Madelyn (00:05) Hello, welcome to the Unscripted Files. This is our Unscripted Industry News episode with Emily Wilson, and we have a lot, a lot to talk about today. Welcome, Emily. Emily Wilson (00:14) Thank for having me. Madelyn (00:15) So right off the top, some really big news, not just in the industry, but for audiences everywhere, is what's been happening with Taylor, Frankie, Paul and the Bachelorette franchise. ABC decided to, I think the proper word is postpone indefinitely. I feel like they haven't said that it's fully canceled yet. Her season of The Bachelorette. because video has come to light of a incident that occurred in 2023 between her and the father of one of her children, her youngest child. Of course, if you're watching the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, that incident was on the first season. The police report was reflective of everything in the video. However, the video came to light just a few days before the premiere. while information also came out that another separate incident had occurred. We don't know the details of this incident in early February of this year. So in light of all that information, the video coming out, ABC decided to pull the season. Tell me your thoughts about this. Emily Wilson (01:22) It's the first in the franchise's history, the first time this has happened, three days before the premiere, which is shocking for everyone involved, everyone from the contestants, the crews, the production team, because these are not your fast turnaround shows. These are a psychological journey for everyone involved. It's NDAs for everyone on the production, all of the contestants. a lot to put into a show and it has a cult following and has done for 24 years. So it's understandable that they had to make a call on this based on information that came to light, but it's also hard for everyone who put so much energy into this product. Madelyn (02:05) Absolutely, I feel for everyone who worked hard on it, was supposed to, it really felt like the decision to cast Taylor was, you know, a... revival to the franchise, one that had been really waning in light of other dating shows like Love Island And I know that they were hoping this was going to be that shock to the system that they needed. I feel for the crew. I feel for every creative who's on the show. The information about her past with these domestic violence cases already existed and she was cast anyway. I think what actually made them pull it is that there was a more recent incident of a DV call where the police had to get involved. And then the video came out, which signaled to everyone, okay, things haven't changed in the past two years. This behavior has continued. And that's really what put everything over the line. But I'm curious to know your thoughts on... how this will make everyone tiptoe a little more carefully when it comes to casting leads or casting people on dating shows, you know, because this has obviously been pretty catastrophic for ABC. Emily Wilson (03:18) I mean, I definitely think it's an interesting case study to look at, especially because fans of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives would have already been aware of the previous incident. It was covered in that show, which is important for transparency, because so often shows will either pull a cast member because of an incident, or they'll kind of brush it under the carpet like it never happened. So I admire that they made the decision. went in that first season to actually discuss that incident to say, okay, this is her story. This is part of who she is and she's on this show now. And I feel there is a lean towards casting anyone who is popular on TikTok, anyone who's popular on social media. I guess having that audience familiarity with her as a character on Mormon lives and bringing her into The Bachelorette. to bring that audience through the show as well. So it's a cross-platform decision, it's a popularity decision, it's a personality decision. And I think those things will still all be considered going forward as they cast other leads. But yeah, it's definitely hard to make a judgment call on what is defined as an incident. And we see... men and women be treated differently. see this change in different countries as well, depending on the casting team, the production, even where it's distributed as well. Madelyn (04:45) No, you're absolutely right. There's been a lot of online discussion about, for example, certain players in NFL that have had similar incidences and still show up on our TV every Sunday. how if Taylor was a woman of color, the opportunity to be the Bachelorette would have never even happened. And I think that's a really valid criticism as well. So, you I think I think it's rare that you see shows anymore that actually cast a lead like this. Because we are looking at more ensemble even with dating. Bachelor and Bachelorette do it with one singular lead, a lot hinging on them. Whereas Love Island, Love is Blind, they have an ensemble. So if there is an issue with one cast member, it does not blow up the entire franchise. because humans are flawed and they're a huge risk and the risk with Taylor was high. They wanted her for drama and they got it, but they got a little too much. so I do wonder if Bachelor in Paradise may be their new model instead of the singular lead because it's just so risky. But we'll be interested to see how this play out. There's a lot of fan theories about if they will spin around another season, if there's a lot of fan theories about who will be cast. it other women from Mormon Wives? Is it other reality stars we know? And so, yeah, seeing the