In a few hours, Hollywood will grind to a halt. The actors plan to go on strike at midnight. This development comes as the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) failed to reach a new agreement with the studios. The impact has been immediate. Christopher Nolan's anticipated movie "Oppenheimer," which details the famed scientist's work on the Manhattan Project, saw its main cast, which includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, and Matt Damon, leave the London premiere.
We love this show of #solidarity. Thank you to the #Oppeneheimer cast for being #SAGAFTRAstrong. We will be #StrongerTogether during the #SAGAFTRAstrike 💪 https://t.co/wJt2ffezjC
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) July 13, 2023
Christopher Nolan says the cast of #Oppenheimer left the premiere to ‘go and write their pickets’ and join the strike pic.twitter.com/rc2SaSxcfk
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 13, 2023
Actress Fran Dresher heads SAG-AFTRA, but even "The Nanny" couldn't get a new agreement hashed out. It's a huge union comprising over 100,000 actors, voice actors, journalists, radio personalities, musicians, and internet influencers. And for the first time in 63 years, unions for both actors and writers will strike at once. The ongoing writers' strike halted a string of movie and television productions. With actors joining the picket lines, Hollywood is now effectively shut down. A major point of contention that occurred during these failed labor talks was residual payments from streaming services (via Axios):
The actors' strike, which begins at midnight, marks the first time in 63 years that Hollywood has two unions on strike simultaneously, which is expected to bring the industry to a screeching halt. It could also lead to a quicker end to Hollywood's labor war.
The big picture: A strike by Hollywood's largest union, which encompasses 160,000 members in total, will essentially stop all scripted film and TV production — many of which were already halted amid the writers' strike.
Expect further delays on upcoming film releases and TV show premieres.
It also means that members will not be doing promotional work for upcoming blockbuster films and TV shows — including next week's "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer."
[…]
The last time that both the actors' and writers' unions were on strike was 1960 — when SAG was led by Ronald Reagan.
Residuals were a major point of contention then as they are now. In those days, both unions were striking to get paid for movies licensed to or sold on TV.
The current residuals fight is over how much workers are paid when their shows and movies are licensed to streaming services.
[…]
SAG-AFTRA represents more than just film and TV actors.
The industry's biggest union encompasses TV journalists, stage performers, stunt and background performers, radio personalities and fashion models.
The other side: In a response to the strike, the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, which represents the studios in labor talks, said their offer involved "historic pay and residual increases" and a "groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likeness."
Well, it looks like we'll be watching a lot of re-runs for the time being.
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