Hollywood actors and screenwriters had not come together for a joint strike since 1960, when their unions declared, in both sectors, a 148-day strike between January and June.
But the great novelty of this strike decreed by 11,000 writers, who froze their activities at the beginning of May, and 160,000 actors who joined them a few days ago is the reason: Beyond specific demands regarding pay and job stability, the two unions want clear rules limiting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the production of films and television series.
Actors and writers are irritated that, quietly, production companies have started using AI to write part of the scripts, as well as generating voices –and even images– to replace the actors.
According to Andrew Susskind, a professor in the Department of Film and Television at Drexel University in Philadelphia who spent 30 years in the film industry, Actors and writers see AI as “an existential threat.”
And although the protest of the unionized scriptwriters in WGA had not scared the industry, that of the actors united in SAG-AFTRA has the barons of the sector worried.
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The actors’ strike jeopardizes the promotion of hundreds of feature films and series for television and streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, a few weeks before the start of the great season of the year of premieres in movie theaters and on the small screen.
The SAG-AFTRA rules not only prohibit actors, in the event of a strike, from working on set, but also prevent them from participating in the promotion of works that are going to be exhibited, which means not attending premieres. nor festivals.
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Today actors earn less and work less: why?
Although not all causes of movement originate from AI, almost without exception they point to the risks that the revolution implies for these jobs technological in film and television production.
In the old days, when the series were broadcast by traditional television networks, they had to cover a complete season that began with the premiere between July and September, had a break at Christmas and resumed in May to close before the summer holidays, when the audience was down.
Now everything is more ephemeral: if a series like Friends had 23 episodes each year, the current ones broadcast by Netflix and other platforms usually have between four and eight episodes, which it reduces the working hours of writers and actors, and therefore their income.
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The strike in Hollywood continues and Fran Drescher as president of SAG-AFTRA gives a speech to remember why we must continue fighting for labor rights. pic.twitter.com/Cl5Q0fobqm
– AJ+Spanish (@ajplusespanol) July 15, 2023
In addition, since there is so much competition and each platform takes only a part of the market, profit margins are slim and cost savings are the rule of thumb, which also affects payments, especially for those screenwriters and actors who are not consecrated stars (more than 99 percent).
The stars live like kings. But supporting actors, extras and extras, as well as filler comedy writers, work and earn less, which leads them, according to a statement from the actors’ union, “to face increasing difficulties in reaching and sustaining the standard of living of the working middle class.”
The actors also suffer from a change that arose in the covid-19 pandemic, and that led to the virtual disappearance of auditions for a role. Instead of going to a studio or theater to try on a role, the actors receive the script they must rehearse at home, and they have to record a selfie tape to send it to the producer.
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It’s very different from the past, when sitcoms and talk shows were staffed by brigades of full-time writers.
The tape must comply with technical quality standards, and applicants for the role have to pay those costs out of pocket, something that previously corresponded to the casting of the production.
The scriptwriters, in turn, are at war against the so-called mini-rooms, small cores of writers who work full-time for a production company, while an army of scriptwriters from outside the company receive piecework assignments and charge only a few hours to week.
“It is very different –WGA explains– from the past, when comedy shows and interviews had brigades of full-time writers, who collectively created jokes and scripts, which guaranteed the quality of the product, as well as the job stability of the scriptwriters”.
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Why will AI affect the work of actors?
Although all these points have to do with reducing costs due to the stiff competition between traditional television, cable networks and streaming platforms, it is clear that the competitive demand is the result of the technological revolution, which has implied a dramatic division of the audience.
But the technological threat that scares unions the most is AI. Although the writers believe that this tool has not yet reached the development necessary to produce quality scripts, as Professor Susskind explains, “They know that once AI can be used, it will replace them.”
Justine Bateman, 57, became known for her role as Michael J. Fox’s frivolous sister in the 1980s series Family Ties. Over time, she became a writer, director, and producer, as well as a keen industry analyst.
Hollywood Actors On Regulating Artificial Intelligence:
“They propose that the extras can be scanned, receive payment for a single day and be able to use the image for the rest of eternity without consent and without compensation” pic.twitter.com/0kFqUeTDcY— Mauro Albornoz (@Mau_Albornoz) July 14, 2023
In a recent article in Newsweek magazine, Bateman described the specific threats against acting work because of the AI, which is already capable of scanning and copying the voice and image of an actor, and putting that clone to participate in a play.
“This scanning is already in practice –explains Bateman–, because in fact some acting agencies are actively recruiting their clients to be scanned”, to later use that voice and that image in various productions. “Of course,” he adds, “whoever hires that image is not getting the actor, but a copy.”
It won’t be long, Bateman predicts, before the image of an actor, digitized by AI, is used for a made-to-order film and to the extent of a determined viewer willing to pay for it.
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Some acting agencies are actively recruiting their clients to be scanned
The customer may say, “I want a movie about a panda bear and a unicorn saving the world in a rocket and starring Bill Murray.” What’s more, if the client wants to go further, he can request that his image and his voice be scanned and included in the film as part of the cast.
The biggest nightmare for actors and screenwriters, which does not seem far away, is that AI produces new seasons of current or past series. Family Ties ran for 167 episodes over seven seasons, and an AI program could, with some ease, be trained to create an eighth season without calling on writers or actors.
It is very likely that for those generations who watched series like that in the 80s, a new AI-generated season would be artificial and unappealing. But for the new generations, raised in the world of TikTok and Instagram filters, the border between the artificial and the real has been blurred.
The public is increasingly prepared to watch movies and series generated almost entirely by AI. Hence the need for unions to set time limits.
As Bateman says: “If we don’t build strong rules now, in three years they won’t even know if we strike, because then they won’t need us.”
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Other professions that feel threatened by AI
The negotiations between the two large unions and the production companies have been intensely debated for several weeks. The employers seem willing to give in on issues of wages and stability, but are very inflexible on AI issues.
The companies’ argument is that it is not possible to set rules when it is not yet clear how far the evolution of AI will go, and at a time when the only clear thing is that the traditional production industry is experiencing serious problems.
Movie ticket sales reached $7.9 billion globally in 2019. After the fall due to the pandemic, the recovery has been slow, and projections indicate that in 2027 alone sales will exceed 7,000 million dollars.
Pundits talk about “a slowly dying business,” and not just in theaters, but on cable, too. US households connected to cable went from 100 million in 2015 to 64 million in 2022.
Platforms like Netflix are taking a large part of the market and, for this reason, they impose their rules on production companies. Rules that point to a reduction in profit margins, since competition between dozens of platforms –a few years ago there was only Netflix– is today ruthless.
The phenomenon that this industry is experiencing is not exceptional. As some fear one day with acting, there are already famous figures created entirely by AI in modeling.
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The experts also predict the elimination of jobs in the world of lawyers, journalism, advertising, translators, tax advisors, accountants and auditors, blockchain engineers, meteorologists and dozens of other disciplines who are already feeling the job shock caused by artificial intelligence and will experience it from now on.
So while it’s unclear how the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ strike will end, it’s easy to see that it will be the first to result from the threat of artificial intelligence.
MAURICIO VARGAS
WEATHER ANALYST
[email protected]
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