Studios now face their first dual work stoppage in 63 years, forcing them to halt many productions across the United States and abroad. The twin strikes will add to the economic damage from the writers walkout, delivering another blow to an industry struggling with changes to its business.
Union fears Hollywood actors' digital doubles could live on 'for one day's pay'.
Like a plot from the anthology television series 'Black Mirror', the Screen Actors Guild says it is battling the studios for control over the digital replicas of performers that could be used "for the rest of eternity". The studios counter that they have offered groundbreaking protections from misuse of images.
Artificial intelligence has become a sensitive issue for film and television actors, who fear that artificial intelligence could be used to duplicate their voices and likenesses. Actors have used contract talks with the Hollywood studios to assert control over how these digital simulations are used on screen. It is one of several sticking points in contract talks with the Hollywood studios, which ended on Wednesday without agreement.
The AMPTP, the group negotiating on behalf of Walt Disney, Netflix and other major studios and streaming services, said it had agreed to a "groundbreaking AI proposal" that would protect performers' digital likeness.
Such protections, the studios noted, would include gaining an actor's consent to create and use a digital replica, or digitally alter their performance.
SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland took issue with that
characterisation during a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
"They propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity," said Crabtree-Ireland. "So if you think that's a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again."
The AMPTP said SAG-AFTRA's claim that the digital replicas of background actors may be used in perpetuity with no consent or compensation is false. It said the current proposal would restrict the use of the digital replica to the motion picture for which the background actor is employed. Any other use would require that actor’s consent and bargaining for the use, subject to a minimum payment, the studios said.
SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood's largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors, announced its members would go on strike at midnight.
Among SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000-strong ranks are many of the world’s biggest stars. Hollywood’s A-listers, from Tom Cruise to Angelina Jolie to Johnny Depp, are card-carrying union members.
The industry-wide shutdown follows a row about pay and the impact of artificial intelligence with film studios and streaming services.
The two unions failed to reach an agreement on a fairer split of profits and increased safeguarding around Artificial Intelligence (AI) rights.
The unions are concerned about contracts keeping up with inflation, residual payments in the streaming era and putting up guardrails against the use of AI mimicking their work on film and television shows.
But will we see them on picket lines?
“There will be visibility from the big stars,” said entertainment industry lawyer Jonathan Handel.
“But this strike is not about bringing more money to people who already have millions.”
Top stars do not stand to gain financially from the strike, because their agents negotiate individual contracts with studios that far exceed the union minimums being fought over.
Still, their presence could “shine more light on the studios, to come to the negotiating table with a fair deal,” said actor Dominic Burgess.
Hollywood productions have already slowed down significantly since the writers’ strike began in early May.
Shows with finished scripts, such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, were able to continue filming this summer, though without any writers on set.
But without actors, the only US-based productions that can continue are a handful of soap operas – which have a different contract – and reality and game shows.
For this reason, Fox this week unveiled a fall television schedule full of unscripted series such as Kitchen Nightmares and Lego Masters.
Movie releases are less immediately affected because of the long lag between the end of filming and the start of screening in theatres.
But the longer the strike goes on, the greater the impact on movie releases.
Major Hollywood studios have already reshuffled their release calendars. For instance, Disney recently pushed back several Marvel superhero films, spreading them out across a longer time period.
SAG-AFTRA has suggested it could offer waivers to exempt smaller, truly independent films.
Will overseas productions be affected?But that does not mean the impact of the strike will be confined to US borders.
“When SAG-AFTRA actors are working on the movie being shot in Europe, or Australia, or Asia, or wherever, they will have to stop work,” said Handel.
The strike also prevents members from promoting TV and motion pictures, meaning that premieres and important fall film festivals such as Venice and Toronto will be affected unless the strike ends.
As things stand, “at the Venice Film Festival, if a picture was shot with SAG-AFTRA actors, the actors can’t promote it,” said Handel.
Writers have already been manning the picket lines for 11 weeks.
But historically, Hollywood strikes have varied wildly in length – from several months to just over three hours.
“That’s up to them. We are open to talking to them tonight,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, at Thursday’s press conference, referring to the studios.
“It’s up to them if they’re willing to talk in a normal way that honours what we do,” she said “This is going to drag on, and is not easily resolved, because both sides view this as existential,” he said.
“There’s a lot of bitterness between the writers and the studios, and the actors and the studios.”
Film and TV writers and their supporters picket at the Silvercup Studios production facilities in the Queens borough of New York
Movie and television writers and their supporters picket at the Silvercup Studios in the Queens borough of New York City on June 28, 2023 [File: Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo]
What is the economic impact?
From accounting to catering to transport, countless businesses are tied to the entertainment industry.
That makes the financial impact of a Hollywood strike hard to calculate, but incontrovertibly enormous.
“Fifteen years ago, when the writers were on strike – it was a 100-day strike – and the estimate was a little over $2bn. So that translates to $20m a day,” said Handel.
Adjusted for inflation, that’s close to $30m a day lost in California alone, he said.
“Believe me, our heart bleeds that we had to make this decision. But we can’t not get what these members deserve, because it’s only going to get worse,” said Drescher.
“This is where we drew the line in the sand and it’s a terrible thing to have to do. But we were forced into it.”