Award Shows Were Invented to Bust Unions

Welcome to the Actors Guide to the End of the World Podcast, Episode 97! It's Emmy's are here, and we go back into Hollywood history for a fun fact -  In the 1920s, MGM's Louis B. Mayer had a plan: distract Hollywood's talent with medals and trophies so they'd never organize. "The best way to handle moviemakers was to hang medals all over them," he said — and just like that, the Academy Awards were born, not to celebrate artists, but to keep them from unionizing. It worked... until it didn't, and the fallout led directly to the founding of SAG. Now with the Emmys here, this year brings even more confusion, as they cut several categories including some acting categories from the main telecast and had them in the technical awards weekend which the unions did not take lightly. Hear the highlights from the first weekend that was cut from the main telecast like Betty Gilpin's epic awards speech and other things you might have missed... unless you're watching FXX where it was aired (?).  Also DTF St. Louis which E-Kan worked on had an impressive night winning six awards, including Best Writing and Directing, and Supporting Awards for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini. E-Kan says, "It was an honor just being nominated." Meanwhile, a federal tax incentive for film production has been spouted by Trump again and praised by SAG-AFTRA itself — and it has Hollywood picking sides. Tune in for the history nobody talks about and the news everyone's arguing about. Support the Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/cw/ActorsGuidePod New episodes every week! Follow @actorsguidepodcast wherever you find your podcasts. Please like, follow, review, and rate if you can. @ekansoong @ríansheehykelly Show Links-  Emmy's cut categories - https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/emmys-removes-categories-telecast-supporting-limited-acting-1236814429/ Betty Gilpin's award speech - https://youtube.com/shorts/jblrzakwOmQ?si=skb7P5pILKBiJKdm SAG-Aftra statement - https://www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-statement-federal-production-incentives Awards were made to bust unions - https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/395706/louis-b-mayer-created-the-oscars-to-combat-hollywood-unions/ Hidden Gems:  Laemmle Theaters  "The People of Pompeii" play (Los Angeles)- https://theatricum.com/the-people-of-pompeii/