“Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav’s Speech Interrupted by Striking Scriptwriters in Boston University”

Boston University students and striking scriptwriters disrupted a speech that Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav gave in Boston over the stalled negotiations in the film and TV series world.

Since the beginning of this month, scriptwriters in the United States have been on strike. Among other things, they demand higher compensation because of the growing interest in series through streaming. They also want rules on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) when creating scripts.

Zaslav had come to Boston University to do a so-called commencement speech to give, a speech in which a famous person addresses graduating students. He also received an honorary doctorate.

Zaslav is a former student of the university, but could not count on a friendly welcome. In front of the location where the event was held, dozens of protesting writers and other trade unions showed solidarity. And inside, a large group of students regularly booed Zaslav’s comments during his 20-minute speech.

He even had to pause his speech several times when a large group of students in attendance began to shout “pay your screenwriters” in unison.

During his speech, the boss of the media conglomerate did not comment on the strike. He later issued a short statement by email to news agencies saying he is proud of his university and that he values ​​writers and hopes the strike is “soon resolved in a way that the writers feel their value is recognized.”

There is still no agreement between the writers and the major television studios and streaming services. The last time there was a strike was in 2007. This strike lasted about 100 days and production of many popular TV series came to a standstill. It is estimated that this cost the film and television industry more than 2 billion dollars, the equivalent of more than 1.85 billion euros.

Due to this year’s strike, all major late-night shows have already come to a standstill. The first effects are also already visible in streaming series and TV series. So decided the creators of The Handmaid’s Tale and a Game of Thronesspinoff to temporarily freeze the recordings.