Actors are on strike. So, what does that mean for Broadway? Will New York’s famed theater district quiet as actors join picket lines?
In short, the strike doesn’t really change much for Broadway.
Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists officially went on strike at midnight Thursday. That means that striking screen actors will begin picketing alongside writers in New York and Los Angeles on Friday in what has become the biggest Hollywood labor fight in decades.
Does the SAG strike affect Broadway?
Stage actors are not included in the strike that has the potential to shut Hollywood down.
Broadway operates with its own union, the Actors’ Equity Association, which was created in 1913 and represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers across the country.
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If your upcoming Broadway show’s cast includes a screen actor like Lea Michele, who stars in “Funny Girl” into September, you don’t need to worry about an understudy stepping in. The SAG-AFTRA strike rules, as shared by Variety, do not preclude screen actors from taking work in theater productions like those that run on Broadway.
What is the SAG-AFTRA strike?
Actors are joining writers in striking. Hollywood writers, who have been on strike since May 2, are holding out for improved payments amid less-than-lucrative streaming deals, and there’s the looming threat of artificial intelligence taking away jobs. Actors are also looking for better pay deals, especially from streaming services such as Netflix.
That list includes more than just on-set work. Screen actors can’t attend premieres, awards shows, interviews or film festivals. Nor can they promote any work performed under their now-expired SAG-AFTRA contracts.
The Actors’ Equity Association is supporting its screen-focused counterparts.
“Actors’ Equity Association stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA as they strike in pursuit of a fair TV/Theatrical/Streaming contract from the alliance,” Kate Shindle, president of the association, said in a statement.
“Performers deserve to share in the success of the work we do for these global, multibillion-dollar companies. Nobody should step in front of a camera fearing that today’s work will be mined, manipulated or repurposed in the future without consent or compensation.”
Like all workers, the organization said, SAG-AFTRA members should have employers that are bargaining “in good faith” to create contracts that account for a rapidly evolving medium to remain relevant.
The “behavior” of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major Hollywood studios, “once again prioritizes shareholders over the workers who create their hugely profitable content, instead of simply making a deal to get everyone back to work,” the association said. “Shame on them.”
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Contributing: Kelly Lawler, Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
