Whether you know him as the exasperated agent from Marvel to a classic television sitcom dad, Randall Park can warm the cockles of even the coldest of hearts. His comedic stylings have become a trademark, making him a welcome presence on everyone’s television screen. But Park’s most recent venture is behind the camera in the film Shortcomings, which is currently in theaters. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name and depicts the specific experience of Justin H. Min’s Ben, who begins searching for meaning after two women in his life seem to move past him.
But while Park exudes excitement for directing a feature film, he also tells The Hollywood Reporter it’s not without its challenges. Shortcomings and others continue to snag release dates, but due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, he cannot contractually promote it. The actor remains optimistic, as he plans to return to an unnamed series he was working on before the strike shut everything down, all the while opening up about the difficulties facing Hollywood right now:
“Amongst my actor friends and writer friends, none of us know when this is going to end. We have no idea and no sense of any imminent resolution. It feels very far away right now.”
Park is among many industry professionals who feel the heat from studios declining to pay their workers a decent wage. Refusing to acknowledge how much streaming has changed the business model, corporations continue to insist that everything should remain the same, which is ultimately not a good look.
In his career, Park has maintained his share of successes, but his work in network television gives him a personal view of the problems that are plaguing the entertainment industry. For 5 years, the actor starred in Fresh Off the Boat, a family sitcom from the perspective of an Asian-American family following their move from Chinatown in Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida. At the time, Park had no issues making a living off of wages from the series.
“I don’t know all the issues deeply, but I know that streaming is a huge problem when it comes to residuals. But my own experience on Fresh Off the Boat felt different from a lot of what we’re dealing with today. Also, we’d do 20-episode seasons — not 8 or 10. Streaming is a different world.”
With network television, syndication was a large portion of how writers and actors alike could make money. But now that streaming has dominated Hollywood, there is little to no syndication and residuals are lacking. Incredibly talented actors like Giancarlo Esposito admitted that the new model pales in comparison to what they were able to make before.
I remember when work was sparse, I could go to the mail box and count on a residual check to be there and pull me thru. Compensation for the hard work I had already rendered and its reuse. Those days are long past. pic.twitter.com/398yrWPVmN
— Giancarlo Esposito (@quiethandfilms) July 21, 2023
Now actors struggle to make ends meet, even if they are in popular shows. Park went on to compare Fresh Off the Boat to working on the prematurely canceled show Blockbuster, saying: “[It’s] very different. It’s almost the polar opposite.”
If actors like Park and Esposito struggle in this new world, there is no hope for actors trying to get their foot in the door. And the longer that studios continue to profit off of artists without proper compensation and refuse to learn the right lessons, the greedier and unsympathetic they look.
