Like the striking writers, leaders of actors’ union SAG-AFTRA have described their industrial action in stark terms, calling the present moment “existential” for their members.
And like the authors, they have argued that the situation is rapidly approaching a crisis due to the explosion in streaming entertainment over the past decade.
“We want to ensure that acting can be a sustainable career choice for people, not just for the 100 most famous celebrities in the world, but for the entire vast population of our members,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator for the union said recently in an interview. “They should be able to make a living and pay a mortgage or rent like everyone else.”
The actors have raised a number of grievances, including regulations on self-taped casting, a pandemic phenomenon that has resulted in fewer live casting sessions.
In essence, however, it was about remuneration and the use of artificial intelligence. The union has argued that actors’ pay – particularly residual balances, a type of royalty payment – has been “severely eroded” in recent years. Under the old system, if a television series was a smash hit, actors could expect substantial residual checks to show up in their bank accounts for years to come. In the streaming age, the actors argue, the pie has shrunk, and so have the checks.
“We are always interested in ensuring that our members share in the success of the projects they create,” said Mr. Crabtree-Ireland.
The actors also have major concerns about artificial intelligence and how the technology could be used to reproduce their performances based on their previous work without being compensated or consulted.
Tara Kole, an attorney at entertainment law firm Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole, which represents actors such as Emma Watson and Ashley Judd, said in an interview that the potential use of artificial intelligence for actors is “terrifying.”
“I think this has become an unsolvable problem,” Ms. Kole said. “It feels existential and people don’t understand it. It’s new. Its scary. Everyone is afraid that they will suddenly be in a sequel to a movie and not get paid for their work.”
Mr Crabtree-Ireland, the lead negotiator, said of AI: “We have a real interest in making sure something significant is done here, so that we don’t try to fix the problem retrospectively in three years.” It needs to be done now .”
In a statement early Thursday morning, the Alliance of Motion Picture and the Television Producers, which is negotiating on behalf of the studios, said they had offered “historic salary and residual increases” and presented a “groundbreaking” AI proposal that “reinforces the… protects the rights of actors”. digital similarity.”
“Rather than continue to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will exacerbate the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods,” the studios said.