LOS ANGELES: Striking Hollywood actors joined film and television writers on picket lines on Friday, the first day of a dual work stoppage that has forced US studios to shutter productions as workers battle over pay in the streaming TV era.

The twin strikes, the first such joint effort in more than 60 years, will add to the economic damage from the writers’ walkout that started on May 2, delivering another blow to the multibillion-dollar industry as it struggles with changes to its business.

In New York City and Los Angeles, actors marched outside the offices of Warner Bros, Paramount and other major studios, chanting and waving signs.

“I actually make less money working in film than I did in the year 1990,” said Andrea Salloum, an actor who joined scores of people picketing the Netflix offices in Los Angeles. “It’s really scary with the artificial intelligence.”

‘Historic’ strike sends late-night talk shows into endless reruns, halts work on big-budget movies

Both SAG-AFTRA — Holly­wood’s largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors — and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding increases in base pay and residuals, or fees paid from streaming television, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).

The actors’ union announced the strike after failing to reach a deal with studios, including Walt Disney Co and Netflix Inc. The strike began at midnight and officials said actors would join picket lines in New York and Los Angeles from Friday morning.

Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny TV show and the president of SAG-AFTRA, said the contract offer from the studios was very far apart from the actors’ demands, claiming the studios wasted a 12-day extension in talks.

Reruns, disruptions

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Pro­ducers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, said it had offered significant gains to union members. They included the highest percentage increase in minimum pay levels in 35 years and “groundbreaking” protections around the use of actors’ images by generative AI, the organisation said.

“Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods,” the AMPTP said.

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

The actors’ walkout will shut down the studios’ remaining US-based productions of film and scripted television and hamper many overseas shoots.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2023