(Los Angeles) Actors and major Hollywood studios agreed on Wednesday to end the strike that has paralyzed the production of films and series in the United States for many months and cost the American economy billions, the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA announced known .
Posted at 8:13 p.m.
Andrew MARSZAL Agence France-Presse
“The strike officially ends on Thursday, November 9th at 12:01 a.m. Los Angeles time,” the organization said in a statement. An “agreement in principle” has been reached after 118 days of strike by actors demanding better compensation in an industry disrupted by the rise of streaming and protections surrounding artificial intelligence.
The exact contents of the agreement have not yet been announced, but “further information will be communicated on Friday,” the union said.
In order for major stars and extras to return to set and filming to resume, SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 actors, dancers and other stunt members must still vote to approve their new collective bargaining agreement. A step widely viewed as a formality.
Negotiations with employers have taken place almost daily over the past two weeks, often with the CEOs of Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and Universal personally at the table.
Because the need to put an end to this social movement became more and more urgent.
Apart from a minority of major celebrities, most actors found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet without filming – some fell back on other jobs. Studios had gaping holes in their release plans for the next year and beyond.
After major productions were postponed, such as the second part of the Dune saga or the Stranger Things series, the studios now want to get back to work as quickly as possible.
Historical crisis
The industry has just gone through a double historical social movement: when the actors went on strike in mid-July, the screenwriters had already been off work since the beginning of May. Hollywood hasn’t experienced a crisis like this since 1960, when Ronald Reagan led the actors’ union – before he became president of the United States.
In total, the sector’s paralysis in recent months has cost at least $6 billion, according to recent estimates from economists.
Actors and screenwriters shared an observation: Aside from star actors and star “showrunners,” most of them could no longer earn a decent living in the age of streaming.
Not only because the platforms produce series with significantly fewer episodes per season than on television, but also because Netflix and others have drastically reduced the income from every re-broadcast of films and series.
In contrast to television, where a rebroadcast can be paid for using the advertising model based on viewership, a flat fee was charged for a streamed work, regardless of the popularity of the program.
Compromise
The studios finally came to an agreement with the writers at the end of September and most of them have since returned to work. But despite this progress, negotiations with stakeholders dragged on.
To overcome the stalemate, according to the trade press, the two parties have reached a compromise on the minimum wage, which is expected to increase by around 8% compared to the previous three-year agreement: this is the largest increase in decades, although it does not remain below the initial demands of the actors .
A bonus system for actors in successful series or films is to be introduced on the streaming site.
Another major point of tension, particularly in the final stages of negotiations, was the monitoring of artificial intelligence (AI).
Actors feared that studios would use this technology to clone their voices and images for long-term reuse without compensation or consent. The studios had made suggestions in this area, but the actors’ union felt that these measures did not go far enough.
In recent days, the two parties have particularly disputed the conditions for studios’ rights to images of star actors after their deaths.