Actors approve joining Hollywood strike if there is no agreement with studios

Members of the Hollywood Actors Guild during a demonstration in favor of the screenwriters, this June 6. CONTACT (Europa Press)

No one in Hollywood knows when screenwriters and studios will return to the negotiating table. The writers' strike has completed a month with no possibility of agreement on the horizon. The situation may become even more complex this summer. On Monday night, the main actors' unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors, SAG-AFTRA, announced that 98% of their members approved joining the work stoppage from June 30 if there are no improvements in the collective agreement that expires at the end of the month. The gesture puts pressure on the executives, who point out that each negotiation is independent and who reached a pact with the directors over the weekend, defusing for the moment a catastrophic situation for audiovisual productions.

More than 65,000 actors, 47.6% of the census, voted in the call made by the organization headed by Fran Drescher, the actress who became famous with the series The Nanny. "We have come together side by side to achieve a new contract that honors our contribution to the industry and reflects the new digital and streaming business model, which can modernize our coverage and meet our concerns," the union president said last night. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the interpreters' negotiator, says the vote sends a message of strength in the face of the "most significant negotiations" in the union's history because of the inflationary blow, the diminished income of the residual and the promise of total irruption represented by artificial intelligence.

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Hollywood Screenwriters' Strike: What Are Writers Asking For?

The writers have applauded the actors' gesture. Analysts believe that a SAG-AFTRA strike would bring the industry to a complete halt. The vote has been perceived as a sign that the organization is willing to join the battle against the studios, since an agreement is usually reached without the actors pressuring to call to cast their vote. The studios, grouped in the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), have responded tactfully assuring that they are approaching the negotiation "with the goal of reaching an agreement that benefits both parties."

It would not be the first time that the group, made up of more than 160,000 members, went on strike. In 1978 a nearly three-month strike broke out to demand better wages for those involved in television advertising. In 2000 there was another that lasted almost six months against commercial producers. It was the eighth time that SAG stopped its work and the fourth for AFTRA. The two merged in 2012 after decades of back-and-forth. There hasn't been a strike against film and television studios for 33 years.

The strike of the screenwriters has altered the production schedule of at least fifty titles. Among these are acclaimed series such as Abbot Elementary (ABC); Hacks (HBO Max); The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu), as well as ratings such as Wednesday (Netflix) and Bob's Burgers (Fox). Some productions have stopped filming and others have been left without writers to develop the programs and scripts for the premieres of the 2023-2024 season. Since May 2, when the labor dispute broke out, anyone who tunes into U.S. television networks will find that late-night talk shows are airing replays.

The SAG-AFTRA strike would leave the sets without actors or actresses. The presence on filming of dubbing actors, models, singers, DJs, announcers, television presenters, television journalists and puppeteers would be prohibited. Even meteorologists on television news could not work without a new collective bargaining agreement. In the weeks that the writers' strike has lasted, many actors have turned out to protest outside studios in Los Angeles and New York. There have been Bob Odenkirk, Jason Sudeikis, Colin Farrell, Rob Lowe and Quinta Brunson, among others. Drew Barrymore cancelled her participation in the MTV awards so as not to be considered a scab.

The gesture of solidarity of the acting guild has given oxygen to writers. Especially after the directors announced over the weekend that they had reached a tentative "historic" agreement with the AMPTP. The writers had hoped, after the outbreak of the conflict, that the Directors Guild of America (DGA) would call the second strike in its history (the first was in 1987 and lasted less than 20 minutes). Instead, the 19,000 members of the group and the studios reached the agreement for the next triennium after less than a month at the negotiating table.

The studies offered a salary increase of 5% in the first year, 4% in the second and 3.5% in the last. The agreement also offers a 76% increase in the amount they receive from the residual for the consumption of series and films abroad. It would offer up to $90,000 for the first three years of overseas streams to a one-hour program. This area is considered vital for screenwriters. His proposal clashed with the refusal of technology companies and companies.

The DGA pact also prohibits the use of live ammunition on filming, one derived from the Rust tragedy; It places limits on working hours for assistant directors and indicates that artificial intelligence cannot replace union members.