Hollywood studios negotiate to avoid actors’ strike – DW – 07/13/2023

Hollywood specialty film Brokers and TV studios held last-minute talks on Wednesday hoping for that Avoid the second strike of the industry.

SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union known as the Screen Actors Guild, has allowed a strike if negotiations don’t result in a deal by midnight in Los Angeles (0700 Thursday GMT/UTC).

A-list stars, including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, have expressed their support for the industrial strike. The stars will not be able to promote new releases or attend industry events like Comic-Con, which are scheduled for next week, if the strike continues.

The union represents approximately 160,000 actors, television and radio presenters, and other media professionals.

What are the demands of the union?

SAG-AFTRA is demanding higher compensation from its broadcast services as well as higher salaries to counteract inflation.

In addition to salaries when working, actors earn “salaries” each time their production is broadcast on network or cable.

However, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ don’t disclose viewing figures and pay actors the same flat rate regardless of viewership.

The union also demands the implementation of guarantees about Use of artificial intelligence (AI). Actors want assurances that their digital images will not be used without their permission.

What happened in the negotiations so far?

On Tuesday, union negotiators approved the studio’s request to bring in a federal mediator.

SAG-AFTRA said that studio representatives had “abused our trust” by leaking information to the media, and said there would be no change to the Wednesday night deadline that would lead to a strike.

“We are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining in order to reach an agreement,” the union said in a statement late Tuesday. “time is running out.”

The “double strike” can stop almost all products

The strike threatened by SAG-AFTRA followed similar action by the industry’s leading writers’ union.

In early May, it had approximately 11,500 members The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has gone on strike..

This disrupted most of the production for the fall TV season and the shooting of some of the big budget movies.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said it had offered “generous” pay increases but could not agree to all the demands.

If SAG-AFTRA announces its withdrawal, it will trigger a “double strike” not seen in Hollywood since the 1960’s and shut down most American film and television productions.

sdi / msh (Reuters, AFP)