I think it’s this exactly. A real human, when faced with higher costs, will make concessions elsewhere to make ends meet. Maybe gasoline prices go up, so they cut back on restaurant dining or put off a home improvement project. What they don’t do, though, is say someone else needs to buy gasoline for them or they’ll stop being a productive member of society.
I do think it really comes down to individual greed at the top. And maybe that’s a cultural thing, as I don’t know what I’d do if I made that kind of money per year. (Actually, I tell a lie: I would work for one year and then retire.)
When my family ran a small business, the biggest cost-cutting measure was to work extra hours (meaning the owner worked the counter for no pay; we never fired any workers but we also didn’t hire new ones as they moved on to other places). Now a studio executive can’t step in to write, so the most reasonable change I see is to reduce their own salary, because a small percent reduction there could mean a heck of a lot on the front lines.