😱 Hollywood's ON STRIKE! You're definitely FLUENT if you can read this news article!

Welcome back to JForrest English, I'm Jennifer and  today I have an advanced reading exercise for you.  

We're going to read a C1 article together  so you can improve your English fluency.

Let's get started. First I'll read  the headline. The actors and writers  

strikes are about to create a  media wasteland, so pay them.

We're talking about strikes, strikes  taking place by actors and writers,  

Hollywood actors and writers.  So this affects you and.

I because we.

Watch the movies.

So first, let's talk about a strike.

Just to make sure you know.

What this is?

A strike is when.

Workers refuse to work.

And it's because of some disagreement  or argument with their employer.

Usually.

Because of working conditions, pay levels.

Or job losses. So these three  actors, their job is to act.

And they're refusing to work.

Because.

They're on strike, so let's  look at the sentence structure.

Here because strike.

Is a noun in this case, but  it can also function as.

A verb here.

It's a noun.

And you need a verb to go with your noun. The  actors went on strike, so this is my verb.

Go It's just.

Conjugated in the past  simple, so let me write that.

For you go.

In the past.

Simple is of course.

Went The actors went on strike. When you go on  strike, it's that transition from not striking.

So if you're not striking, you're  working. So from not striking to  

striking that transition, you go on strike now.

If.

That transition has.

Already.

Happened, we simply.

Use the verb to be to describe the.

Current state.

The actors are.

On strike right now, they are refusing to.

Work because of.

Working conditions or.

Pay levels.

Of course your verb to be.

Still has to be conjugated.

With your subject.

And the time reference in this example.

Strike is a verb, the actors are.

Striking for better?

Pay it is.

More commonly used as a noun when you use it on as  a noun, you need go on strike or to be on strike.

Don't worry about.

Taking all of these notes down because I prepared  a free lesson PDF that summarizes all these notes.  

So you can look in the description for the link  to download that the actors and writers strikes  

are about to create a media wasteland.  What's a media lace? Wasteland? Well,  

when you think of a wasteland, I think of  a big open space where nothing is there.

And imagine that's what your Netflix.

Looks like you.

Open up your Netflix and nothing is there. Or  you want to go to the movies, but there are no.

Movies available. Why? Because the actors.

Aren't working.

So it could.

Create a media wasteland, so  pay them. This implies that the.

Strike is related to.

Their pay levels.

They're demanding more money.

Before they.

Return to work the.

Studios, the studios, Those are the.

Production companies such as the Netflix.

Studio the.

Disney Studio The companies  that produce the movies.

Hire the actors, the studios.

Seem to have overplayed their hand.

This is an idiom, and this  means to spoil your chance of.

Success so to.

Ruin your chance of success by saying or  doing too much and notice the sentence.

Structure to overplay. That's the verb.

Here it's in the past simple Ed one's hand.  So in this case they're talking about.

The studios, so that would be their.

Hand the studio's hand.

And we'll find out why they spoiled,  ruined their chance of success.

Why they overplayed?

Their hand in this article.

The.

Studio seemed to have overplayed their hand,  

as now they have to contend  with a second major Hollywood.

Strike.

So this is not the.

1st strike there's already.

Been.

A strike?

Let's take a look at contend with. When you  contend with something, it means you just have  

to deal with that something. But that's something  is a difficult or unpleasant situation. So.

Here the studios.

Have to deal.

With the strike, which is.

Not a pleasant situation, especially  when it's the second major strike.

So the studios.

Have to contend with the strike.

The Screen Actors Guild.

Here the word Guild is used to.

Describe A.

Group A group.

Of actors. This is a terminology specific.

To Hollywood, they describe it as.

A Guild the Screen Actors Guild just win on.

Strike. So here you see this.

What we talked about before.

To.

Go on strike, Just win on strike.

As of Thursday.

So that.

Is the day.

That the strike became effective went on strike.

As of Thursday.

Which was a move that instantly ground to a.

Halt the parts of Hollywood that were.

Not already ground to.

A halt by the writers strike. OK, so based.

On this information we know that.

First, the writers.

Went on strike and then.

As of Thursday.

The actors.

Went on strike. Now let's take a  look at this expression ground to.

A halt the.

Expression to grind to a halt simply  means to stop or to no longer.

Work well.

