Hollywood actors to begin historic strike at midnight after studio talks break down
The Associated Press | Posted: July 13, 2023 8:28 AM | Last Updated: July 13, 2023
Actors and writers both on strike for 1st time since 1960
Leaders of a Hollywood's actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.
"A strike is an instrument of last resort," he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight. Outside Netflix's Hollywood offices, picketing screenwriters chanted "Pay Your Actors!" immediately after the strike was announced.
A strike is an instrument of last resort. - Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, union leader
It's the first strike for actors from film and television shows since 1980. And it's the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the actors' guild president.
"Employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run," SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said. "Shame on them. They are on the wrong side of history."
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Before the talks began June 7, the 65,000 actors who cast ballots voted overwhelmingly union leaders to send them into a strike, as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) did when their deal expired more than two months ago.
An extension of the contract, and negotiations, for nearly two weeks only heightened the hostility between the actors and studios.
The stakes in the negotiations included both base and residual pay, which actors say has been undercut by inflation and the streaming ecosystem, benefits, and the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence.
Strike will have 'damaging effect': Disney chief
The group representing the studios, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), said earlier it was disappointed by the failure to reach a deal.
"This is the Union's choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likenesses, and more," the AMPTP said in a statement.
It added that instead of continuing to negotiate, "SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods."
Disney chief Bob Iger warned Thursday that an actors strike would have a "very damaging effect on the whole industry."
"This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption," Iger said in an appearance on CNBC. "There's a level of expectation that [SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America] have that is just not realistic."
SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 screen actors, broadcast journalists, announcers, hosts and stunt performers. Broadway actors said in a statement that they stand "in solidarity" with SAG-AFTRA workers.
The actors' guild has previously authorized a strike by a nearly 98 per cent margin. With the actors on strike, they will formally join screenwriters on the picket lines outside studios and filming locations in a bid to get better terms from studios and streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
Stars Damon, Chastain support move
The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since early May, slowing the production of film and television series on both coasts and in other production centres. Issues in negotiations include the unregulated use of artificial intelligence and the effects on residual pay brought on by the streaming ecosystem that has emerged in recent years. Actors have joined writers on picket lines for weeks in solidarity.
An actors' strike would prevent performers from working on sets or promoting their projects. For example, the premiere of Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer in London was moved up an hour so that the cast could walk the red carpet before the SAG board's announcement.
When the initial deadline approached in late June, more than 1,000 members of the union, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, added their names to a letter signaling to leaders their willingness to strike.
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Attending a photo event on Wednesday, actor Matt Damon said that while everyone was hoping a strike could be averted, many actors need a fair contract to survive.
"We ought to protect the people who are kind of on the margins," Damon told The Associated Press. "And $26,000 bucks a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance. And there are a lot of people whose residual payments are what carry them across that threshold. And if those residual payments dry up, so does their health care. And that's absolutely unacceptable. We can't have that. So, we got to figure out something that is fair."
The looming strike has cast a shadow over the upcoming 75th Emmys. Nominations were announced Wednesday, and the strike was on the mind of many nominees.
"People are standing up and saying, 'This doesn't really work, and people need to be paid fairly,'" Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who was nominated for her first Emmy Award on Wednesday for playing Tammy Wynette in George & Tammy, told the AP.
"It is very clear that there are certain streamers that have really kind of changed the way we work and the way that we have worked, and the contracts really haven't caught up to the innovation that's happened."