The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since the beginning of May. Now SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is showing solidarity by joining the WGA in their strike. This will place them with more than 11,000 other striking individuals.
This is a historical moment, as the last time the WGA and SAG-AFTRA went on strike together was in 1960. SAG president Fran Drescher made a speech during a news conference on the matter. As shared via CNBC, she emphasized just how important this strike is for the business:
“We are the victims here,” Drescher begins. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.”
“It is disgusting,” she adds. “Shame on them.”
Drescher explains that part of the cause to strike revolves around streaming and artificial intelligence:
“You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change, too,” she states.
In addition to fears regarding artificial intelligence, the WGA is looking to receive higher compensation and residuals for their work. With streaming in particular, studios have been hiding the numbers that their projects are reaching, which has been used as a loophole to reduce residuals. Likewise, streaming services have been removing films and shows for similar reasons, if not to create tax write-offs altogether.
Interestingly, artificial intelligence has become a threat to SAG as well. This was explained by Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, who discussed a proposal regarding AI from the AMPTP:
“In that groundbreaking AI proposal, they proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” he said. “So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal I suggest you think again.”
Studios have so far been reluctant to meet the demands of the WGA, and so with SAG-AFTRA joining the strike, it should emphasize how serious they are. Of course, there are reports floating around that the AMPTP hopes to wait out writers until the begin to run out of money, and even lose their homes, so we’ll have to see just how long this battle continues. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.