Friendo: The Asylum, the cheeesball, low-budget outfit which bears the primary responsibility for the Sharknado franchise, along with company honcho and Sharknado franchise director Anthony Ferrante, have been openly promoting the tenth anniversary of the film’s theatrical debut (7.11.13).

Friendo: “Asylum reps attended ComicCon in San Diego (7.20 to 7.23) despite many having dropped out, not giving a shit at all about the strike because both he and the company have never cared at all about unions or rights.

“It’s not widely remembered that Asylum hired a scab crew for the third Sharknado sequel. Not to mention David Hasselhoff and Michelle Bachman having crossed picket lines. In the current AMPTP-vs.-WGA negotiations majors are now acting like Asylum, which not only flaunted that scab crew while literally mocking IATSE. Ferrante has seemingly thumbed his nose at the strike left and right.

Friendo: “The WGA negotiating team has been problematic, but the AMPTP has taken a dismissive tone towards unions due to the more corporate-minded CEOs, particularly the regarding of talent, writers and actors as almost below-the-line now. That’s partly why IATSE has been so militant and supportive of above-the-line. From a brash corporate perspective everyone is below-the-line. That’s why actors walked — a rarity.

“General Hospital, a daytime soap, openly stated they’d hire scab writers in the interim.

“Streamers are not unlike Asylum in their attitudes. Asylum was just more open about it. It’s the same attitude that gets David Zaslav booed and Bob Iger ridiculed for their general hardball heartlessness.”

August 22, 2023by Jeff Wells8 Comments