The strike escalates. On Friday July 14, American actors joined film and television screenwriters on the picket line, the first day of a double walkout that is bringing the film industry to a standstill, amid a fight to defend wages. in the era of video on demand (“streaming”). These two simultaneous movements, a first in Hollywood since 1960, should worsen the economic damage caused by the writers’ strike which began on May 2.
The American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding salary increases and bonuses linked to the development of streaming, as well as assurances that their jobs will not be replaced by artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA said Thursday its board of directors unanimously agreed to strike after failing to reach an agreement with studios including Walt Disney and Netflix.
“Insulting”. Fran Drescher, former star of the television series “A Nanny” and president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to the concerns of the actors “insulting and disrespectful”. “We are the victims,” Fran Drescher said at a press conference on Thursday. “We are victims of a very greedy entity,” she added.
Britain’s main entertainment industry union, Equity, said it stood with its US counterpart and would raise many of the same issues in its own contract negotiations over the next 12 months. Paul Fleming, chief executive of Equity, told Reuters that the Hollywood action would have a growing impact on the global industry, including in Britain, if local producers worked on projects with people under contract. with SAG-AFTRA. “The longer it lasts, the greater the impact will be,” he said.
(with Reuters)
2023-07-15 08:46:06
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