The strike is the first joint action between actors and writers in 60 years, which has brought major studio projects to a standstill.
The Hollywood Actors’ Guild has announced that it will launch an exhibition in partnership with screenwriters, launching shows with giants of the game such as. DisneyNetflix, and Amazon on salary and profit.
On Thursday, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, director of negotiations with the SAG-AFTRA acting union, said the strike would begin at midnight following a breakdown in negotiations with the studios. The move represents the first collaborative effort between the actors and photographers in the sixties.
“Employers make Wall Street and greed the priority, and they forget about those who help keep the machine running,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said. “Shame on them.” They are on the wrong side of history.”
The strike is expected to bring the US entertainment industry to a standstill. It happens immediately service work and the union has seen an increase in interest among workers seeking better wages, benefits and conditions after decades of dissent.
The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming Strike has been called to begin July 14, at 12:01 a.m. More information to come. The Strike Order is available here: https://t.co/NFBM7lLGTs pic.twitter.com/SGjmR0BPeu
– SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) July 13, 2023
Following the announcement, the hashtag #SAGAFTRAstrong started trending on Twitter, as social media users weighed in and supported the strike.
Writers and actors want job security Artificial intelligence (AI) as well as rising premiums and residuals from advertising services.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, said the strike could cause “disruption” for the industry.
“It will halt all production immediately. No future production will begin until this is resolved,” Reynolds said.
“This means that if, for example, a movie is going on and the theater is playing somewhere in the world, they have to stop and leave. So it will make everything stop immediately.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger he said that the demands of the workers were “very disturbing” and that the strike would be harmful and disruptive.
Iger’s comments drew fire on social media, where critics pointed out that the CEO earns about $27m a year through his salary and stock incentives.
In response to the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released a statement saying that the actors’ union “rejected our old wage and salary increases, increased pension and health benefits, exam security, shorter selection periods, AI’s unwavering idea that it protects the digital format, and more”.
Actors say that many entertainers struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis, despite the fact that the industry is associated with glamor and fame.
“You have to make $26,000 a year to qualify for your health insurance, and there are a lot of people who go over that limit through unpaid wages,” Matt Damon said at an event promoting Oppenheimer’s film on Wednesday.
“There is money being made and it should be distributed in a way that takes care of people on the border.”