Roughly 160,000 film and TV actors will join the more than 11,000 writers currently on strike after negotiations failed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“We are the victims here,” said Fran Drescher, president of the actors union, during a news conference Thursday. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.”
Films are already being affected. The cast of Oppenheimer vacated the war drama’s London premiere on Thursday after learning of the news. Director Christopher Nolan lightly commented that the missing actors were “off to write their picket signs.”
While the strike is in effect, SAG-AFTRA members will not promote past projects through any means and cannot campaign for Emmy Awards.
SAG members have not gone on strike since 2000, and a tandem strike has not occurred since 1960. Drescher acknowledges, “For the first time in a very long time, our member leadership stands in solidarity at the negotiating committee and the National Board levels.”
Hot topics addressed during the June negotiations were protections against generative A.I., an improvement on member residuals and minimum rates, a strengthened health and pension plan, and a new approach to self-taped auditions in the post-COVID-19 age.
While negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful, the AMPTP stated that it “presented a deal that offered historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, and a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses.”
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, fired back, “In that groundbreaking AI proposal, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” he said. “So, if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal I suggest you think again.”
Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologist—L'Wren brings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.
