Union representing 160,000 film and TV actors in the US announces strike. Category joins the writers’ strike, the biggest strike in American entertainment since 1960. After the writers, now it’s the actors’ turn to cross their arms in Hollywood. This Thursday (7/13), the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which represents 160,000 unionized US film and TV actors, announced that it will join on strike from 00:00 (Los Angeles time, 4:00 in Brasilia), joining the writers’ strike that persists since the beginning of May. The double strike is expected to mark the biggest shutdown of the US entertainment industry since 1960.
The actors’ union wants the streaming giants to agree to a fairer division of profits – especially from streaming values - and better working conditions.
“After more than four weeks of negotiation, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP, which represents the industry) remains reluctant to offer a fair deal on key issues essential to SAG-AFTRA members,” the union said. in a statement.
The president of the Screen Actors Guild, actress Fran Drescher – famous for the series The Nanny, from the 1990s – recalled that in the last decade the remuneration of actors was “severely eroded by the rise of the streaming ecosystem” and the development of Artificial Intelligence passed to represent “an existential threat to the creative professions”. “All actors and performers deserve contractual language that protects them from having their identity and talent exploited without consent and payment,” she wrote.
The union further lamented that the alliance representing film and television studios had “refused to recognize that the enormous changes in the industry and economy have had a negative impact on those who work”.
In addition to wages when they work, actors receive royalties or residuals every time a production they star in is shown on television. However, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ do not release viewership numbers and pay actors the same flat fee regardless of viewership.
According to a strike order published by the union, the strike applies to employees who act, sing or dance, as well as stuntmen and puppeteers or professionals who perform motion capture performances.
On Wednesday, the union had already announced that it had not reached an agreement with the major studios. “When employers make Wall Street and greed their top priority and forget about the essential contributors who make the machine work, we have a problem, and we are living it right now,” said Drescher.
Shortly after the strike was announced, a group of screenwriters started chanting “Pay your actors!” outside Netflix’s Hollywood offices. In May, more than 11,000 film and television writers went on strike, making demands similar to those of actors, particularly regarding streaming royalties.
This is the first joint walkout of actors and writers in 63 years, and is expected to have a significant impact on film and television production. The strike also means unionized stars won’t be able to promote new releases or attend industry events.
SAG-AFTRA members appeared to be taking the strike seriously on Thursday. Two stars of the Oppenheimer film, Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt, walked out of the production’s premiere on Thursday, hours before the union officially called a strike.
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