Ground is the past simple.

Of the verb.

Grind, grind ground. For example, the.

Airport.

Ground to.

A halt because of the.

Storm.

So this implies.

That will the.

Airport is no longer working well,  which means flights aren't leaving  

or they're not leaving on time, so  that could be another way of saying.

The flights have stopped, they've stopped.

Leaving traffic can definitely grind to a  halt. I'm sure you experience that frequently,  

so here they're saying, which was  a move that instantly ground to.

A Halt the parts of Hollywood.

That we're not already ground to a halt.

By the writers strike.

So more simply, you can just  replace ground to a halt.

With the word stop.

Or in this case it would be stopped  because ground is the past simple.

So.

Was a move that instantly.

Stopped Hollywood. Stopped the.

Production of the films because.

The actors aren't.

Working now.

Ground to a halt, it stopped.

The parts of Hollywood that were all.

Right that were not already  stopped ground to a halt.

By the writers strike previously the writers.

Went on strike.

So that caused a lot of the.

Productions to stop, to  grind, to a halt, and now the.

Actors strike even.

More productions have ground to A.

Halt Have stopped.

So now you should feel very comfortable using  that expression after all that repetition.  

And if you enjoy.

This.

Lesson Learning English with the news. Then I  know you'll love the Finally Fluent Academy.  

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description For more information on how  to join. Let's continue this involved.

Such widely reported.

Moments as actors Cillian  Murphy, Emily Blunt, and.

Flores, Pugh.

Instantly walking out of their  own Oppenheimer premiere.  

I'm not sure what Oppenheimer is,  to be honest. Is this the name of a?

Upcoming movie or.

Show if you know what this.

Is you can let me know in the comments.

What does?

Oppenheimer mean because I am  not sure, but I do think that.

These three people are likely the three.

Actors here. I know this is  Emily Blunt, the one on the Far.

Left because I.

Recognize her? I don't recognize the.

Other two, what about?

You do you recognize these actors?

Okay. So let's.

Continue here. This involves such.

Widely.

Reported moments.

As the actors.

Instantly walking out of their  own premiere. So when you walk.

Out of.

Something. It means you leave it but.

It.

Suggests that you.

Leave.

It either in a negative.

State so you.

Leave it angrily or you leave.

It.

Early before the.

End of it.

Likely because you're upset.

In some way.

So it suggests that.

This premiere, the Oppenheimer, whatever that is,  

premiere was taking place and they're  sitting in this premiere, and they were.

Supposed to?

Stay for this premiere. But then  they found out, oh, we're on strike.

So they got up out of their seat.

And they.

Left they left.

The premier early and they did  that in solidarity and compliance.

With the strike.

So let's take a look at compliance.

With the strike.

This means you're acting in a.

Way that you're supposed.

To according to the rules and regulations.

Of the strike, so I.

Wrote that definition for compliance.

Now solidarity in solidarity.

With the strike.

This is when you show your agreement.

Or your support, so they.

Walked out of their own premiere,  and I wrote that definition of.

Walk out of.

So they walked out of their  premiere to show their.

Support.

To the strike, but also.

Because they were required to, So they were.

Obeying the rules, the rules most likely in.

Their Guild, their.

Actors Guild, the organization  that they belong to, requires them.

To do.

Specific things, so in compliance with that.

They walked out.

The only Guild. Remember, this is  another word for simply organization or.

Group.

Of people usually who belong to the same  profession, the only Guild to have settled.

With studios.

When you settle with someone, in this case.

Studios represents people who work.

For a studio.

When you settle with someone, it simply means.

You, you reach.

An agreement. You reach an  agreement and therefore end.

A dispute?

Or end an argument. For example, you  need to settle with your brother.

So if.

You and your.

Brother are.

Fighting. Arguing. You need to.

Settle with your brother.

You need to reach an agreement,  the only Guild to have settled.

With studios to.

Have reached an agreement.

Has been the directors.

Guild. So the directors, the people  who direct the movies, have settled.

They've reached an agreement, but without actors  and writers, that is essentially pointless.  

Pointless means there is no point.  It is pointless, Meaningless.

So it's pointless that.

The directors have settled.

Reach an agreement, because if you  don't have actors and writers, well,  

you don't need directors. All of  this has dramatically escalated,  

Escalated. When something escalates, it  means it increases in intensity and severity.

