The entertainment industry is heading for change as Hollywood actors join writers on the picket line.
The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — a labor union that represents more than 160,000 TV and film actors — officially voted to join the Writers Guild of America in striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on July 14 after they did not reach an agreement on fair wages and the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.
“This is a very seminal hour for us. I went in thinking that we would be able to avert a strike. The gravity of this move is not lost on me,” Fran Drescher, president of the guild, stated in a press conference one day before the strike took effect. “It’s a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions of people all across this country and around the world. Not only members of this union, but people who work in other industries that service the people that work in this industry. … We had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.”
Meanwhile, the AMPTP — who represents the major studios including Paramount, Netflix, Amazon, Universal and Warner Bros. — responded in a statement that said its members were disappointed by the breakdown in negotiations, calling the strike “the Union’s choice, not ours.”
“In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more,” the statement read.
With both actors and writers out of work and on the picket lines, something that hasn’t occurred simultaneously since 1960, fans have been left with an overwhelming amount of questions about the future of TV and film — including how it affects those who…
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