Los Angeles, the heart of Hollywood saw an eleventh-hour negotiation session between Hollywood Studios and the Actors’ Union on Wednesday 12th July 2024.
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Studios and Unions Lock Horns
Just before the midnight deadline, the two parties i.e. The Studio which represents the prominent film and tv studios of the Industry, and The Union comprising 1,60,000 actors conciliate on a mutual entente and steer clear of a double strike.
In the after-hours of Tuesday, SAG diplomats accepted the ‘last-minute’ proposal of the Studio for parlaying and arriving at a consensus with the aid of a federal mediator. But, according to reports, these talks have been rendered inconclusive and sour.
The Union alleges the Studio to have ‘abused’ their trust and leaked matters to the media and in doing so have ‘damaged’ the Studio’s goodwills in the eyes of the Union
The Unmet Demands of The Union
The ultimatum from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the leading union of all artists in the entertainment industry, included a surge in salaries to meet inflation, higher compensation and residues from the streaming shows apart from protection against the utilization of their depiction using Artificial Intelligence.
Apart from the salaries, the cast and crew members also earn ‘residuals’ with each broadcast of the show they worked in on television. Major Hollywood Studios like Netflix and Disney+ do not unveil the frequency of their content’s screening, thus providing a fixed meager figure to all the workers irrespective of the production’s commerciality.
These ‘residuals’ go a long way in supplementing the laborers’ livelihood especially when they are between ventures.
Also, the other agenda the Union raised was about AI. They demanded guarantees from the Studios that they wouldn’t use the actors’ digital images without their permission. However, the Studios have stuck to their ground and are reluctant to reach a compromise.
Hollywood on a Hiatus!
The guild members threaten the Studios to put down tools if an agreement cannot be reached. Iconic stars like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence have also threatened to leave their roles and join the strike.
The negotiations, seemingly dubious, if not resolved will create headlines and SAG-AFTRA members will go on strike. This would be a historical episode in the entertainment industry as both the actors and the writers will rebel concurrently for the first time after the 1960 strike.
More than 11,500+ screenplay writers from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have already been on strike since 2nd May 2024, demanding higher wages from the oppressing Studios. Their insurgence has led to many studios pulling down their shutters and the cessation of umpteen prominent productions.
‘Star-less’ Starry Events
After a paltry drought that the industry faced in the pandemic, Hollywood, today, is buzzing with a smorgasbord of exciting launches and events. With the release of blockbusters like Christopher Nolan-directed ‘Oppenheimer’ around the corner, the future of their screenings swings in uncertainty.
Upcoming Glamorous events like the yearly Comic-Con pop culture gathering in San Diego scheduled in the coming week and Disneyland’s Red Carpet Launch of their latest film “Haunted Mansion” may have the ‘glamour’ factor missing as Tinseltown’s stars may skip these jamborees in courtesy to their strike.
With the announcement of Emmy Awards Nominations on Wednesday, the function due on September 18, also faces diffidence and may be bogged down to November or even 2024!
The ambassador for the Hollywood Studio- The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) who play broker for them has stayed tight-lipped about the entire conflict.
