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The Actors Guild of the United States went on strike from midnight this Friday after failed negotiations between professionals and Hollywood studios. Both were looking for a new collective agreement that failed to materialize. Thus, the actors join the writers of the industry, unemployed since May. An unprecedented strike in more than 60 years and that can paralyze the entire flow of productions of the most powerful audiovisual industry in the world.
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The almighty Hollywood faces problems after the decision this Thursday of the Union of Actors of the United States (SAG-AFTRA), which represents 160,000 film and television actors, who decided to go on strike starting at midnight on Friday after they failed Negotiations for the drafting of a collective agreement.
Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to the actors’ concerns “insulting and disrespectful”. So much so that the Hollywood studios dismissed “an extension” of 12 days to continue with the talks.
“I’m amazed at the way we’ve been treated by people we’ve been in business with,” Drescher said during a news conference at SAG-AFTRA headquarters. “I can’t believe it, frankly, how far off we are on so many things, how they claim poverty and are losing money left and right when they give hundreds of millions to their CEOs. It’s disgusting.”
For its part, the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of netflix inc NFLX.OR , Walt Disney Co. DIS.N and other production companies, said she was “deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations.”
“Instead of negotiating further, SAG-AFTRA has set us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship of thousands of people who depend on the industry for their livelihood,” the AMPTP said.
After the negotiations failed, the actors’ walkout will start at midnight, after the union’s national board voted unanimously to join the strike after the deadline to reach a new contract expired.
The actors will join the film and television writers, on strike since May. And the Hollywood industry is facing a simultaneous strike by writers and actors for the first time in 63 years.
Union between actors and scriptwriters
Hollywood writers have been on the “picket” for more than eleven weeks for two reasons: low wages and reduced recruitment of writers for “ever shorter” projects.
The WGA (Writers Guild of America) argues that screenwriters in Hollywood have a hard time making ends meet, while the big production companies and media companies streaming continue to fill their coffers, a result of the consumption boom on-line and high consumer demand for more content, especially on the Internet.
On the other hand, companies like Warner either Disney have tried to deny the writers’ accusations, mentioning that they have had to reduce their costs due to the increasing competition that exists in the film medium.
“Do you think that Disney would fire 7,000 people for fun? (…) There is only one profitable platform at the moment and it is Netflix. The film industry is also a fairly competitive sector,” stressed a source close to the AMPTP in dialogue with the agency AFP.
On June 5, members of the acting union already voted in favor of joining the scriptwriters’ strike if an agreement with the production companies was not reached by June 30. At midnight, a historic and unprecedented strike in more than six decades will materialize.
Economic consequences
The strike by some 11,500 writers halted most production of the fall television season and halted work on big-budget movies.
The strike by unionized actors at SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors from supporting cast to Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, will effectively shut down the studios’ remaining scripted film and television productions in the United States.
It will also hinder many filming abroad, such as the sequel to ‘Gladiator’ by Paramount Pictureswhich director Ridley Scott has been shooting in Morocco and Malta.
In parallel, some production work that does not involve SAG-AFTRA artists, such as location scouting or certain types of post-production editing, may continue.
But the loss of actors, who will also not be doing any promotional work for film and television productions during the strike, will put more pressure on media companies to find a solution.
The actors, as well as the scriptwriters, maintain that the rise of the streaming It has made them receive lower remuneration for their work.
“You have to make $26,000 a year to qualify for your health insurance and there are a lot of people who cross that threshold through their residual payments,” said actor Matt Damon.
Reuters
