Hollywood actors are about to be off the job and on the picket line.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), the union that represents American film and TV actors, announced plans for a strike beginning at midnight PDT Thursday, a work stoppage that will essentially bring most movie and TV production worldwide to a halt.
The announcement comes 12 hours after the contract between the union and the major studios expired without a new deal. Much of Hollywood has already shut down because of an ongoing writers strike that began May 2, but more productions would pause in an actors strike, from highly anticipated sequel films (“Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 2”) to new TV seasons (HBO’s “House of the Dragon”).
“We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said while announcing the strike. “You are systematically trying to figure out ways to carve us out of what is due us. Shame on you!”
Here are the latest updates from SAG, the studios and major celebrities as the labor battle goes on.
Here’s what actors can’t do while on strike
Actors cannot do any work while on strike, which means no filming on new movies and TV shows. But it goes beyond that: Actors can’t audition for future projects or promote others that were already completed under the expired contract, at conventions, premieres or on social media. That means Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are off the press trail for “Barbie,” and the cast of “Succession” won’t be campaigning for Emmy Awards. Actors won’t be giving new glossy magazine cover interviews or go on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View” to talk about new movies.
AMPTP responds to SAG strike
“AMPTP member companies entered the negotiations with SAG-AFTRA with the goal of forging a new, mutually beneficial contract,” the organization said in a press release sent at the start of SAG-AFTRA’s press conference. “The AMPTP presented a deal that offered historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, and a groundbreaking AI proposal. A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life.”
Emotional SAG chief Fran Drescher officially calls a strike: ‘This is a moment of history’
At a press conference Thursday, Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced that the organization’s board had unanimously voted for the television and theatrical division of the union to strike, and for members to “withhold their labor” until a fair contract can be achieved. The strike will begin at midnight tonight, and picket lines will be set up Friday morning.
“The eyes of the world and particularly the eyes of labor are upon us. What happens here is important because what is happening to us is happening across all fields of labor,” Drescher said. “Because at some point the jig is up. You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored. The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI. This is a moment of history. This is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now we are all going to be in trouble, we are all going to be in danger of being replaced by machines.”
The announcement comes 12 hours after SAG-AFTRA’s contract expired with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the major Hollywood studios. This means actors in the union will not be able to film TV shows and movies, audition for new projects or promote their finished work.
What is the AMPTP?
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is an organization that represents the major Hollywood studios and streamers including Warner Bros., Paramount, Netflix, Disney and others. The AMPTP bargains on behalf of those studios with the major entertainment guilds including SAG-AFTRA, the WGA and the Directors Guild of America (DGA). When Drescher and Crabtree negotiate on behalf of SAG, they are meeting with members of the AMPTP on the other side of the table.
‘Oppenhemier’ and ‘Barbie’ stars walk red carpet just before strike is called, Nolan says actors are ‘writing picket signs’
The strike means that actors have to stop all of their work, including promoting their upcoming films and movies. But the stars of highly anticipated movies “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” both due in theaters July 21, were able to squeeze in a premiere before the strike was formally called. “Barbie” stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling walked the pink carpet in Los Angeles last weekend. And just hours before SAG announced the strike, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh promoted “Oppenheimer” at a premiere in London.
The “Oppenheimer” actors were asked by reporters about the impending strike. “Nobody wants a work stoppage,” Damon told Deadline, “but if our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong till we get a deal that’s fair for working actors. It’s the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we’ve gotta do what’s right by them.”
Blunt said the cast would leave the premiere together if a strike was called. “We’re going to have to,” she told Deadline. “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan introduced the screening of his film by saying the cast had indeed left the premiere to go “write their picket signs” and join the fight with the guilds.
Disney CEO says guilds are ‘disruptive’ and ‘dangerous’
Disney CEO Bob Iger didn’t mince words when appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday morning, saying writers’ and actors’ demands were unrealistic.
“It’s very disturbing to me,” he told host David Faber when asked about the WGA strike and impending SAG strike. “This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption. I understand any labor organizations’ desire to work on the behalf of its members to get, you know, the most compensation and to be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. … There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. And they are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous.”
How did we get here?
The expected strike comes in the middle of a long WGA strike and after a month of contentious talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP, and a 12-day extension of the existing contract. But the conversation around the negotiations became increasingly acrimonious during the 12-day extension. When a contract was not reached by midnight on Wednesday, and the negotiating committee recommended the board call for a strike, it became a foregone conclusion that actors would take a major labor action.
During the press conference Drescher said that during the 12-day extension, the AMPTP remained “behind closed doors” and intractable on points of negotiations, and that SAG felt “disrespected.” She used the word “disgusting” more than once to describe the offer from the AMPTP.
Why are actors on strike?
At stake for the actors are how much they get paid in a streaming-service-dominated industry and how artificial intelligence will be used in Hollywood as this technology radically changes our world. They want more money, regulated use of AI, and for their compensation to be based on how well their shows and movies perform on streaming services.
Has SAG ever gone on strike?
Yes, but not for some time. The last time any actors went on strike was in 2000, when commercial actors walked out for six months. Theatrical and TV actors were last on strike for just 14 hours in 1986, and they also went on strike for three months in 1980.
The last time actors and writers were on strike at the same time was in 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the president of SAG and Dwight Eisenhower was president.
