American actors will officially go on strike Friday at 00:00 (07:00 GMT), joining screenwriters in a dual social movement unprecedented in Hollywood since the 1960s that is crippling American film and television production becomes.
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Here are some keys to understanding the magnitude of this historic strike.
This strike, which was decided by SAG-AFTRA, the only actors’ union, involves 160,000 members, whether they are ordinary extras, stunt performers, occasional supporting roles or stars.
“The big stars have individual contracts in addition to the union contract (…) but still remain members of the same union,” reminds AFP Jonathan Handel, a lawyer specializing in the entertainment industry. And whoever says the same contract says the same obligations.
Many celebrities, including Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller and Colin Farrell, have publicly spoken out in favor of a strike.
They become important mouthpieces, “but this strike is not intended to bring even more money to the people who already have millions,” explains Handel. The social movement is vital for the multitude of actors who are paid much less and “need to continue to put food on the table and have a roof over their heads”.
Hollywood has been in slow motion since the writers’ strike in May and is now grinding to a halt. Filming without actors is impossible, even based on scripts completed before spring, as was recently the case with the Amazon series The Rings of Power, a prequel to Lord of the Rings .
Only a few talk shows and reality TV programs will continue. Which messed up television programming in the United States. Without series, the Fox channel will therefore mainly offer reality TV shows such as “Nightmare in the kitchen” or “Lego Masters” this fall.
The longer the strike lasts, the greater the delays. The release of future blockbusters is likely to suffer as many months pass between the end of filming and the theatrical release.
According to Handel, the movement could also affect international productions on the fringes. “When SAG-AFTRA actors are working on a film that’s being shot in Europe, Australia, Asia or anywhere else, they have to stop work,” he explains.
The strike is expected to last “until the fall,” the lawyer predicts. Given the high tensions between actors and studios, the conflict could even go “forever.”
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In his opinion, the migration of the general public to streaming platforms such as Netflix, which offer numerous international productions or reality TV shows in their catalogues, is accelerating.
Actors, like screenwriters, are demanding an increase in their “residual pay” resulting from each rerun of a film or series, and this has declined sharply with the advent of streaming.
Important for television, since they are based on advertising prices, these remunerations are significantly lower for streaming platforms that do not communicate their ratings and pay a flat rate regardless of success.
Eric Gem, an actor who played a small role in Jurassic World, recently illustrated this dramatic erosion to the Los Angeles Times. Revenue from cable reruns of the film brought him $1,400 in one quarter. During the same period, the comedian was paid $40 for streaming reruns.
Actors also fear being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). They are demanding safeguards against cloning their voice and image without consent.
Finally, they are protesting “self-taped castings” that have become commonplace with the pandemic: studios are asking candidates to film themselves remotely, depriving them of returning sales executives.
This is the first actors’ strike in Hollywood since 1980.
The last dual social movement that brought actors and screenwriters together dates back to 1960. At the time, future President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, headed the actors’ union and had achieved political standing by winning important concessions from the studios.
The economic impact of this strike is likely to be devastating. The last writers’ strike in 2007-2008 lasted 100 days and cost the industry $2 billion.
However, many Hollywood workers want to fight because they believe the industry is in an existential crisis, between streaming-related precariousness and technological threats.
“It’s a historic moment,” said Fran Drescher, ex-star of the series “A Nanny from Hell” and chairman of SAG-AFTRA on Thursday. “If we don’t stand up now… we all risk being replaced by machines and big corporations that care more about Wall Street than you and your family.”