Members of the Striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) walk through a picket line in front of Netflix offices because the SAG-AFTRA union announced it had agreed to a “last-minute request” by the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance for federal mediation, but refused to increase it again existing employment contract beyond the Wednesday negotiating deadline at 11:59 p.m. in Los Angeles, California, USA, July 12, 2023.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Hollywood actors are officially heading to the picket line.
Unable to succeed in an agreement with producers, members of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined greater than 11,000 already striking film and tv writers on Friday morning.
Unsuccessful negotiations with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers mean that film and tv productions involving actors might be immediately halted, essentially shutting down Hollywood. It should be the industry’s first tandem strike since 1960.
“We’re the victims here,” Fran Drescher, president of the actors’ union, told a press conference on Thursday. “We’re being persecuted by a really greedy entity. I’m shocked at the best way people we have done business with treat us.”
“It’s disgusting,” she said in fiery remarks. “Allow them to be ashamed.”
SAG-AFTRA members are already taking the strike seriously. The actors of “Oppenheimer” missed the London premiere of the film on Thursday. Director Christopher Nolan told the audience that the forged had left and “went out to put in writing their picket signs.” The movie opens next week.
Through the strike, actors is not going to find a way to advertise past projects through conventions, interviews or panels. This includes any Emmy campaigns. The nominees for the annual awards show were announced Wednesday, and the ceremony will air on Fox on September 18.
Starting negotiations last month, Hollywood actors wanted to enhance wages, working conditions, and health and retirement advantages, in addition to create barriers to using artificial intelligence in future TV and film productions. As well as, the union is pushing for more transparency on streaming services about viewership in order that other payments could be made fair to those seen on linear television.
“You may’t change the business model as much because it has modified and never expect the deal to alter as well,” Drescher said.
The US Writers Guild, which has been on strike since May, is demanding higher compensation and leftovers, especially on the subject of streaming, in addition to latest rules that can require studios to rent a certain variety of writers over a time frame. specific period.
The Guild also seeks compensation throughout pre-production, production, and post-production. Today, writers are sometimes expected to offer revisions or create latest material without compensation.
The WGA also shares similar concerns in regards to the use of AI on the subject of scriptwriting.
![How artificial intelligence took center stage in the Hollywood writers' strike](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107234357-16830609662023-05-02t204823z_1541620412_rc2kq0amvbzl_rtrmadp_0_television-writers.jpeg?v=1688566511&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
SAG-AFTRA said the producers were unwilling to supply their members a good deal and were working to delay negotiations.
The AMPTP responded to the strike declaration by issuing a press release that it “provided a deal that offered historic pay and residual pay increases, significantly higher limits on pension and health contributions, audition protection, reduced series option periods, and a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses” .
He blames SAG-AFTRA for stalling the talks.
Referring to the manufacturer’s statement, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, rejected AMPTP’s claims, especially regarding the AI proposal.
“On this groundbreaking AI proposal, they proposed that our background performers could possibly be scanned, paid for a day, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and may find a way to make use of it for the remainder of eternity on any project, whatever they need, without consent and without remuneration,” he said. “So when you think this can be a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you re-examine.”
Drescher called the AMPTP members “crazy” and called their response to the actors’ suggestions “offensive”.
SAG-AFTRA’s comments got here amid reports of tactics the studio’s producers are allegedly planning to make use of against the writers, namely that the producers don’t plan to try to barter with the writers for the following few months. In keeping with reports, the producers are waiting for screenwriters they’ll run out of cash and can probably lose their homes and be forced to sit down on the negotiating table.
While AMPTP has denied these reports, studio executives have remained open about what they consider to be unreasonable contract requests.
“As an industry, we’ve got negotiated a excellent cope with the Directors Guild that reflects the worth that directors bring to this great business” Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC Thursday morning ahead of the SAG-AFTRA announcement. “We desired to do the identical with the writers. And we would love to do the identical with the actors. The level of expectations they’ve is just unrealistic. They usually add to the set of challenges this business is already facing, which is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”
Iger noted that the industry has not completely recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, and these strikes are happening during “the worst time on this planet”.
“It’ll have a really, very damaging effect on the entire business,” he said. “And unfortunately, there is a huge collateral damage to the industry, to people who find themselves, you already know, support services. I could go on and on. This can affect the economy of various regions, even as a consequence of the sheer size of the corporate. Pity. It’s really a pity.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is a member of the Alliance of Film and Television Producers.