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LOS ANGELES – Tens of thousands of actors from Los Angeles to New York struck down their picket lines and prepared to go back to work Thursday after a tentative deal between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers after 118 days finally came to an end.
The deal still needs to be approved by SAG-AFTRA’s rank-and-file members, but given the strong support of the union’s leadership — including President Fran Drescher — that is far from certain.
“It’s historic and we got so much, so much important,” Drescher said on CNN on Thursday, citing, among other things, record raises for some of the lowest-paid background actors.
The conclusion of the actors’ strike ended an unusually protracted labor dispute in Hollywood that began in May when the writers’ union went on strike, followed by an actors’ strike in July – a rare double strike that brought the industry to a standstill. The authors reached an agreement with the AMPTP in September. Many in Hollywood expected the actors to quickly follow suit, but they held on to what negotiators claimed was a better deal.
A rare one-two punch brings Hollywood to a standstill
The deal includes provisions to protect members from the threat of AI and, for the first time, a streaming participation bonus. Dealing with AI and compensation for actors appearing on streaming shows were among the toughest issues that delayed the deal’s completion.
The agreement allows filming for many shows and films to resume immediately, although in many cases schedules have been paused. Some productions, such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” have had their release dates pushed back. Others, including Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” and ABC’s “Home Economics,” were canceled entirely during the strike. Most productions scheduled for this year are expected to be moved to the 2024-2025 schedule.
Did the actors’ and writers’ strikes solve Hollywood’s problems? (Video: Lindsey Sitz/The Washington Post, Photo: Philip Cheung/The Washington Post)
Still, the actors were happy with the news that they could start working again and promote their productions, something the union had banned during the strike.
“YES!!! Hallelujah. I can tweet a certain trailer at midnight that I’m VERY excited about,” said Kumail Nanjiani, known for roles in “The Big Sick,” “Eternals” and “Welcome to Chippendales.”
An energetic Ke Huy Quan addressed “Loki” fans on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the strike ended. “Wow, you have no idea how happy I am. “I have waited a very long time to tell you how happy I am to become part of the Loki family,” he said. “I loved doing this show and I’m so proud of it and it was so much fun playing Ouroboros. It makes me so happy to know that you all love it as much as I do.”
Octavia Spencer said on Instagram that she was “proud to stand in solidarity with all SAG members over the last 118 days.” “Ready to work now that the strike is over!” she wrote with a series of party popper emojis.
Daniel Dae Kim, known for roles in “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O,” posted on X: “Woo hooo!!!! Let’s hope the deal is fair and we can get back to work!”
But despite the celebrations, it will be a long time before Hollywood returns to normal – whatever “normal” may be. The number of shows staged this year is expected to drop dramatically compared to the roughly 600 last year, and not just because of the double strikes. Viewers have increasingly turned a cold shoulder to the flood of shows from new streaming services trying to catch up with Netflix, and studios and streamers alike are expected to focus on a smaller number of high-quality shows.
Some lesser-known actors said they didn’t know what to expect.
“There’s kind of a strange fog, like waking up from a dream,” said Lenny Jacobson, 49, a longtime union member who had recurring roles on “Nurse Jackie” and other shows — but is currently out of work.
“I’m excited, I’m grateful, I’m tired. “I can’t wait to get back to work, but I’m also cautiously optimistic and aware that it will take time to figure out what our industry looks like,” said Jacobson.
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Efren Ramirez, 50, best known for his role as Pedro in “Napoleon Dynamite,” said: “It’s like we’re walking into a blank canvas and we hope that everything works out for all of us in the end.” All of us, not just the studio heads, but all the staff and the audience, because we all love a great film.”
Many productions were trying to make up for lost time and were eager to get actors back on set.
According to Deadline, highly anticipated TV series and films such as Deadpool 3, Beetlejuice 2 and Venom 3 will be among the first projects to resume production.
“Abbott Elementary” and “Grey’s Anatomy” will ramp up production in late November, Deadline reported, and “All American” and “Grown-ish” plan to resume production in early December.
Eric Kripke, creator of “The young,” shared the production plans for the Prime Video series with his social media followers in an update. “Now that the SAG strike is over (yay), the actors can record additional dialogue,” he said. “No air date yet, but it will be worth the wait. It could be our best season. Certainly our craziest one.”
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