Hollywood Shutting Down? ‘We Are In Jeopardy of Being Replaced By Machines’

At midnight on Thursday, SAG-AFTRA actors will join film and television writers on strike.

Negotiations between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed, which reportedly will bring film and television productions to a grinding halt.

Hollywood is essentially shut down.

According to Reuters, studios face their first dual work stoppage in over 60 years.

1960 was the last time writers and actors went on strike at the same time.

“We are the victims here,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said Thursday.

“We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” she added.

WATCH:

We didn’t want a strike, but we are not afraid of a fight. We are #SAGAFTRAstrong! 💪🪧 #SAGAFTRAstrike pic.twitter.com/QLRME29vMC

— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) July 13, 2023

CNBC noted the reasons for the strike, including the future use of artificial intelligence in film and television productions.

Per CNBC:

During the strike, actors will not be permitted to promote past projects through conventions, interviews or panels. This includes any Emmy Award campaigning. Nominations for the annual award show were announced Wednesday and the ceremony is set to take place Sept. 18 on Fox.

Heading into negotiations last month, Hollywood performers were looking to improve wages, working conditions, and health and pension benefits, as well as create guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence in future television and film productions. Additionally, the union is seeking more transparency from streaming services about viewership so that residual payments can be made equitable to that seen on linear TV.

“You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contact to change, too,” Drescher said.

The Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since May, is seeking higher compensation and residuals, particularly when it comes to streaming shows, as well as new rules that will require studios to staff television shows with a certain number of writers for a specific period.

The guild also is seeking compensation throughout the process of pre-production, production and post-production. Currently, writers are often expected to provide revisions or craft new material without being paid.

BREAKING: For the first time since 1960, both actors and writers have officially gone on strike. Completely shutting down film and television projects in Hollywood and across the world. pic.twitter.com/Txkk1ele43

— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) July 13, 2023

“The strike by roughly 11,500 writers has sent late-night television talk shows into endless reruns, disrupted most production for the fall TV season and halted work on big-budget movies,” Reuters noted.

From Reuters:

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that negotiates on behalf of Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and other companies, said it was “deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations.”

The group said it had offered the highest percentage increases in minimum pay levels in 35 years, “substantial increases” in pension and healthcare contribution caps, and a 76% increase in foreign residuals paid from big-budget streaming shows, among other benefits.

The studios also put forward “a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses,” the AMPTP said. Actors are worried that their digital images will be used without their permission or proper compensation.

“If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines,” Drescher said.

https://twitter.com/MAiJiNTHEARTIST/status/1679607975663763457

From The Verge:

During today’s press conference in which Hollywood actors confirmed that they were going on strike, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, revealed a proposal from Hollywood studios that sounds ripped right out of a Black Mirror episode.

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In a statement about the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said that its proposal included “a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses for SAG-AFTRA members.”

When asked about the proposal during the press conference, Crabtree-Ireland said that “This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation. So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”