Home » US Employment News » Hollywood stars join strikes in biggest industry shutdown in 60 years

Hollywood stars join strikes in biggest industry shutdown in 60 years

By Nithya Bose in US Employment News, posted July 14, 2023

Hollywood actors have joined with screenwriters in a strike, resulting in the biggest shutdown of the industry in over 60 years.

Around 160,000 performers in Los Angeles halted work, bringing US film and TV productions to a standstill.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) demands fairer profit sharing and improved working conditions from streaming giants.

The union seeks to protect actors from being replaced by digital replicas and artificial intelligence (AI).

The strike means actors will not appear in films or promote already-made movies.

Actors including Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt left the premiere of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer to support the strike.

The strike is garnering support from various actors expressing solidarity on social media platforms.

Picketing will start today (July 14) outside Netflix's California headquarters, and then to Paramount, Warner Bros, and Disney.

To address concerns regarding AI usage, major studios offered a proposal to protect the digital likeness of actors and require their consent for digital replicas or alterations.

However, the SAG rejected the offer, with the union's executive director deeming it unacceptable.

The strike will impact ongoing film productions, in-progress television shows, and reshoots.

Top Hollywood stars cannot attend promotional events for upcoming releases, potentially leading to rescheduled or scaled-back events such as the Emmys and Comic-Con.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said the strike was "certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life".

"The union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

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The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), also demands higher base pay and residuals for actors in streaming services.

This strike runs parallel to the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America, which began on May 2.

The "double strike" by both unions marks the first time since 1960 that both the writers and actors have simultaneously struck.

But, the Directors Guild of America successfully negotiated a contract in June and will not participate in the strike.

The strike poses challenges to an industry still recovering from the pandemic, with Disney CEO Bob Iger expressing concerns about the disruption caused by the demands of both actors and writers.

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