As of today, June 14, approximately 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, are officially on strike. The union is joining the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since May 2, to demand fair wages and raise concerns about AI using actors’ likeness without permission or compensation. 

Among the thousands of actors joining the strike are the stars of Christopher Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer, who walked out of their London premiere yesterday. And many films currently in production, such as the sequels to Avatar and Gladiator, will likely have to be put on hold, as they’ll be left without actors for an indefinite amount of time.

The stars of Oppenheimer walked out of the film’s premiere yesterday to join the Screen Actors Guild on strike

Image credits: oppenheimermovie

As of today, over 160,000 actors are on strike, bringing the film and TV industries to a halt

Image credits: oppenheimermovie

Official: Christopher Nolan just confirmed the cast of #Oppenheimer have LEFT the U.K. premiere due to the #SAGAFTRA strike

The first time in 60 years that writers and actors are striking together. #SAGStrike pic.twitter.com/BQBo2jRfCd

— The Weekly Cut (@weeklycut) July 13, 2023

SAG-AFTRA joins the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since May, for their first simultaneous strike since 1960

Image credits: adamconover

Picketing will begin in New York and Los Angeles today and will continue indefinitely

Image credits: adamconover

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher is calling out Hollywood executives, demanding fair wages for actors and writers

Image credits: nowthisnews

Image credits: nowthisnews

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher slams Hollywood execs: ‘They plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting — shame on them.’ pic.twitter.com/dHhcxsBAXY

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 13, 2023

Streaming services have greatly impacted how those in the film industry are paid

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Part of the reason actors and writers are so worried about their wages is because of how streaming services have impacted their paychecks. In the old days, actors and writers received residual checks for years or even decades, depending on how successful their programs and films were. Today, however, when streaming services account for a greater share of the content we consume than cable TV, it’s much more challenging for writers and actors to earn.

There is also such a large amount of content being produced at any given time that much of it is hardly profitable at all. And while SAG-AFTRA has been attempting to negotiate with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for over a month, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement that “the AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals have been insulting and disrespectful of our massive contributions to this industry.”

“The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us,” Drescher continued. “Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal. We have no choice but to move forward in unity, and on behalf of our membership, with a strike recommendation to our National Board. The board will discuss the issue this morning and will make its decision.”  

Image credits: Universal Pictures

“I’m absolutely all for this strike,” Lance Carter, SAG-AFTRA actor and founder of Daily Actor, says. “You only go on strike when it’s absolutely necessary, and this strike is absolutely necessary. Middle class actors are becoming extinct.”

SAG-AFTRA actor and founder of The Modern Actor, Eddie Ramos, is also in favor of the strike. “A strike is the only way for the studios to understand that we are serious about affecting real change to our contracts and protecting our members.”

Ramos says he is looking for the AMPTP to acknowledge that the business has changed immensely since the advent of streaming services. “As our SAG President Fran Drescher said perfectly, ‘How can they not expect our contracts to change as well?’ The way these mega corporations are doing business and monopolizing the media landscape will affect many other industries as well and it’s only a matter of time,” Ramos told Bored Panda. “Actors are workers too and shouldn’t be exploited by their employers.”

“I’d like to see a big increase in residuals from the streaming services and a bump in pay for inflation,” Carter noted. “There used to be a time when you could make a decent living as an actor booking guest star and smaller roles. Residuals helped an actor survive. Not anymore.”

Performers are also concerned about the possibility of AI being used to recreate their likeness in future projects, without their consent and without providing compensation

Image credits: Universal Pictures

When it comes to the potential use of AI technology in the film industry, powerful studios claim that actors would have their “digital likeness” protected and would be required to provide consent any time their digital replicas were used, but SAG-AFTRA is still not on board with the idea brought forth by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

“They propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity,” SAG’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, explained. “If you think that’s a ground-breaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”

“I’d like to see negotiators get very specific on AI and what the studios can do with our likenesses,” Carter added. “We can’t give away our likeness in perpetuity.”

While this strike means that many films and television shows have had to halt production, here’s what that means for the future of your experience as an audience member. USA Today reports that we should all prepare to be watching plenty of reruns, as it will now take much longer for films in production to be released. There is no end date set for the strike, so until an agreement is made, production will be on hold. Some of the biggest blockbusters currently filming that will be impacted are Wonder Woman 3, Ghostbusters 4, Mufasa: The Lion King and Avatar 3 and 4. Filming of Stranger Things, one of Netflix’s biggest cash cows, has also already been disrupted due to the writers strike.

As of now, there’s no telling when the strike will end. But some are hopeful that the studios will become worried about their lack of profits and start accommodating the actors and writers sooner rather than later. “There is so much at stake,” Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who previously worked for the WGA, told Insider. “I don’t think that filmed entertainment has seen a more rapid change in such a short period of time than since the end of World War II.”

“It’s hard to say how long the strike will last,” Ramos told Bored Panda. “I didn’t expect the WGA strike to last over 3 months, so I am anticipating battling this out for at least the same amount of time unfortunately.”

“I have a feeling it will last until October,” Carter says. “Hopefully I’m wrong.”

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