So the conflict escalated the.

War escalated. Our argument escalated it.

Increased in severity and intensity. I wrote  that for you here. All of this has dramatically.

Escalated with reveals.

Like the fact that.

Studios have proposed ideas like.

Scanning background actors.

And using their likeness.

Forever through AI.

A reveal is when information becomes known.

To the public.

So the information in this.

Case that.

Became known to.

The public is.

How the studios plan to use AI in a?

Way that probably avoids.

Them having to.

Pay actors I.

Imagine.

Since this.

Strike is about pay issues, so perhaps.

If they can use this AI, well, then you  don't actually have to pay a person.

To be a.

Background actor something that was.

Quite literally, the.

Plot of a Black Mirror episode a month  ago. Black Mirror is the name of.

A show I.

Have not seen it.

I.

Did not know it existed until  now. What about you? Have you  

seen the show Black Mirror, or  do you know the show? I don't,  

but it sounds like it has something to  do with technology perhaps? Certainly.

If this was the plot.

Of a Black Mirror.

Episode.

And they used.

The word literally.

To show that.

This is.

The fact of what happened so on this Black Mirror.

Episode they.

Scanned background actors and use their likeness.

Forever through AI, so that.

Happened on the.

Episode So.

You can say that literally  happened. It happened in.

Reality or?

In fact, let's continue.

But the.

Fever pitch was.

Reached when unnamed.

Studio executives.

Were quoted in a Deadline piece saying that they.

Could wait out the writers.

OK, let's stop here and review.

This you're.

Probably wondering what fever pitch is but the.

Fever pitch was reached.

This simply means a state of very  strong emotion. It can be strong.

Positive such as.

Extreme excitement or joy or happiness, but it can  also be strong emotion, negative as well, anger.

Upset.

The fever.

Pitch was reached.

The strong state of emotion  was reached when unnamed.

Studio executives.

So an executive is someone who works at.

The high levels.

Of an organization in this.

Case the studio.

But they're not going to identify.

Who they are, This is what.

You say when you don't want to identify the  

specific person. Unnamed executives?  An unnamed source? Unnamed studio.

Executives were quoted.

When you quote someone.

You directly say the words that they said we're.

Quoted in a Deadline piece. Deadline is  the name of a news talk show or a new show,  

and the piece simply means episode, so an.

Episode of Deadline.

Which is?

A A talk show.

Or a new show, A show on TV. So talk or news show.

And then piece means episode.  So let me write that.

Episode.

A lot going on in this.

Paragraph here Episode.

Saying that.

They could wait out the writers.  OK, so the executive said.

We can.

Wait out the writers.

And they.

Said this.

On deadline which is.

A talk show, So.

This was.

Publicly.

Announced We can wait.

Out the writers.

What does that mean to?

Wait.

Someone out to?

Wait out the writers.

Well, you probably get the sense it's  not a positive thing to wait someone  

out. When you wait out someone or  something, it simply means you.

Wait.

Until an unpleasant situation has ended. So the  expression itself is not a negative expression,  

but the way it's being used in this context  is negative because the unpleasant situation.

Is the strike so these studio.

Executives are saying we can  wait them out, we can wait.

Out the writers.

We can wait until the strike ends.

Now why can they do?

That because they'd.

Be unable to.

Pay their.

Rent or mortgages soon enough  because when you strike.

You're not working. So if you're not working,  

you're not receiving payment  compensation. You're not getting paid.

So the executives?

Are saying let them strike because  we can wait longer than they can  

because they can't go a long time without getting.

Paid because they.

Have to pay the rent and their mortgages, so don't  worry, we can just ignore this because we can.

Beat them out. So that's why the  expression isn't necessarily negative,  

but it's being used in a  negative way in this context.

But the.

Expression is quite common, you might  say. Let's wade out the rain before.

We leave because.

Remember, you simply wait for  an unpleasant situation to end.

So let's.

Wait out the rain. The rain is the  unpleasant situation in this case,  

so it's simply saying let's wait  until it stops raining before.

We leave.

So, very common expression. Let's continue.  Needless to say, that did not go over well.

Did not go over well. When  something goes over well, it means.

You receive a.

Positive response.

So you could.

Say, Oh my presentation. Win over.

Well, you received.

