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Hollywood actors joined film and television writers and protested outside major studios with calls for higher streaming-era pay and curbs on use of artificial intelligence.
In New York City and Los Angeles, actors marched outside the offices of Netflix, Paramount Global and other companies, voicing demands for higher compensation for working-class actors and other gains.
The SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild) formally went on strike at midnight on Thursday after negotiations to reach a new deal with production studios ended without an agreement.
The union’s demands have focused on dwindling pay in the streaming era, and the threat posed by artificial intelligence. Writers have already spent 11 weeks on the picket lines after their similar demands were not met.
Movie studios have begun reshuffling their calendars, and if the strikes drag on, major film releases could be postponed. The strike prevents actors from promoting some of the year’s biggest movies, at the peak of the summer blockbuster season.
SAG-AFTRA represents actors from A-list stars such as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Glenn Close to day players who take small roles on television series.
The last time the actors’ union went on strike, in 1980, it lasted more than three months. This time, some 98 percent of members voted to pre-approve industrial action if a deal was not reached.
The union said actors’ pay has been “severely eroded” by streaming and has warned that artificial intelligence poses “an existential threat.”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said it had offered large pay raises and a “groundbreaking” AI proposal to actors.
While the writers’ strike had already dramatically reduced the number of movies and shows in production, an actors’ walkout shutters almost all projects.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, former star of the “The Nanny” TV show, joined the crowd and linked the actors’ fight to a broader surge in US labour activity.
“If we don’t take control of this situation from these greedy megalomaniacs, we are all going to be in threat of losing our livelihoods,” he said.
Many streaming services have yet to turn a profit after spending billions of dollars on programming to try and attract customers.
Disney, NBC Universal and Paramount each lost hundreds of millions of dollars from streaming in the most recent quarter. At the same time, the rise of online video has eroded television ad revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink and movie ticket sales remain below pre-pandemic levels.
The unions are seeking assurances that their jobs will not be replaced by generative AI. SAG-AFTRA leaders said studios had proposed paying actors for one day’s work and using their digital images in perpetuity.
The WGA’s work stoppage has rippled through California and beyond, hitting caterers, prop suppliers and others who rely on Hollywood productions. The economic damage is expected to spread with actors now on the picket lines.
The writers’ strike sent late-night television talk shows into endless reruns, disrupted most production for the autumn TV season and halted work on big-budget movies.
The actors’ walkout will shut down the studios’ remaining US-based productions of film and scripted television and hamper many overseas shoots.
