As most of you may know, the American actor’s union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has been on strike since July 14th of this year, primarily in Los Angeles and New York City. Now you might know this because the production of film and television show projects that you’ve been waiting for have been delayed, and while that sucks, you probably weren’t too bothered to figure out why. To make matters easier, I’m going to tell you what exactly is going on in Hollywood at the moment.
As I stated earlier, these strikes began in July. However, it was the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) that went on strike as early as May 2nd of this year that kick-started this chain of rebellion. Some 11,500 Hollywood writers walked off the job, and later under SAG-AFTRA, 160,00- actors joined them. The number is steadily growing, involving production crews, makeup artists etc., and an end is not yet in sight. The reason behind these strikes is the ongoing labour disputes between these groups and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So now that we have the when and who, let’s dig a little further into the why.
On the SAG-AFTRA website, you will find a link that explains these disputes in great detail. To summarise, they have stated that they are “up against a system where those in charge of multi-billion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers”. The most critical issues of their concern that have not been agreed upon between these two groups are:
- Performers need minimum earnings to simply keep up with inflation.
- Performers need the protection of their images and performances to prevent replacement of human performances by artificial intelligence technology.
- Performers need qualified hair and makeup professionals as well as equipment to safely and effectively style a variety of hair textures/styles and skin tones.
- Performers need compensation to reflect the value we bring to the streamers who profit from their labour.
- All performers need support from their employers to keep their health and retirement funds sustainable.
- Principal performers need to be able to work during hiatus and not be held captive by employers.
- Principal performers need to be reimbursed for relocation expenses when they’re employed away from home.
On the WGA page, you will find a similar detailed description of why this union is on strike. With many anonymous writers’ statements, you will find personal experiences of working in Hollywood over the past several years, and what it is they have experienced and want to see change. One writer stated “we had a system that worked beautifully and I have personally witnessed them breaking it. It’s time to stop and say enough”. Despite all of this, as of September 18th, WGA and AMPTP are in negotiation to get a “fair deal for writers as soon as possible”.
You may be reading some of these points and disagreeing with SAG-AFTRA, but remember that they are not fighting for only A-list stars, but for the entirety of actors under their union. Both WGA and SAG-AFTRA are stuck in these contract negotiations with AMPTP; this is actually the first time since the 1980 actors strike that actors have initiated a labour dispute in the U.S., and the first time since 1960 that actors and writers have simultaneously walked out.
With the why out of the way, let’s dive into how this is actually affecting the entertainment community. An August article on Vox by Emily Stewart stated that there are “significant ramifications not only for writers and actors but also for thousands of workers and businesses whose lifeblood depends on entertainment”. This includes directors and production assistants, caterers, hairdressers, prop makers, drivers, dry cleaners, stores, and so many more. With an unclear end, many people in the entertainment industry in the United States are suffering. Additionally, the strikes “have already cost California’s economy an estimated 3 billion dollars”.
There is no clear way to estimate when this strike will end. An industry executive stated to Vox “…nobody knows anything, so everybody’s kind of half in limbo, half trying to work, and then you have this whole secondary support industry that is really, unfortunately, getting hit hard”. Many are feeling the effects of this strike, and many are involved in trying to create a safer, more fair workspace for those in the entertainment industry. Honestly, it’s a really messy situation.
I guess we’ll have to wait another ten years for the next Avatar sequel.
