You may have heard Hollywood has been shut down, but what does that mean? 

The Writer’s Guild of America began their strike on May 2, 2023, arguing for bigger compensation and better treatment. However, I won’t go too much into this since Lucy DeMeo ‘24 already covered this, which you can read here. Soon after, SAG-AFTRA– the union for screen actors and TV and Radio artists–joined on July 14. This, however, hasn’t been the first time the two unions have been on strike together, with the last time being 63 years ago in 1960.

So, why is SAG on strike?

After an ongoing dispute with the AMPTP, the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (aka the big guys), SAG-AFTRA decided it was time, too, to join the strike to fight for their rights. On their website, SAG stated: “We’re fighting for the survival of our profession. Here’s the simple truth: We’re up against a system where those in charge of multibillion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers. The companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — which include Amazon/MGM, Apple, Disney/ABC/Fox, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount/CBS, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO), and others — are committed to prioritizing shareholders and Wall Street.” As technology advances and the economy inflates, actors are being jeopardized by not only AI but also low minimum wages. SAG hopes to update its contracts with the AMPTP to ensure that actors are being compensated fairly. 

Listed below are a few of the major disputes between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP:

1. Minimum wage increase: Due to inflation, SAG is seeking an 11% increase in their members’ wages. However, AMPTP only agrees to go as far as a 5% increase. With this 5% increase, members’ “2023 earnings will effectively be a significant pay cut due to inflation and it is likely [they] will still be working for less than [their] 2020 wages in 2026.”
2. Protection of Human Performance by AI Performance: SAG hopes for informed consent and fair compensation when an actor’s performance is either replaced with AI or a digital replica is made. This is vital because with the advancements of AI, AI can entirely wipe out the role of actors in movies because studios wouldn’t have to pay each actor for their work. AMPTP, on the other hand, wants “to be able to scan a background performer’s image, pay them for a half a day’s labor, and then use an individual’s likeness for any purpose forever without their consent. We also want to be able to make changes to principal performers’ dialogue, and even create new scenes, without informed consent. And we want to be able to use someone’s images, likenesses, and performances to train new generative AI systems without consent or compensation.” Disney, prior to the strike, had already used AI to occupy fewer actors. On one Disney+ show, Disney creates doubles of many background actors and recast them in different areas of a scene in order to employ fewer background actors.
3. Actor Compensation from Streaming Revenue: in many cases, when a DVD or VHS, or a movie ticket was bought at the box office, actors would get some compensation from that. However, as movies and TV shows are increasingly being put onto streaming services (some without a theatrical release), actors are getting far less compensation or even none at all compared to the past. Many actors rely on this money to guarantee their financial stability after such projects have ended.  SAG-AFTRA has proposed a plan for actors to gain a part of the streaming revenue, to which the AMPTP has said “No.”

While these are just three things SAG is fighting for, there are many more reasons which can be found on the official SAG-AFTRA website here.

Until AMPTP and the big studios agree to SAG’s terms, SAG will continue to strike for their rights until they are heard. And until then, the majority of Hollywood is on halt because there are neither actors nor writers to make movies and shows. 

While many production companies have not agreed to these terms, some have, including A24 and the production behind The Chosen. An updated list of non-struck work can be found here. This means that all productions for these projects are filming and are not struck by SAG, so actors are free to work on them. 

Other, non-struck work includes: “Commercials: Television, Radio & Digital Media (includes the Influencer Agreement and the Cameo for Business Agreement), Television programs covered by the Network TV Code (soap operas, variety shows, talk show, and game shows), Sound Recordings, Music Videos, Interactive/Video Game Agreement,  Corporate/Educational & Non-Broadcast (formerly “Industrial”) Program, Station Contracts & Broadcast News, Television & New Media Animation, Dubbing, Audiobooks, Short Project Agreement (SPA), Micro Budget Project Agreement (Micro), Student Film Agreement, Independent New Media Agreement (deferrable), Independent Podcast Agreement & Micro-Monetized Podcast Agreement (includes scripted performance and hosting), SAG-AFTRA-approved Interim Agreements (these are for independent productions that would normally be covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts, and which have qualified for such an agreement with SAG-AFTRA) And certain separately negotiated basic cable agreements.”

SAG actors as well as anyone who may wish to join SAG in the future may not disobey these rules or they are faced with penalties such as not being able to join SAG in the future. 

Influencers, cast members, as well as the general public who wish to join SAG in the future may not promote any projects from struck work companies or companies. For example, at Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer premiere, the cast walked out together to support SAG and their fellow members. 

Where is SAG striking? 

SAG currently strikes all over the United States, with larger strikes especially in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta because those are major actors and filming hubs. In LA, SAG strikes every week for several hours outside of major studio lots like Paramount, Sony, Disney, and Netflix. Anyone, no matter if you’re in SAG-AFTRA or not, can join the picket lines to fight in solidarity with SAG.

Most information used for this article was found on the official SAG-AFTRA Strike website, and if you wish to learn more about the strike, you can find out here. As SAG continues to strike, I stand with SAG and I encourage you to stand with them too!

By Abbie Lindblad ‘24, Assistant Copy Editor

24alindblad@montroseschool.org