The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union is set to vote Thursday on whether to strike, potentially leading tens of thousands of actors off set and to the picket line after late-night negotiations to reach a contract deal failed.
After more than four weeks of bargaining, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. Discovery remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues that are essential to SAG-AFTRA members, SAG-AFTRA said in a statement early Thursday.
Those key issues are an increase in minimum pay, more residuals for streaming and the use of artificial intelligence essentially the same issues that triggered the Writers Guild of America to go on strike nearly three months ago.
SEE MORE: Hollywood writers strike ripples to thousands of out-of-work crews
Residual income from streaming content helps actors stay afloat as they await the next job, with most actors working on a project-to-project basis.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 54,000 actors made a mean pay of about $36 an hour last year.
ZipRecruiter estimates the average actor makes anywhere from $45,000 to $84,000 per year, while big studios and executives rake in millions per picture.
“Over the past decade, your compensation has been severely eroded by the rise of the streaming ecosystem,” said SAG president and actor Fran Drescher, along with the union chief negotiator, in a statement. “Furthermore, artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions, and all actors and performers deserve contract language that protects them from having their identity and talent exploited without consent and pay.”
SAG-AFTRA announced that the crucial determination of whether to align with the striking screenwriters would be made by its leadership during a meeting scheduled for “Thursday morning.”
The last time both actors and writers unions went on strike at the same time was 1960, and this would be SAG-AFTRA’s first strike in more than two decades if they rule in favor of one.
Currently, Hollywood is experiencing an 80% shutdown due to the writers strike, which has caused significant delays in the production of several shows, including popular series like “The White Lotus,” “Emily in Paris,” “American Dad,” “Euphoria,” “Family Guy,” the highly anticipated final season of “Stranger Things” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” plus late-night talk shows and many more.
However, if the actors choose to join the picket lines, the industry’s productions will come to a complete halt, according to the New York Times.
During the last writers strike 15 years ago, the Los Angeles economy suffered a significant loss, estimated at $2.1 billion, and the Los Angeles Times predicts the writers strike now could cost the local economy over $3 billion if it continues for a third month.
These shows are impacted due to the absence of scripts, resulting in more unscripted and reality TV programming during the strikes. Networks such as FOX have started actively promoting their unscripted content.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
Sheila E. receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame Prosecutors rest in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial Actors in Hollywood accept federal mediation as a strike looms