Monday, September 25, 2023

Monday Madness Redux: When Life May End Up Imitating Art...

...as shown in the 2013 movie The Congress!
You'll note the production title was Robin Wright at The Congress.
There's a good reason for that!
In the film, actress Robin Wright (played by...surprise...actress Robin Wright) sells the right to digitize her face and body to a movie studio, which then can exclusively use it in any movie or TV show as they see fit, even ones she wouldn't, herself, have agreed to perform in!
They do pay her a considerable sum of cash for the digital rights, with the understanding that she will retire from performing and not make any public appearances in her capacity as "actress Robin Wright" for 20 years, at which point the contract may be re-negotiated.
Sounds like one of the sticking points in the SAG-AFTRA strike against movie and TV studios...except the studios want to pay performers a one time "day rate" now for doing the same thing!
No additional payment for any future use!
Based on the Stanislaw Lem novel Futurological Congress, the movie came and went quickly, creating more of a stir overseas than in America!
Rather than rehash the points, I'd direct you to an excellent post HERE going into more detail about both the film and the book that inspired it!
And, though the movie is available on several streaming services, I'd recommend getting the DVD or Blu-Ray for the director's audio commentary and special features.
BTW, some may remember we posted this several months ago when the post on another blog first appeared.
But, as the WGA strike against the movie/TV studios appears to be about to end (and hopefuly, the SAG-AFTRA strike will follow), the fact this little-seen flick actually predicted this exact situation involving creatives (writers and performers) vs Artificial Intelligence is something we believe bears repeating.

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Thanx for posting!