Following the Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG-AFTRA) recent decision to join the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in the strike against studios – which has effectively shut down Hollywood – there’s been a significant question looming overhead: How long will this last?
Follow here for real-time updates about the actors’ union strike.
And although there’s no definitive answer to when the actors’ strike might end, they’re preparing for “the long haul”, according to SAG president and star of Nineties sitcom The Nanny Fran Drescher.
“Right now, we discussed what it would cost if it went for six months, so we’re looking for the long haul,” Drescher said at a press conference on Thursday (13 July) – the day SAG-AFTRA approved the strike.
“The gravity of a commitment like this is not lost on any of us. It’s major. But we also see that we have no future and no livelihood unless we take this action, unfortunately.”
On Friday (14 July), SAG-AFTRA officially joined screenwriters who’ve been on the picket line since 2 May. The combined strike, which has brought Hollywood to a grinding halt, is something that the industry hasn’t faced in over 60 years.
Both groups demand increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Fran Drescher— (AFP via Getty Images)
“Because the AMPTP [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers] remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on key issues essential to protecting the livelihoods of working actors and performers, SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against studios and streamers,” SAG National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a press conference.
In response, the AMPTP, which represents the studios, says it 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 that protects actors’ digital likenesses for SAG-AFTRA members”.
“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,” the organisation added. “The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”
So until studios and actors reach an agreement, things “could get very, very unpleasant”, Succession star Brian Cox said during an interview on Sky News (Friday 14 July).
The Scottish actor, 77, posited that the strike “could go on for quite some time”.
“They’ll take us to the brink and we’ll probably have to go to the brink,” Cox said.
