically didn't exist
when we started the show.
So the contract that we had reflected
like webisodes and web series
and things that were on YouTube
and promotional videos and
the the way that those
residuals are calculated,
we are actually not sure because
for the millions upon millions of dollars
in revenue
that these companies,
these streaming companies
particularly are raking in.
There was not really much of a kickback
for any of the people
involved on the creative side.
So for something like an episode of Law
and Order SVU that you would have gotten
like a good like several thousand
dollars from it re-airing on television,
there's a you get about,
I don't know, $20 for people to be able
to watch Orange
all five seasons of Orange in perpetuity.
And and that's a pretty big discrepancy.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean the number of people watching on
streaming services
is sort of like a black box.
The streamers don't
necessarily want transparency about that.
But but Leah,
you said that
there was
this accidental moment of clarity
from Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos
because he compared oranges
The New Black,
which was a groundbreaking
show in so many ways,
to the other hit show, Game of Thrones.
What did that tell you
Well, we were all at a party
when when Ted said that
that we were bigger than Game of Thrones.
And we were all it was.
You know,
we were a very tight knit cast
we hung out a lot
and we were all kind of
hanging out together.
And he made that statement.
And it was a complete
aha moment for everyone at that party.
We all just looked at each other
And, of course, give me the money.
Where is the money?
I'm still I'm still living
in my Bushwick apartment.
Where the money
I mean, it's a really good question.
Look,
the stars of Orange is the New Black
were they really did become famous
And as you noted in your comments
to The New Yorker, when you
when you're famous
and people are stopping you on the street
and you go home
and you pick up that jacket,
it says, 20 bucks
What does that feel like?
I mean, it feels like.
Well, you know.
Yeah, yesterday
yesterday I'm in my a building here
and I'm going I'm
walking into the elevator
to go do my laundry.
So, you know, my hair is in curlers.
And I'm wearing a bathrobe,
and you know what I mean?
And there's a couple of guys
in the elevator
that are fixing the elevator,
and they immediately and not in a
in a first language, right?
They immediately start screaming.
They scream
like teenage girls to elevator repairman
because they wanted to get it.
They wanted to get a picture with me.
So and I love to be
I'm always gracious to my fans.
So as
you know, without our fans,
we'd be nothing
but it's kind of rough when I my last
residual check
came in June, it was for $20.27.
And like, you know,
every time I have to stop and
get my picture taken,
that's 20 to 20 times a day.
You know,
it seemed like first world problems,
but that's how famous we are.
And we're making $20.27.
Go ahead, Emma.
Well, there's also,
there's also like an attitude that comes
this idea
that like we like in terms of the fans
that can be really aggressive
because Lee is right.
The fans are amazing for the most part,
but there are
those fans that are very aggressive
and they can, they can be like, well,
I pay your salary.
Like, I watch I watch your show.
So I'm entitled
to whatever time
I want to take
from you or bite or a picture
and I'm just like,
if you're responsible for my salary,
we are
talking to you.
So so
let's I
want to start with you on this one.
How do you see this strike ending?
Both sides are really dug in.
The streamers are saying and the the
the studios are saying,
we can't afford to pay more.
How does this end?
I mean, they can afford to pay more.
That's that's completely.
They're saying two different things.
They're telling all of the actors
and all of the writers
and all of the creatives
that they don't have the money.
And meanwhile,
they're telling all of their shareholders
that they're making more money
than they ever have been.
So both things can't be true.
At the same time.
How do I see this ending?
I mean, I want it to end well.
I think that we're
not going to stop fighting
until we get
certain protections in place
so that what happened to us on
Orange
can't happen to any
other cast ever again.
I mean, we should be fairly compensated.
They are managing
billions of dollars off of work
that is being kind of shoved out into
into the universe.
And and no one
can support their livelihoods.
I don't have health insurance.
And of
course, there
are the issues related
to artificial intelligence.
These are deep, difficult problems.
But I'm just glad that
both of you are so famous
that people stop you on the streets
still and demand photographs.
I have a miles
and I get a large
share, and you're both very bad.
I'd rather have a chance.
I'd rather have a bathtub.
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Thank you both very much.