You tell em Fran (Fran Drescher)! “The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, artificial intelligence,” Drescher said. “If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business.”
Exactly Fran, we can't risk you being replaced by an equally full of sh-t computer giving Academy Award-winning performances or ChatGPT getting the next Pulitzer Prize. Worst still Big Business is going to star in the remark of My Cousin Vinny!
BTW, if you think actors know what they're talking about, you're an idiot. Hey, wait a minute? Snitz, do you mean all of them? I'm thinking.
Hollywood Actors Join Writers on Strike
Strike to begin Friday as Screen Actors Guild ends negotiations over new contract with studios
By Joe Flint, WSJ
Updated July 13, 2023 6:05 pm ET
Hollywood actors voted to go on strike after their union failed to reach a new contract with the studios. Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters
Hollywood actors will go on strike starting Friday after their union failed to reach a new labor contract with studios, joining already striking writers in a standoff likely to grind the entertainment industry to a halt.
A prolonged strike involving writers and actors could mean that broadcast and cable networks won’t have fresh scripted TV episodes ready for the early fall, and that Hollywood’s pipeline of shows and movies will thin.
Streamers such as Netflix and Max tend to produce programming far in advance of planned release dates, as do movie studios, so they may not feel the effect of a labor stoppage until late 2024 at the earliest.
The talks between the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a coalition representing movie and TV studios, networks and streamers, ended Wednesday night as the deadline to reach a new three-year deal expired.
The strike also affects the promotion of work already shot. As “Oppenheimer” premiered in London Thursday, director Christopher Nolan informed members of the audience that the movie’s stars, including Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt, had walked out of the premiere event, according to a video posted on Twitter.
Issues that have led writers and actors to this point include compensation, royalties and the use of artificial intelligence during the creative process.
At a press conference Thursday, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said she couldn’t believe how far apart the two sides were on those issues.
WSJ sat down for exclusive interviews with the showrunners of ‘Abbott Elementary’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ to understand the key sticking points that led to the writers’ strike and what’s next for the industry.
“The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, artificial intelligence,” Drescher said. “If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business.”
In a recent statement to members, SAG, which represents about 140,000 actors as well as stunt performers and voice-over artists, said residual payments aren’t keeping up with the revenue media companies are generating from scripted content around the globe.
SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the union sought a 2% cut of streaming subscription revenues for performers, which was a nonstarter for the AMPTP.
Generative artificial intelligence is another sticking point, with writers and actors seeking strict guidelines and protections over the use of the technology. There is concern that generative AI could be used to supplant writers. Performers fear unauthorized use of their likeness without their consent or compensation.
The AMPTP said Thursday its offer to SAG-AFTRA included the biggest increase to minimum payments in 35 years, as well as a 76% increase for most streaming foreign residuals.
With regards to AI, the AMPTP said it proposed safeguards to protect performers’ digital likenesses, including “a requirement for performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital replicas or for digital alterations of a performance.”
The strike will have an adverse effect on the Los Angeles economy, and the shutdown of productions will hit thousands of other workers and businesses that serve the industry.
A SAG strike against the purveyors of content is its first in nearly four decades and the first time since 1960 that both writers and performers have been on the picket line at the same time. The Writers Guild of America put their pens down on May 2.
For the major entertainment giants, a dual strike comes at an already challenging time. Several major streaming services including Walt Disney’s Disney+ and Paramount Global’s Paramount+ are unprofitable, and a weak advertising market and cord-cutting are inflicting pain on the traditional television businesses that had buoyed them.
“The strikes will create even more chaos,” said MoffettNathanson media analyst Michael Nathanson, adding that the industry is “seeing declines in linear profitability and no signs of true sustainable profitability in streaming.”
Since the writers walked out, much of the industry has been on a forced hiatus. Episodes for new and returning television shows aren’t being written and late-night shows such as ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” are dark.
Performers were continuing to work on movies and television shows with completed scripts, although striking writers often targeted active productions and managed to temporarily shut down several of them.
With performers on strike as well, work is only likely to continue on content that is in the final stages of post production, in which actors and writers aren’t typically required.
Moments after the strike was officially announced, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, a recent guest star on season two of FX’s “The Bear,” posted an image of comedy/tragedy theater masks on Instagram and wrote, “It looks like it’s time to take down the masks and pick up the signs.”
On Twitter, “Frozen” actor Josh Gad wrote, “The LA styrofoam and cardboard industry is about to have an even busier summer.”
Earlier this week, the Fox network announced its fall schedule would be mostly composed of unscripted fare and animated shows that had already finished production before the strikes.
Hollywood’s other major union, the Directors Guild of America, agreed to a new deal last month that provided for a 21% increase in royalties from streaming services, a significant portion of which will come from international operations.
Ashley Wong contributed to this article.
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