Actors’ strike, green light from SAG-AFTRA: causes and consequences

Negotiations to extend the contract between the actor’s union have been going on for more than four weeks, SAG-AFTRA (which has about 160,000 members) and the Producers Association Film and Television Producers Alliance. AMPTP extension (more or less than 300 studios, including major majors including Paramount, Disney, Universal, Sony and Warner, and streamers including Netflix, Apple and Amazon), and given the many difficulties involved in reaching an agreement that could satisfy both parties , it was decided to set an extension for 12 days, i.e. until July 13, to find a solution.

In the end, however, time is up (deadline was Thursday at 9:00 am Italian time) without achieving any result and therefore as announced by the president of SAG-AFTRA Fran Drescher and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland It was decided to go on strike, which began at midnight on 14 July. And this despite the hopes of representatives of both actors not to go so far as to be able to provoke a reaction from the other side with their statement.

You can watch Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland’s full performance at their noon press conference in Los Angeles here:

What is happening now? What are the reasons?

History and precedents

Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is an American union that represents film and television actors, as well as journalists, radio personalities, singers, voice actors, and now influencers, as well as other professionals from around the world. The organization was formed on March 30, 2012 as a result of the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (ie. SAGestablished back in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRAinstead of the one created in 1937).

The strike is the first since 1980, at that time it lasted more than 3 months and began on July 21 instead of 14. The reasons that prompted it were the improvement in the wage conditions of its members and the requirement that part of the benefits received from home video (at that time VHS ) and distribution through the first pay television.

Find a precedent in which we witnessed the modern arrest of actors and screenwriters Toilet extensionThe Writers Guild of America (which, let’s remember, has been at a standstill since May 2 last year), we have to go back to 1960when Ronald Reagan was president of SAG. In this case, the participants achieved a breakthrough that is fundamental to the current state of the profession.

Reconstruction and motives

In the spring, when the WGA went on strike, it knew (as did the American and non-American press) that it would be a long battle and that there would definitely not be a real tipping point, at least not until late fall. considering that the list of productions was saturated for several months anyway, and because screenwriters are notoriously less firepower in terms of share of the category of show business workers, as well as the closest to the poverty line.

The majors’ plan was not to compromise (in fact, there were no more negotiations in recent months), but to pull the rope to the extreme, and then force the authors to return in their tracks with their tails between their legs.

With the strike of the actors, the situation has changed incredibly. In addition, the fact that some of the motivations of both alliances are the same may lead to unexpected turning points until a few days ago, Drescher proved to be much more accommodating and possible in regards to a positive outcome of the negotiations. Which didn’t happen then, perhaps because, it’s fair to remember this too, most of the SAG-AFTRA contestants are not Oscar-winning actors, but professionals who live in supporting roles and may have made a successful series in their careers.

The most important casus belli concerns the issue of copyright. (basic for the livelihood of the authors and the aforementioned group of actors), practically reduced to zero due to the decline of the settlement system based on the payment of answers (famous royalties), inapplicable in this state of affairs, the constant availability of streaming products. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a new method of regulation.

Secondly, we need clarity on the use of artificial intelligence, first of all, also in this case, in relation to the economic part and, again, to copyright. Currently, for example, several scanned faces of minor extras and actors automatically become the property of the studios.

Over 4 weeks of negotiations, the production companies have secured some concessions, primarily in terms of monetary concessions, but so far there has been no scope for the much more drastic changes the actors are asking for instead. voice.

And now?

Now everything is in jeopardy.

The premieres of two of the most anticipated events of the cinematic summer, namely Barbie Greta Gerwig Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan, were provided to allow the actors to participate, even if on the second occasion the entire cast was forced to leave the London cinema where the preview was taking place after midnight.

In fact, we recall that the actors were forbidden not only to work on the set, but also to participate in any promotional activities of feature films, whether live or on the Internet. If then several American productions, such as dragon house, or British like slow horses, despite the WGA strike, managed to continue to work, now they too will have to stop. Not counting television programs in which union members participate, such as reality shows or prime time quizzes.

The now looming Venice Film Festival is also at risk, with no actors, including major Hollywood stars that the Lido Festival is counting on, to attend, but it’s not yet clear if AMPTP’s major films will be withdrawn. , and rumors about this are already circulating, because it is difficult to promote a millionaire movie without your big money.

Not to mention, finally (but not least) the dire consequences this strike could have on cinemasalready sufficiently tested by the most recent COVID pandemic, and which couldn’t (at least not all) handle further huge production disruption (remember the already shelved Marvel movies) and lack of big titles to fill.

Instead part of the union of production houses? Studio shares fell on the stock market (we mention this because Drescher mentioned Wall Street in a speech you can see in the introduction to the article) due to a clear shortage in terms of promoting their big games, while streamers saw in their attitude is exactly the opposite. Probably because if the films don’t get to theaters, where will the public see them? Presumably at home.