- Actors Prepare for Strike: SAG-AFTRA votes unanimously to recommend strike action
- High-Stakes Premiere Moved: London premiere of “Oppenheimer” rescheduled amid strike uncertainty
- AI Rights and Pay Demands: Actors seek protection against unauthorized use of AI and increased compensation
Besides the writers’ strikes, American actors and actresses are considering a second Hollywood boycott over salary and AI rights.
After negotiations between parties broke down, American actors are poised to go on strike.
After failed negotiations with Hollywood studios, SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 members voted overwhelmingly to strike. The vote will occur later on today.
Hollywood would shut down instantly if performers join US writer strikers.
Tonight’s London premiere of Oppenheimer, one of the summer’s biggest films, may be affected by strikes. Which was scheduled to take place in Leicester Square.
The high-profile event was moved up an hour last night. Maybe to offer a buffer if strike action is called later today.
If the actors’ strike goes ahead, both guilds will strike simultaneously for the first time since 1960.
Actors want more pay and AI-based image protection.
Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, described the studio’s response to the actors’ demands as “insulting and disrespectful” in a statement, alleging that certain issues had been “completely stonewalled.”
She stated, “SAG-AFTRA negotiated in good faith and was eager to reach a deal that adequately addressed performer requirements, but the AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most significant proposals were insulting and disrespectful of our significant contributions to this industry.
“The companies have refused to engage meaningfully on certain issues, and others, they have completely stonewalled us.” We cannot reach an agreement until they negotiate in good faith.
The Hollywood corporations are ‘deeply disappointed
SAG-AFTRA’s withdrawal “deeply disappointed” AMPTP, which negotiates for Netflix, Disney, and others.
Actors were offered “historic pay and residual increases, a ground-breaking AI proposal that protects digital likenesses,” and other benefits, according to the organization.
Their statement continued, “Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a path that will exacerbate the financial hardship for thousands who rely on the entertainment industry for their livelihoods.
The contract between the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expired on Wednesday, July 12, after being extended from its original expiration date of Friday, June 30.
Concerns regarding artificial intelligence
Negotiations about artificial intelligence may be the most difficult. Actors want reassurance that AI will not replace their jobs.
Unauthorised deepfakes of Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves have surfaced recently.
AI is also a major concern of striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) members, who, like actors, are anxious to implement safeguards to prevent generative AI from taking over their creative responsibilities.
Actor Matt Damon described the reasons for a potential strike as “unbelievably important,” while actress Rebecca Ferguson told that she was “scared” by advances in AI and the resulting threat to creatives in the film industry.
Emerging concerns
Actors’ base compensation, notably streaming royalties, is extremely important.
The streaming surge has increased the amount of work available to performers. However, series have gotten shorter and the breaks between seasons have gotten longer, and unions claim that the increase in series budgets is not being reflected in the performers’ share of the money.
There is also the question of whether actors should be compensated for self-recorded auditions (the time, equipment, and production costs of recording were previously borne by the casting and production teams, but are now borne by the actors).
Hollywood could go black
Studios already struggling to produce content for streaming services and the fall television schedule as a result of the ongoing writers’ strike would face additional closure should an actors’ strike occur, affecting both ongoing production and the promotion of completed projects.
Without scripts and actors to bring them to life, numerous studios would close.
No actors would attend red carpets, speak on television programs or conduct interviews with print journalists for completed projects. Including summer releases of blockbuster films.
Numerous US television networks have already incorporated several reality programs — a genre unaffected by current strikes — into their autumn schedules.
Caterers, prop suppliers, and other Hollywood-related firms will also be affected.
If strikes were to last for many months, next year’s theatrical release schedules could be disrupted. Which could have repercussions for film festivals preceding awards season and San Diego Comic-Con, scheduled for later this month.
The US actor’s strike would effect British SAG-AFTRA members working in the US, but not Equity-contract performers.
Similarly to the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, which instructed its members not to work on projects within the Writers Guild of America’s jurisdiction at the beginning of the writers’ strike, the UK’s actors’ union, Equity, would likely advise its members to halt any work governed by SAG-AFTRA contracts.
