Hollywood actors announced Thursday that they will go on strike after failed negotiations with the studios, thus joining the screenwriters in an unprecedented joint action that threatens to paralyze the US film and television industry.
The Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG-AFTRA) national committee “voted unanimously to issue a strike order against studios and streaming platforms,” group negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced in an interview in Los Angeles.
The actors demand salary improvements, an adjustment in the payments they receive for the retransmissions of their productions, as well as regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.
“This is a historic moment. This is the moment of truth,” said Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, in announcing the strike call.
“If we don’t do this now, we are all in trouble. We are in danger of being replaced by machines and big business.”
“The strike will start at midnight this Thursday and all of us – union members, leaders and workers – will be picketing tomorrow morning,” Crabtree-Ireland added.
Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC on Thursday that expectations from writers and actors were “unrealistic” and called the walkout “very concerning.”
Drescher retorted: “We are the victims. We are the victims of a very greedy entity. I am appalled by how we have been treated by the people we have done business with.”
The actress said the union entered negotiations in an optimistic spirit, but the negative response from the studios put the workers “at a crossroads.” “We had no other choice,” she added.
“We demand respect and be recognized for our contribution […] They cannot exist without us,” he declared, referring to the studies.
The last time Hollywood actors and screenwriters went on strike simultaneously was in 1960, when Ronald Reagan, actor and future President of the United States, led a strike that eventually forced the studios to cave.
The city of the show is now preparing for the impact of this new action. The writers’ strike had reduced the number of movies and shows in production, but without actors, the industry will be forced to a halt.
The stars will not participate in promotional events for their films, nor will they walk down red carpets.
One of the points of disagreement between the unions and the studios is the so-called “residual” payments, made each time the platforms broadcast a production in which they participated. For actors, the formula must consider the popularity of the productions when making the compensation. Therefore, a program with higher ratings would generate more residual payments. But streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+ keep viewing stats under lock and key and offer the same rate for everything they stream, regardless of popularity.
Source: TSF
