The Hollywood actors’ union has agreed on a new contract with the US studios. The end of a strike that lasted almost four months and paralyzed large parts of film and series production is now in sight.
Hollywood – for around four months, almost every day: actresses and actors demonstrate in front of the major studios of Netflix, Universal, Paramount, Amazon and Warner Brothers. Often self-confident: “Until we get a new contract, we’ll close here!” At some point, however, it was almost desperate: “We have to do this so that we can finally work again.”
Now they can work again. After 118 days of strike, there is an agreement between the actors union SAG AFTRA and the Association of Studios (AMTPT). The focus is on three points: higher fees, actors’ participation in revenue from streaming providers and better protection against artificial intelligence (AI). According to insiders, the most heated negotiations were around the AI rules.
Many actors are fighting for survival
“The agreement is particularly important for the less well-known and unknown actors,” says Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, one of the actors’ union negotiators. “Most people always think of the big stars. But most of our 160,000 members are struggling to survive, they don’t earn $26,000 a year to afford health insurance.”
Dominique Lubsey is one of these actors. He was there in big films like “Fast and Furious 9” or “Barbie” – but always in the background. Sometimes he walks through the picture, sometimes he sits in the café. That’s how he earned his money. “I’m so glad that they reached an agreement now, and not in December when everyone is going on vacation again,” says Lubsey. To stay afloat, he delivered pizza and had to pick up food from a Foodbank, the US version of the food bank. “Finally a little more reliability that money will come in in the next few months.” That’s the most important thing for now, he wants to look at the details of the agreement in the next few weeks. “If we don’t like the deal, we can always vote against it.”
Many film releases postponed
It will probably be weeks before filming starts again. Many films have long been postponed because of the strike: “Mission Impossible 8” with Tom Cruise, for example: The film was originally planned for next June and is now postponed indefinitely. The new edition of the Disney film “Snow White”, “Deadpool 3” and the sequel to “Dirty Dancing” will also be released in cinemas later.
Series such as “The Last of Us”, “Cobra-Kai” and “Stranger Things” are also affected – also because Hollywood writers went on strike alongside the actors until the end of September. It was the first double strike in more than 60 years. The effects will only really be felt next year because fewer new series and films can be released. Annoying for fans, an economic risk for streaming platforms and cinema operators.
“The strike will have a pandemic-like impact on the entertainment business,” says Lucas Shaw of the Bloomberg business service. “That’s not good for the film business, which was already struggling before. But maybe there will be surprise hits like ‘Barbie’.” But union members still have to agree to the agreement.