Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars met on Monday to discuss the actors’ strike as their union warned that without “transformative change” the entire profession is under threat.
Members of Sag-Aftra, a labor union for US actors, gathered over Zoom on Monday to go over talking points and answer questions about their ongoing strike, Variety reported in an exclusive. The meeting was attended by about 500 agents, publicists and actors, including Lupita Nyong’o, Laverne Cox and Melissa McCarthy.
The informational session came amid a strike announced on 13 July by Sag-Aftra executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and Fran Drescher, the Sag-Aftra president. Members of the union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a walkout, joining with industry writers who have been on strike since May.
They are asking for increases in base pay and residuals as film and TV shows have increasingly moved to online streaming platforms and assurances their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence and their digital image will not be used without their permission.
“Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers], the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive,” a memo shared during Monday’s Sag-Aftra Zoom meeting read, according to Variety.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that represents studios, has said it was “deeply disappointed that Sag-Aftra has decided to walk away from negotiations”, and said it had offered the highest percentage increases in minimum pay levels in 35 years, “substantial increases” in pension and healthcare contribution caps, a 76% increase in foreign residuals paid from big-budget streaming shows and “a groundbreaking AI proposal”.
Drescher, Sag-Aftra’s president, said last week: “The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us.”
The actors’ strike marks the first time in 63 years that Hollywood writers and actors are striking simultaneously.
In May, the Writer’s Guild of America, which represents 11,500 television and film writers, authorized its first strike in 15 years. The WGA said the companies’ behavior had “created a gig economy” that aimed to turn writing into an “entirely freelance” profession. “For the sake of our present and our future, we have been given no other choice,” it said. The last industrial action, in 2007, lasted 100 days and cost the California economy an estimated $2.1bn as productions shut down and striking writers, actors and producers cut back on spending.
According to Variety’s exclusive report, there are two more Zoom Sag-Aftra meetings scheduled for Tuesday.
