In the largest strike Hollywood has had in more than 60 years, actors have joined screenwriters in a strike that has halted most US film and television operations. Around 1,60,000 performers in Los Angeles stopped working at midnight, preventing actors from appearing in movies or even promoting ones they had already finished.
What is the Strike all about?
The strike was started by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), who asked the biggest streaming companies for a more equitable division of earnings and better working conditions. The union also aims to protect actors from being replaced by digital replicas using artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-generated faces and voices. The union's requests include asking streaming providers to give actors more base pay and residuals—payments granted to actors from reruns of movies and TV episodes they have acted in.
Numerous actors have expressed their support for the strike, including Jamie Lee Curtis, a veteran of Hollywood, and actors Bob Odenkirk from "Better Call Saul", Cynthia Nixon from "Sex and the City," and many others.
The @sagaftra strike has at last arrived. I am proud to be standing tall with the @WGAWest and @WGAEast as actors and writers together demand a fair share of the record-breaking profits the studios have been reaping from our labor for far too long.
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) July 13, 2023
We will win this! ✊🏻🔥🔥🔥✊🏻
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The picketing is expected to start on Friday morning in front of Netflix's California offices before moving on to Paramount, Warner Bros., and Disney.
Beyond putting a stop to active productions, the strike has an effect on the capacity to undertake re-shoots and other crucial steps in the filmmaking process, even for projects that have already been shot. Even though some side agreements between actors and producers might be made to allow work to continue, TV shows that are still in production will largely come to an end. The strike also makes it difficult for prominent Hollywood figures to attend functions intended to promote recent and forthcoming films. As a result, occasions like the Emmy Awards and Comic-Con can be postponed or scaled back.
Since May 2, the Writers Guild of America, which represents 11,500 members, has been on strike in support of better wages and working conditions. Some authors have taken on tasks that are not covered by the agreement the guild has with the AMPTP. The two unions' "double strike" is the first time it has happened since 1960, when actor Ronald Reagan oversaw the SAG, years before he entered politics and became president. The most recent actor walkout happened in 1980.
🚨 | ‘Wicked’ among other movies in production to be delayed indefinitely amidst SAG-AFTRA strike.
— Pop Flop (@ThePopFlop) July 14, 2023
—Hollywood Actors join writers on strike, bringing Hollywood to a standstill. pic.twitter.com/HVeeSLC23y