2023-07-13 22:11:00
While the screenwriters put down their pen on May 2, the actors in turn disengage this Friday. At the heart of the discontent: artificial intelligence.
By Philippe Guedj As the screenwriters begin the third month of their strike, they are joined in their movement by the actors, a first since 1980. © MARIO TAMA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP Published on 13/07/2023 at 10:11 p.m.
Unheard of for 43 years: after four weeks of fruitless negotiations with the AMPTP (the body representing the major studios and streaming platforms), the powerful trade union center SAG-AFTRA, which defends the interests of more than 160,000 actors and actresses in Hollywood, has just officially voted unanimously for a strike in the wake of the non-renewal of the collective agreements signed with the industry, which expired on July 12. The strike begins this Friday, July 14 at 9 a.m., Paris time. This is the first work stoppage for Hollywood actors and actresses since Ronald Reagan came to power in 1980, but also the first time since the 1960s that a strike by actors has been superimposed on that of screenwriters. , started last May.
During a press conference in Sherman Oaks officially announcing the start of the movement, this Thursday, July 13 at noon (Los Angeles time, 9 p.m. in Paris), the union recalled the reasons for the anger and its claims: compensation financial deemed insufficient given the shrinking volume of TV series (now made up of about ten episodes compared to more than 20 until the 2010s), as well as longer periods of inactivity between each season; an imperative improvement in the financing of pensions and health insurance; better remuneration from streaming platforms; and, more sensitive than ever, a strict framework for the use of artificial intelligence, considered by SAG-AFTRA as “a real and immediate threat to the work of our members and which can imitate their voice, their appearance and their performances . The union demands in particular the prior consent of the actors for any use of their skills in the improvement of AI systems.
I’m shocked at the way these people we’ve worked with for years are treating us. Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA Union President
Particularly raised to the microphone during her press conference in Sherman Oaks, the actress and president of SAG-AFTRA Fran Drescher (ex-star of the series A nanny from hell) literally pilloried the AMPTP: “The strike is really our last resort and we were convinced until the last moment that we could avoid it. This is what happens when our employers (studios and streaming platforms – editor’s note) favor Wall Street and greed, forgetting the essential contributors who keep the Hollywood machine running. It is a matter that we do not take lightly and it is with great sadness that we cross this line but we have no choice. »
” Shame on them ! »
Supported by National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union president continued: “I am shocked at the way these people we have worked with for years are treating us. To make us believe that they are losing money while redistributing massive sums to their shareholders is simply disgusting. Shame on them ! They are on the wrong side of history. All the business model of this sector has changed entirely due to digital, streaming and artificial intelligence, we are in a moment of truth and if we don’t stand up now, we will all be in danger of being replaced by machines! But why are you doing this to us? ! There’s no way we’re just moving furniture around on the Titanic. Wake up, AMPTP! We hold our heads up high and you can’t exist without us! »
AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals are insulting and disrespectfulThe SAG-AFTRA Union
Pickets will be in place as of Friday at 9 a.m., California time, while the strike will cause an immediate halt to the filming of films and television series employing unionized SAG-AFTRA actors and actresses, in the United States and abroad. . It’s the whole Hollywood machine that could suddenly freeze in the hours to come.
In a press release Released Thursday, ahead of the press conference, Fran Drescher also said, “The AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals are insulting and disrespectful to our massive contribution to this industry. The companies have refused to engage meaningfully on several issues and are filibustering on others. Until they decide to negotiate in good faith, it is impossible for us to reach an agreement. We have no choice but to move forward in unity and to recommend the strike to our national office”. The announcement of this Thursday evening was therefore expected.
READ ALSOArnaud Viard: the “Frenchy” who seduces HollywoodOn strike for 73 days, Hollywood screenwriters are necessarily delighted to see their fellow actors join their movement, especially since, according to the site Deadline, the producers would have no intention of resuming negotiations with the authors before next fall, just to let the movement rot. Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, for his part has already deemed the positions of the unions “unrealistic” in an economic context still weakened by the Covid crisis and the ongoing structural changes in the sector. It is a long-term showdown that therefore engages between the actors / screenwriters and the Hollywood decision-makers, without any solution in sight in the immediate future.
The effects of this new strike will very quickly paralyze much of the activity of the entertainment sector, from the cessation of filming to the immediate interruption by unionized actors of their promotional duties. The actors of Oppenheimer thus left London abruptly, this Thursday, even before the British preview of the film, in order to be present in time on the strike pickets this Friday in Hollywood.
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