In Hollywood on strike, it’s the final fight for wages and against AI

2023-07-14 08:35:00

Panic in theaters and among series fans: America’s great dream factory is at a standstill, with a historic strike by all creative actors, from screenwriters to actors who have entered the dance since Friday . The strike began at midnight Los Angeles time on Friday at 07:00 GMT, according to what the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA had announced following the failure of negotiations with studios and streaming platforms.

“We had no choice. We are the victims. We are the victims of a very greedy entity”, lambasted Fran Drescher, the president of this organization which represents 160,000 actors and other professionals of small and large. screen. “This is a historic moment,” insisted the former star of the series “A nanny from hell”. “If we don’t stand up now, … we all risk being replaced by machines and big corporations that care more regarding Wall Street than you and your family.”

By joining the screenwriters on the picket lines, the actors provoke a double social movement never seen since 1960 in Hollywood, which threatens to completely freeze the production of series and films. The two trades are demanding an increase in their remuneration, at half mast in the era of streaming.

They also want to obtain guarantees regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI), to prevent the latter from generating scripts or cloning their voice and image.

The entry on strike of the actors will deal a hell of a blow to the industry. Their union “chooses a path that will lead to financial hardship for thousands of people” tackled the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents studios and streaming platforms. The organization assured to have offered “salary increases (…) historic” and “a revolutionary proposal concerning the AI ​​which protects the digital image of the actors”. Disney boss Bob Iger blasted the actors’ “unrealistic” demands on CNBC.

Stopped productions

Without actors, filming is now impossible in Hollywood, even on the basis of scripts completed before the spring, as the Amazon series “The Rings of Power”, a prequel to “Lord of the Rings”, did until then. Only a few talk shows and reality TV shows will continue.

The actors are also banned from promotion, even on social media, according to guidelines published by SAG-AFTRA. What put in difficulty the summer blockbusters, like the highly anticipated “Barbie” with Margot Robbie or “Oppenheimer” by Christopher Nolan. At the film’s London premiere on Thursday, the film’s cast left the event in a show of solidarity, according to Variety.

Comic-Con, the high mass of American geeks and comic book lovers, should also take place without stars from July 20 in San Diego. The absence of American actors is also bad news for major international festivals, such as the Venice Film Festival.

Even the Emmy Awards ceremony, the equivalent of the Oscars for television, scheduled for September 18, is threatened. The production is already considering postponing the event to November, or even to 2024, according to the American press. Because no one knows how long the movement might last. Actors have not gone on strike since 1980. The last writers’ strike, which dates back to 2007-2008, lasted 100 days and cost the sector two billion dollars.

Existential crisis

This double strike confirms the existential crisis currently affecting Hollywood. In late June, hundreds of famous actors, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Ben Stiller, signed a letter saying their industry was at an “unprecedented inflection point”. For regarding ten years, the advent of streaming has upset the “residual” remuneration of actors and screenwriters, resulting from each rerun of a film or series.

Interesting with television because calculated according to the price of advertisements, these emoluments are much lower with streaming platforms, which do not communicate their audience figures and pay a flat rate, regardless of success. Without this essential income to absorb the periods of inactivity between two productions, the many workers who do not have the status of star actor or author denounce a precariousness of their profession.

The rapid development of AI, which threatens to replace them, only adds fuel to the fire. Disney, for example, used it to produce the credits for its new Marvel series launched in June, “Secret Invasion”.

In New York on Thursday, several actors were already on the picket line. “It’s painful and it’s necessary,” union actress Jennifer Van Dyck told AFP. “When the Disney boss is making $45 million a year and we’re just asking for a living wage, I think those are the ones who can be accused of being unreasonable.”

With AFP

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