Actors’ Union SAG-AFTRA Will Go On Strike

Topline

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing screen actors, will go on strike starting Thursday at midnight, union leaders announced, a seismic event for the entertainment industry that will shut down any remaining film and television production still going on amid the ongoing writers’ strike, marking Hollywood’s most widespread work stoppage in more than 60 years.

Meredith Stiehm, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Fran Drescher, president of … [+] SAG-AFTRA, take part in a rally outside the Paramount Pictures Studio in Los Angeles on May 8.

Invision

Key Facts

The union’s national board voted unanimously to go on strike, Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced Thursday, after SAG-AFTRA’s contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents production companies and streaming services, expired Wednesday at midnight.

The strike had been widely anticipated after SAG-AFTRA announced early Thursday the contract had expired without a deal being reached, and the union’s negotiations committee voted unanimously to recommend a strike ahead of the board’s vote.

Crabtree-Ireland called a strike an “instrument of last resort,” arguing that the studios “left us with no alternative” following weeks of negotiations that did not resolve core issues about streaming pay and artificial intelligence, while union president and actress Fran Drescher said, “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.”

The AMPTP called a strike “certainly not the outcome we hoped for,” and said the union had “regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry”—the group previously defended its offer to SAG-AFTRA and called the lack of a deal “the union’s choice, not ours.”

The strike is expected to shut down all film and television production that uses SAG-AFTRA members, even if outside the U.S., and will also bar actors from doing any promotional work like attending red carpets or doing press for productions they’re involved with.

Big Number

160,000. That’s how many members SAG-AFTRA has in total, according to the union. The strike isn’t expected to impact all of them, however, as some members—like broadcast journalists—work under a different contract than the film and television one at issue in the strike.

What To Watch For

While the WGA strike has already shut down an estimated 80% of film and television production, according to the New York Times, an actors’ strike will shut down any remaining production that’s still been going on, such as filming that’s taking place in the United Kingdom or unscripted reality shows. The ban on promoting films is expected to most immediately impact San Diego Comic-Con, taking place July 21-23, as the union has barred its members from speaking on any panels and discussing their work. It’s also likely to impact the Emmy Awards, scheduled to take place in September, with Variety reporting the Television Academy and Fox, which airs the awards, have been debating whether to postpone the ceremony until November or January. The strike likely won’t impact any films set to come out until later in 2023, but if the work stoppage drags on for a long time, it’s possible that studios could decide to push back Christmas releases if stars aren’t around to help promote them, Deadline notes. Films scheduled to come out in the first quarter of 2024—like the sequel to Dirty Dancing or gangster film Wise Guys—are most likely to be pushed back, Deadline notes, as they’re likely to still be wrapping up production and would be affected by the strike.

Surprising Fact

The last time both actors and writers’ unions went on strike was 1960, when future President Ronald Reagan led SAG. That strike, which was based on residual payments for film rights being shown on television, lasted for just over a month for the actors, from March 7-April 18. (The writers’ strike went on longer, for 153 days.)

Key Background

The SAG-AFTRA strike comes as the Writers Guild of America strike has already been going on since May. Both unions’ grievances are focused on obtaining stronger protections in their contracts from AI as it becomes more widespread in the film industry, as well as securing higher residual payments for work on streaming platforms, as the business model for TV and movies dramatically shifts. The AMPTP says it has proposed significant increases in residuals and minimum pay rates, as well as a “groundbreaking” proposal to require consent if an actor’s likeness is used for AI. (A third union, the Directors Guild of America, reached a contract with the AMPTP without striking.) Talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP began in June and union members authorized a strike with a vote of 97.91%. As negotiations continued, more than 1,000 union members signed a letter to union leadership in June saying they were “prepared to strike,” which included such stars as Paul Giamatti, Pedro Pascal, Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, Aubrey Plaza and Ewan McGregor. SAG-AFTRA’s contract was initially scheduled to expire on June 30, but the union and AMPTP extended negotiations through July 12, and the two sides’ failure to reach a deal comes even as negotiators agreed to call in a federal mediator on Tuesday.

Tangent

Disney CEO Bob Iger, whose company is among those that actors are striking against, said on CNBC Thursday morning the actors and writers’ strikes are “disturbing” to him, saying they’re coming at “the worst time in the world” as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. “There’s a level of expectation that [the unions] have that is just not realistic,” Iger said. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.” Recent reporting has suggested studios are not eager to back down in their ongoing standoff with writers—though it remains to be seen if they’ll be more willing to negotiate with actors—with one studio executive quoted by Deadline saying, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”

Actors’ Union SAG-AFTRA Will Go On Strike—Shutting Down Hollywood