The US film and television industry should be on a high: Barbie and Oppenheimer are pulling huge audiences into movie theaters, while shows like Yellowstone and Succession have proved the small screen can still deliver big hits.
Achieving results of this kind, and scale, depends on a fragile mix of creative excellence and commercial savvy. But, as the current strikes by actors and writers demonstrate, there is dissatisfaction regarding the delicate balance of power between the storytellers and the suits.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), representing more than 11,000 screenwriters, went...