The head of France’s National Union of Cinemas acknowledged Thursday that the first strike by American actors and screenwriters in Hollywood in more than 60 years was causing “concern” in France.
“The strike worries us a lot, of course,” said Richard Patry, in an interview with French radio “BFM Business,” expecting that this movement “directed against platforms,” including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV, “may last for a very long time.”
This strike, which began Friday in Hollywood, is paralyzing American studios, and while “its scope is currently limited to American films, we have begun to witness delays in the release of many films, and this makes us very concerned about what the situation will be like in 2024.”
Patry considered that this social movement in the film sector in the United States may also move to France.
He pointed out that “the danger always exists, especially at the level of authors (…) but at the moment, there is no announced measure in France.”
In response to a question about the demands of actors and screenwriters regarding artificial intelligence, which cultural circles are increasingly accusing of plundering creative content, Butry stressed the need to remain in a state of “extreme vigilance”.
And he did not believe that “it is currently possible to write a great screenplay with artificial intelligence,” considering that there will always be “a need to rely on the talent of the screenwriter to produce great films.”
And the “historic strike” of Hollywood actors began with momentum, Friday, and actors organized rallies in front of the Los Angeles studios, and while a group of stars were stationed on the sidewalks, passing cars began to sound their horns as an expression of solidarity, and in the meantime, “a large part of the protesters’ anger focused on the president” Disney Bob Iger.
In front of the headquarters of “Netflix”, “Warner”, “Paramount” and other studios, hundreds of actors have joined the ranks of screenwriters of television and film works who have been occupying the sidewalks lined with palm trees for more than two months.