damage control is gonna be really interesting. And seeing what ultimately happens with her season, you know, it's difficult because... worked so hard and so diligently on this season, I wanna see their work and I want them to be able to see their work come to light. On the other side of things, is it wrong to continue to promote this person? I don't know. There's so many conflicting questions about if it should air, if they should pop it on Hulu. We will continue to see what happens and we will of course cover it here. interesting news in the AI sector that I think had every creative secretly going, yes, tell me about what's happening with OpenAI and Disney. Emily Wilson (06:40) Disney has made the decision to pull out of the $1 billion investment into OpenAI. OpenAI said it will be discontinuing Sora, which has come out in tandem with this announcement. I mean, it's a massive amount of money on their part that they were looking to invest in this space. I feel like when the initial announcement was made, it was a lot of question marks for why they wanted to pour into the AI space so heavily. But as you mentioned, I think a lot of creatives will be relieved. Madelyn (07:12) Yeah, I think the decision initially to partner with OpenAI and with Sora was sort of a if you can't beat them, join them mentality of they're already training on our IP, you know, all of the Disney IP and they're utilizing it. So we might as well partner with them and be able to profit from it. Right. It felt very strategic. But seeing this now, this announcement was made in December and seeing now just, you know, three months later that it's fallen apart. I think just shows us It's still so susceptible to big tech and how fragile that industry is in light of copyright, legal creativity. And so... It's interesting to see this fallout, but I can't say that I did not see every creative on my feed post the story with like, praise hands, right? So it does feel in a way like a small win in favor of creatives who are just seeing AI continually creep into the industry. Emily Wilson (08:10) Yeah, I think that Disney as a brand is very fan-led with their marketing. They have so many fans of all of their different characters, their different movies, TV shows, and fans promote that as much as they do themselves. And I think it had good intention that fans or users would be able to create content with the Disney characters. But they also have this brand that they need to protect and how that would suddenly be spun out. I mean, we can go into a deep fake conversation all day, but I think that this is also quite a protective measure from Disney and a good decision. Madelyn (08:47) agree. An interesting partnership has cropped up between Netflix and Warner Music. They've teamed up to start producing artist documentaries for the artists under the Warner Music label. Talk to me about this. Emily Wilson (09:01) Yeah, so there's big music names under Warner Music Group, Jualita, Charlie XCX, Ed Sheeran, Madonna, many more names. Music documentaries are very trendy, they're very in, I think one shot with Ed Sheeran. Got a lot of love on the part of Netflix. So it will be a first book deal between the two companies. And it's exciting to see these stars behind the scenes, what they get up to, but also I think... a lot more autobiographical content will probably come from this as well. Madelyn (09:33) I agree. Listen, we talk. constantly about IP and the fact that no one wants to take risks anymore. Music docs are such an easy way to produce something that has a built-in audience, especially with these huge stars. mean, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin are also under this label and have rights to these estates. a really smart move because again, these come with so much built-in fandom, existing IP. And so it feels like such a win for these companies. It's worth noting just to be clear that Warner Music operates separately from Warner Brothers Discovery. no confusion there. I just watched one on the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I mean, the Michael Jackson movie, right? Fictional movie just came out, the narrative. So again, I think as we continue to hedge our bets when it comes to new creative, sort of, let's cover a music artist's journey, utilize that fandom, know, leverage that IP, I think is just going to continue as we continue to take less risks in the industry for sure. What else is new? Emily Wilson (10:33) which is a found favourite game show in the US especially. a YouTube spin-off show starring creati... Planning a YouTube spin-off show starring creators. Madelyn (10:45) This makes a lot of sense. I do love seeing a traditional game show on linear pop over to YouTube and start to leverage creators. I this is a conversation that feels like it's so obvious, But yeah, looks like Ken Jennings is still going to host and the creators are gonna play for charity of their choice, which I also love that as well. I think we're to start to see many more traditional game formats move over to digital and leverage the talent in those spaces. I think this is one of many. Emily Wilson (11:14) Definitely. Madelyn (11:14) Okay amazing well thank you Emily. We will continue to keep everyone updated on the... big decisions with the bachelorette. I have a feeling that the next time I see you, we're gonna know either if there's a new bachelorette coming, if they're gonna do a quick turn format, I don't know. I think in the next two weeks, we will have an answer there. And of course, keep you updated on all things AI in the industry. So thank you so much and we'll see you next time. Emily Wilson (11:40) Thank you.