Screenwriters’ Strike Update: Actors’ Union May Join Strike, Potentially Halting Film and Television Production in Hollywood

CINEMA – If Hollywood could still do without screenwriters to shoot films and series during the strike, this time it could become a little more complex. As American screenwriters begin their sixth week on strike, they could soon be joined by the actors’ union.

The strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the union of American screenwriters, which began on May 2, has just changed drastically with the strike vote that took place on Monday June 5 within SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the union of American actors.

And if certain actresses and actors like Amanda Seyfried, Brian Cox, Sean Penn or Elizabeth Olsen already publicly supported the screenwriters’ strike, the scale of the movement started in early May could now allow screenwriters to press the button stop for all American film and television production. Especially since no new negotiations are planned by the WGA with the studios at this stage.

The actors enter the dance

The actress Fran Drescher, president of the union of American actors, has also mentioned in a statement that the decision of his union members was a message of ” strength and solidarity “, after an overwhelming vote (97.91% in favor of the strike). The demands of SAG-AFTRA are also very close to those of the screenwriters on strike on remuneration or the relationship to artificial intelligence.

Negotiations therefore began on Wednesday June 7 between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP, the entity that represents studios, streaming platforms and television channels in the United States. The three-year contract of the actors union (which has some 160,000 actors, extras and other professionals in the profession in the United States) ends on June 30. Which means that after this date, the actors will be officially on strike if no agreement is reached by then.

MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO / Getty Images via AFP

During the fourth week of the writers’ strike, members of the WGA East were joined by prominent writers, union leaders, elected officials and members of various trade unions at a rally outside NBC’s offices. Universal, in New York.

Behind the scenes, the Hollywood Reporter attests to the unprecedented climate that now reigns in the industry thanks to the testimony of the influential independent film producer Ted Hope (Super, 21 grammes), who also passed through the direction of the film section of Amazon Studios between 2018 and 2020. According to him, there is concern within the studios and “ many believe the strike will continue until the end of the year ».

Towards productions at a complete stop

A tense climate which could still evolve with the arrival of the actors in the strike movement. And if certain productions such as Netflix series Stranger Things et Emily in Paris or The Last of Us for HBO Max are already at a standstill, for lack of scriptwriters to write (or rewrite) the lines of dialogue and the narrative arcs on set, others have chosen to shoot the material already scripted (but without being able to change the least line). This is particularly the case of the Amazon series The Rings of Poweras reported by Hollywood Reporter.

A way of doing things that is still possible at this time, on the sole condition of having actors on the sets. But in the event of a strike, it will become almost impossible to continue filming. Especially since American screenwriters can sometimes lack the visibility to express their cause. The actors have a much more powerful media strike force.

In the event of an effective strike by the actors, the image of the studios could even take a big hit if the biggest stars start to openly criticize Warner Bros, Universal, Disney, Netflix or Amazon Prime. Like Colin Farrell came to support the screenwriters of the series on the picket line The Penguinspin-off du movie The Batman where he plays the main role.

The 100-day strike of 2007-2008 had cost the Hollywood sector nearly $2 billion, but with the rise of streaming platforms, everything suggests that the note could be even higher in 2023 if the strike goes away. registered in the long term.

And the directors in all this?

In solidarity with the screenwriters’ strike movement from the start, the union of film and television directors, better known as the DGA (Directors Guild of America), for its part reached an agreement with the AMPTP after three weeks of negotiations Saturday, June 3.

What put a definitive end to the possibility of a triple strike which would undoubtedly have been fatal for the AMPTP in this balance of power.

The DGA agreement provides for wage increases, a 76% increase in international residual rates on streaming or a formal framework on the use of AI, according to a DGA summary. But not enough to bring the screenwriters’ union back to the negotiating table, as was the case during the 2007-2008 strike. A will defended by Chris Keyser, main negotiator in the exchanges of the WGA with the AMPTP.

« Any deal to get this city back to work goes straight through the WGA, and there’s no way around it.”he assured in a video posted on Youtube Friday, June 2.

The DGA, however, was grateful for the scriptwriters’ strike movement in a press release, proof of the strong solidarity in the shadow of the major studios. ” The gains we achieved in our tentative agreement would not have been possible without […] the solidarity of our colleagues from other unions. We continue to support the actors who enter into negotiations tomorrow and the writers who remain on strike “Wrote the DGA in his press release.

Installed since the end of the 80s in the American production system, producer Ted Hope also recognizes that Hollywood has ” always been a precarious business “, but he claims to have ” never heard so many questions within the industry”. Yet another proof of the enormous stake in the current balance of power. “There is a new realization that we may have started ruining our own industry with the way we are handling things ».

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