“Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudekis and other major film and television actors joined the picket line with writers Friday in the first full day of a walkout that has become Hollywood’s biggest labor struggle in decades.
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Sudeikis was among the protesters in front of ‘NBC’ in New York. Sean Astin, star of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ joined protesters chanting outside the Netflix offices in Hollywood. Also present on Netflix were ‘Titanic’ and ‘Unforgiven’ actor Frances Fisher and ‘The Nanny’ star Fran Drescher, who is president of the main Screen Actors Guild in the United States.
The arrival of the actors encouraged pickets outside Netflix, where music was blaring and the sidewalks were packed with protesters.
On the other hand, the actress of ‘Once upon a time’ Gennifer Goodwin was among the protesters in front of Paramount Pictures.
This is the first double strike by actors and screenwriters in more than six decades. The conflict immediately brought production to a standstill across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and entertainment services failed. streaming.
Strike of the best known faces of the screens
The famous faces of Oscar and Emmy winners are likely to be seen with some regularity on picket lines in New York and Los Angeles, adding star power to demonstrations outside studios and corporate offices.
In recent weeks, many actors have shown their solidarity with the screenwriters, who went on strike in May. Now, 65,000 members of the actors’ union have formally joined them in the strike.
The two unions have similar problems with the studies and services of streaming. They worry about contracts keeping up with inflation and residual payments, which compensate creators and actors for use of their material beyond the original run, such as in reruns or on streaming services. The unions also want to prevent artificial intelligence from mimicking their work on film and television.
Drescher launched a harsh rebuke of the studios and streaming services when announcing the unanimous vote of the union leaders in favor of the strike on Thursday.
“We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” Drescher said Thursday. “I’m shocked at the way people we’ve done business with treat us. I can’t believe, frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they claim poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when they give hundreds of millions dollars to their CEOs.
The end of unemployment is not in sight
There are no conversations planned nor is the end of the strike in sight. It is the first time that both unions have left the sets since 1960, when the then actor Ronald Reagan was the leader of the SAG.
The Alliance of Film and Television Producers, which represents employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others, has lamented the strike, saying it will hurt thousands of workers in industries that support film and television production.
The actors’ strike will not only affect filming. Stars will no longer be able to promote their work through red carpet premieres or personal appearances. They will also not be able to campaign for the Emmy Awards or participate in auditions or rehearsals.
While international filming can technically continue, it is likely that the strike by American writers and performers will affect international filming as well.
The writers’ strike immediately halted late-night talk shows and ‘Saturday Night Live,’ as well as several scripted shows that have seen their writers’ rooms or production disrupted, including ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix, ‘Hacks’ on Max and ‘Family Guy’ on Fox. Surely many more will follow now that the artists have also been retired.
*With PA; adapted from its original in English
