Written by Kianna Best on Jul 14, 2023. Posted in General Interest

Actors join picket lines with start of SAG-AFTRA strike

On Thursday 13 July, SAG-AFTRA  president and negotiation lead Fran Drescher led her union of 160,000 members into its first film and television strike in 43 years. This also marks the first double strike with writers and actors since 1960. From the first signs of disruption visible in early June with 65,000 members voting to authorise an actors strike, and the subsequent signing of a letter stating preparation to strike by over 1000 actors, the foundation had been set for the events.

“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us!” Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, as the actors’ union is known, said at a news conference on Thursday in Los Angeles. “How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their C.E.O.s. It is disgusting. Shame on them!”

Image courtesy of Venti Views by Unsplash

During a press conference laden with moments of comedy, disbelief and outrage, Drescher, known for her 90’s sitcom role as The Nanny addressed audiences as the clock ticked down until the start of the first actors strike since 1980. Going up against longstanding industry giants such as Disney and Sony along with tech forward superstars like Netflix and Amazon, the joining of actors and writers on the picket line sees over 170,000 workers putting a halt to USD 134 billion American movie and television industry.

Main demands revolve around an increase in residual payments from streaming platforms reflecting the success of those shows, higher wages in response to the rise of inflation, union health and pension plan boosts and safeguarding around the use of artificial intelligence. AI and streaming are a shared concerned between both parties currently on strike, with the lack of clarity on the effects of each on visual industry workers. Whilst screen writers have concerns over AI generating scripts, actors raise concerns over the use of technology to replicate their likeness.

In a statement following the expiry of SAG-AFTRA Television, Theatrical and Streaming contracts, national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said: “The studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry’s business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber. That’s not how you treat a valued, respected partner and essential contributor. Their refusal to meaningfully engage with our key proposals and the fundamental disrespect shown to our members is what has brought us to this point. The studios and streamers have underestimated our members’ resolve, as they are about to fully discover.”

At last night’s European premiere of Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated Oppenheimer, camera flashes and a star studded carpet were no hindrance to strike preparation as the cast shared smiles with each other before subsequently fleeing the red carpet “ to go write their picket signs”. As part of the strike, actors must adhere to a certain number of rules including not working in front of the camera, promoting current projects or attending events such as Comic-Con, film festivals or movie premieres. In the midst of big budget releases such as Oppenheimer and Barbie currently in their promotional phases and the fate of upcoming releases such as Deadpool 3 indefinitely delayed, along with airwaves churning out late night talk show reruns and Abbott Elementary repeats among other fillers, the American entertainment industry is at an interesting stand still.