The Hollywood Actor’s strike is the recent big event that has stirred up since July 14th of this year. Several celebrities have joined in this strike. The actors initiated the strike with concerns about their pay and other issues. The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was also an important issue that was raised by them. The writers’ strike was initiated in May and was done away with the contract negotiation the studios offered. There were reports of studios offering such negotiations to the actors as well, but the actors association rejected it entertainment news. They were vocal about their disappointments and strongly wanted to address their issues in front of the studios.
The writers’ strike ended abruptly after five days of the studios offering them negotiations. But the actors’ union strike could not be done away with so easily. It is still an ongoing strike, and it seems it will not end soon. On October 2nd, SAG-AFTRA recently resumed negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). AMPTP represents the studios, production companies, and streaming services. Streaming of several news and movies has come to a halt because of the ongoing strike by Hollywood actors.
What is the recent update?
According to reports, there has been an unbridgeable gap in communication between the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, and the AMPTP representative from the studio’s end. According to the claims by AMPTP, there will be an additional economic burden of $800 million per year if the claims by the actor’s union are met. The SAG-AFTRA counter-claimed that the figure is a hugely overestimated one with a 60% hiked-up calculation. They also claimed that AMPTP began breaching the decorum of the settlement meet-up.
The actor’s union has mentioned several serious claims and clauses in the strike, like a hike in the price of streaming services and the control of their images by artificial intelligence. One of them even stated, “We demand a small portion of their massive revenue generated because of our work.”. The demand for a pay rise is a serious one, considering the rising prices due to inflation.
The writer’s strike had gained momentum and then came to a halt right after the settlements were introduced. The Writers’ Association unanimously voted in favor of the settlement decisions. However, due to the ongoing actors’ strike, it is impossible to continue to work without the actors and other technicians. Several projects have come to a pause due to the strike. But the recent status between the actor’s union and the studio union shows a bleak hope for fast recovery.
Who is supporting this strike?
Several celebrities have been vocal about the claims of SAG-AFTRA. Celebrities like Jack Black, Jessica Chastain, Edward James Olmos, Jennifer Coolidge, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Allen White, Brian Cox, Lisa Ann Walter, Billy Porter, and others are a few of the whole lot. Drew Barrymore had to face severe backlash due to announcing the return of her show during the writer’s strike, and the writers declined to return to work with her. The actors are concerned in a way that, unlike the writers’ union strike, not many celebrities are turning up to the strike.
What can be the consequences of this strike?
Several big-budget movies have been shelved, and the actors are not willing to work unless their demand is met. The Christmas releases of 2023 can be hampered due to this strike. The movies which were scheduled to be released in 2024 can be delayed by one whole year. There is an impending uncertainty regarding the consequences of the strike. It depends on the extent of communication and comprehension between the SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP.
Whether the strike will be successful or not depends on the negotiations offered by AMPTP. Considering the recent claims by SAG-AFTRA, they will not back off from their demands without a feasible solution to their claims. The negotiation offers stated by AMPTP on October 2nd have been termed as ‘bullying tactics’ to discard the strike. Amidst all of these, there lies a huge uncertainty involving the streaming of news and movies and the release of the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year, and the conjecture is it will continue till late ’24.