A positive response to your presentation,  

but in this case they're saying it did  not go over well, so they did not receive.

A positive response.

And the that.

That did not go over well.  The that represents the fact.

The studio executive said.

We can wait them out. Those comments did not go.

Over Well there.

Was not a positive response  to those comments. Previously,  

the writers strike meant that new scripts  couldn't be written but many productions.

Were.

Still going forward.

To go.

Forward this means.

To progress the scripts the.

Productions were progressing going forward.

If they had.

Already been written, though a few stopped in.

Solidarity All the.

Same okay remember?

This word solidarity, this is to.

Show your agreement or support agreement.

Or support.

Remember that.

Previously the writers.

Were on strike but.

If a script had already.

Been written.

The writers had.

Completed the script well the.

Actors could work because they have the.

Script the actors.

Need the script.

But if it's written, they can work.

But some of them?

Refused to work to show  their support to the writers.

Who were on strike to be on strike, but remember  that was previously. Now the actors are on.

Strike as well.

But now with the actors.

Strike as well shows that were.

Previous filming have now fully stopped.

Do you remember the expression we  learned that means to stop? Shows  

that were previously filming  have now fully ground to A.

Halt.

Did you remember that one ground to?

A halt stopped.

Ground and remember ground is the past simple.

Of the verb.

Grind ground to.

A halt have.

Now fully stopped.

That leaves almost nothing  left in production. Mine is  

something like House of Dragon, I don't know.

This show either.

Do you know the show House of Dragon?  So they're saying minus House of Dragon,  

which means House of Dragon is in production.  That leaves almost nothing left in production.  

So they're talking about what isn't in  production, but then they're saying minus.

So this.

Minus represents excluding because  when you minus something you.

Subtract it, you exclude it, so.

We can say excluding something.

Like House of.

Dragon which is made-up of only.

UK actors that are.

Legally not allowed to strike  alongside the Americans.

So I don't know.

Why the UK?

Actors aren't allowed to strike,  and legally they're not allowed to.

Strike which is.

Interesting. And remember to be in compliance.  They can't strike to be in compliance. You.

Follow the rules.

And the law so to be in compliance the.

UK.

Actors are not striking.

Perhaps it's because?

The remember the.

Word Guild the actors.

Guild which represents group or  organization? Most likely it's country.

Specific there's a Actors Guild for.

The United States and there's.

A separate Actors Guild for the UK.

And that's most likely why they're not allowed.

To strike but.

That is just my explanation.

It's my guess.

There could be a.

Different reason why. So if you know why.

UK actors are.

Legally not allowed to.

Strike. Feel free to.

Share that in the comments as well, and that  is the end of our article. So what I'll do now  

is I'll go to the top. I'll read the article from  start to finish, and this time you can focus on my  

pronunciation. The actors and writers strikes are  about to create a media wasteland, so pay them.

The studio seemed to have overplayed  their hand, as now they have to contend  

with a second major Hollywood strike. The  Screen Actors Guild just went on strike.

As of Thursday.

Which was a move that instantly ground to a halt.

The parts of Hollywood.

That were not already ground to.

A halt by the writers strike.

This involved such widely reported moments.

As actors.

Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt,  and Florence Pugh instantly  

walking out of their own Oppenheimer  premiere in solidarity and compliance.

With the strike.

The only Guild.

To have settled with studios has.

Been the.

Directors Guild.

But without actors and writers,  

that is essentially pointless. All  of this has dramatically escalated.

With reveals like the fact that  studios have proposed ideas like.

Scanning background actors  and using their likeness.

Forever through AI.

Something that was quite.

Literally the.

Plot of a Black Mirror episode a month ago.

But the fever

pitch was reached.

When unnamed.

Studio executives were.

Quoted in a Deadline piece saying that.

They could wait out the writers because they'd.

Be unable to pay the rent  or mortgages soon enough.  

Needless to say, that did not go over well.

Previously the writers.

Strike meant that new scripts couldn't be written,  

but many productions were  still going forward if they.

Already.

Had been written.

Though a few stopped in solidarity  all the same, but now with the.

Actors strike as well, shows that were previously.

Filming have now fully stopped. That leaves almost  nothing left in production, minus something like.

House of the.

Dragon, which is made-up of only UK actors  

that are legally not allowed to  strike alongside the Americans.

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