Actors on strike? Time is running out for Netflix, HBO and more companies to avoid disaster

As the Hollywood writers’ strike enters its ninth week, there is another guild of talent whose future is uncertain. A coalition of those who are literally the face of the business. He Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) It has a list of demands that, if it is not covered as soon as possible, will give rise to a second strike, parallel to the one that already exists. Then, as they say in disaster movies, a “doomsday scenario” would occur. Only here the consequences will be real.

What is the Screen Actors Guild?

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is an association of more than 160,000 on-camera talent, including fictional performers and television journalists. The entity arose after a merger of two professional groups in 2012 and most of the actors who work in Hollywood belong to it, but not those of the theater.

Who is claimed?

SAG-AFTRA discusses their claims with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents studios and large streaming services, such as Netflix, HBO, Prime Video, Disney+, etc. The AMPTP is authorized to negotiate with virtually all associations in the industry, from actors, producers, directors and even screenwriters; who are on strike.

Announcement of the authorization of the actors’ strike, voted by majority.

What are the claims?

Among his list of claims is raising the salaries of actors to compensate for inflation and the trend of having shorter series, which means less work for talent. Likewise, they ask to put the dots on the i’s regarding the use of artificial intelligence in acting and to do something about virtual castings, standardized since the Covid-19 pandemic, and which have caused actors to assume costs that were previously incurred. because of the studies.

What consequences would the strike bring?

No member of SAG-AFTRA will be allowed to work as an actor, with which Hollywood filming inside and outside the United States would be almost completely paralyzed. This does not apply to television or internet commercials.

How is this related to the writers’ strike?

The strike of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) indicates that none of its associates can do writing or rewriting work while the measure of force lasts. In theory this does not stop filming, and for this reason there are productions still in progress, such as HBO’s “House of the Dragon”. However, other series have stopped completely, such as the fifth and final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things”. The stopped stories seem to be the majority, as indicated by the specialized media: in Los Angeles, the heart of the US audiovisual industry, very little is filmed anymore; partly in preparation for the possible actors’ strike. If SAG-AFTRA affiliates stop, the number of filming would be reduced even more.

But the movies and series already filmed and to be released would not be affected, right?

They will be affected, because a strike by actors also puts a pause on promotional activities that SAG-AFTRA affiliates can carry out. In other words, no more red carpets or rounds of interviews with the press or influencers. All promotional content released during the strike will have been pre-recorded, as is the case with promotional activities for “Barbie” and “Mission: Impossible: Deadly Judgment – ​​Part 1”. Instead, it is known that the press activities of “Oppenheimer”, another of the most anticipated films of the summer in the northern hemisphere, will take place at the beginning of July.

How much can an actors’ strike affect Hollywood?

It is assumed that a strike, with the sacrifices it implies, will compensate this decision with the benefits it will bring. As for how it will be translated into money, the economic consequences would be incalculable, even more so considering that the writers are already on strike. By comparison, when the writers went on strike in 2007, it’s estimated that Hollywood lost $2.1 billion.

Is there any progress in the negotiation of the actors?

Three weeks after announcing that the union will go on strike, Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA and an actress remembered for her leading role in the series “La nana”, said that the negotiations have been “extremely productive”. Whatever those words mean, nothing is said yet. According to the Variety portal, unlike the writers’ strike, an eventual stoppage of work at SAG-AFTRA would not necessarily happen immediately if the deadline arrives. For her part, Drescher is set to be re-elected, which indicates that she has the support of her people.

Anything else we should know?

That the big entertainment companies have confirmed that they will not be present with panels at San Diego Comic Con, one of the largest events dedicated to popular culture in the world, is a symptom of uncertainty. Because the North American event counts as a promotional activity. This is also fueled by the writers’ strike, without which there are no fictions.