Hollywood studios negotiate to avoid actors’ beat
hollywood’The country’s main film and television studios and mediators were in last-minute talks on Wednesday in hopes of avoiding a second industry strike.
SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’The largest union in the United States, more commonly known as the Screen Actors Guild, has authorized a strike if negotiations do not result in an agreement by midnight in Los Angeles (0700 Thursday GMT/UTC).
A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep voiced their support for the industrial action. Stars won’t be able to promote new releases or attend industry events like Comic-Con, which is expected to take place next week if the strike continues.
The union represents some 160,000 television and radio actors and presenters and other media professionals.
What are the unions’s demands?
SAG-AFTRA is demanding higher pay from streaming services, as well as higher salaries to fight inflation.
In addition to wages when they work, actors earn “residue” every time a production they star in is shown on network or cable.
However, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ do not release viewership numbers and pay actors the same flat fee regardless of viewership.
The union is also demanding the implementation of safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Actors want assurances that their digital images will not be used without their permission.
What has happened in these negotiations so far?
On Tuesday, union negotiators agreed to a request by the studio to bring in a federal mediator.
SAG-AFTRA said studio representatives “abuse our trust” by leaking information to the media and said there would be no change to the Wednesday night deadline that would trigger a strike.
“We are not confident that the employers have any intention of negotiating a settlement,” the union said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Time is running out.”
‘double whammy’ could paralyze almost all productions
Strike threatened by SAG-AFTRA follows similar industry action’s main writers’ Unity.
In early May, the approximately 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike.
This halted most of the fall TV season’s production and filming of some 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 demands.
If SAG-AFTRA announces a shutdown, it would lead to a “double strike” not seen in Hollywood since the 1960s and halt most US film and television productions.
sdi/msh (Reuters, AFP)
Source: DW
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