Where this was said
Unpaid Development: Hollywood's Broken Model
At 28:00 · chapter starts 27:20
The conversation zeroes in on the structural failure at the heart of Hollywood's talent pipeline: unpaid development. Ahmed recounts that the producer of Everything Everywhere All at Once — one of the most acclaimed films of the decade — was driving Ubers throughout the entire development process and half of production just to make ends meet. That's not an inspiring bootstrap story; it's a cautionary one. The industry cannot expect to attract and retain the best emerging talent if the price of entry is financial self-immolation. Ahmed's prescription is simple: compensate people for the journey of development, not just the fruits of it. The marathon has to be paid for. [1] — Riz Ahmed "The producer of Everything Everywhere All at Once drove Ubers to survive development. That's not a badge of honour — it's a system failure.…" 27:15
The producer of Everything Everywhere All at Once drove Ubers throughout development and half of production to make ends meet — cited as evidence that unpaid development is unsustainable.
To market Bait, Ahmed filmed fake press conferences where he 'crashes out' over being laughed at for wanting to play Bond — the clip went viral, with 80% defending him and 20% calling him arrogant.
They filmed fake press conferences where an interviewer laughs at the idea of Ahmed playing Bond, and he 'crashes out.' It went viral: 20% thought he was a douche, 80% defended him. The show is called Bait. The audience took it.
