Movie
The strike by writers and movie stars will not only affect the US film industry, but also production in the UK and Europe
Sun 16 July 2023 at 11am BST
As the summer draws to a close, there won’t be fresh helpings of The White Lotus, The Last of Us, or even Emily in Paris beaming into living rooms. A film adaptation of the musical “Wicked” starring Ariana Grande will also not be shown in your local cinema in the spring. And all Gladiator 2 filming in Morocco is likely to be put on hold indefinitely. The moaning is almost audible now.
This first weekend of the American actors’ strike, the level of frustration felt by film and television drama fans around the world has dwarfed previous reactions to the related writers’ strike, which has been ongoing since early May.
Since negotiations broke down in Los Angeles on Thursday, a dispute has erupted over the way the streaming services are said to be squeezing wages and investing in the use of artificial intelligence in production.
And when an industrial relations struggle benefits from a dose of charisma, suddenly the struggle to secure the income of the talent behind much of the world’s streaming content has a lot more of the right ingredient. On Friday, George Clooney became the latest celebrity to endorse the campaign. “Actors and writers have lost their ability to make a living in large numbers,” the actor said, adding that “a turning point in our industry.”
On the SAG picket line in Los Angeles. Photo: MEGA/GC Images
The recognizability of many of the faces now taking a stand, from Clooney to Margot Robbie and Brian Cox, compared to their counterparts in the writers’ lounge, has propelled the Hollywood controversy to the top of the international news agenda. Productions featuring leading American talent, which have stalled in many countries since script work was banned, are now likely to come to a near halt. And the actors say they are prepared for a long fight.
Among them is Barbie star Robbie, who has stepped out of promotional events, and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, who argued this weekend that “the issues of streaming and AI are things that need to be addressed now.” “We have an old contract for a new type of business and it just doesn’t work for most people,” the actor told reporters in New York.
Sarandon’s words followed a protest movement in London on Thursday as the stars of new Christopher Nolan film, Oppenheimer, walked out of the premiere. Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh left with Matt Damon, whose new production company starring Ben Affleck will also suffer, he said. Supporting the cast was British director Nolan, who said the moment was right for action. The red carpet event on Monday before the New York premiere of Nolan’s film was also canceled. “In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the Oppenheimer filmmakers will instead screen the film to honor the crew and craftsmen who helped create this film,” Universal said in a statement.
Festivals and fan events are also threatened. Organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival are still hoping it will take place in early September, telling the BBC: “The impact of this strike on the industry and events like ours cannot be denied.” We urge our partners and colleagues to resume open dialogue.” The Venice festival planned for next month is also in jeopardy, and San Diego Comic-Con could go ahead without its star attraction – celebrities.
Brian Cox says the actors’ strike could last until the end of the year
On Friday, more than 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) walked out and joined the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America in the largest strike in more than 60 years. Both writers and actors negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for residual payments, which are the payments made when a show or film is repeated. Streaming services like Netflix have large audiences due to their large libraries of movies and series, yet still pay far fewer residual payments than broadcast TV.
Actress Fran Drescher, acting president of Sag-Aftra, best known for her role in The Nanny, claims the reactions from studio and streaming bosses so far have been “insulting and disrespectful.”
Her views were echoed by Cox, the Scottish actor behind Succession’s ruthless Logan Roy. “If our remaining balances go down, that means our health insurance isn’t covered,” he said Friday. “The streaming services shot themselves in the foot for saying, ‘We’re doing very well on this front.’ And when we confronted them and said, “What about our balances, what about our money?” Everything kind of shuts down and…you know, it’s not going to happen.”
Cox also attacked plans to use AI programming to replicate talent. “There would never be an original voice,” he argued, citing the British author behind Succession, Jesse Armstrong, and Mike White, creator and sole author of The White Lotus. “It would be sort of a copycat of the show. And that is unacceptable.”
If the film talent now plays his role to the full, then the stubborn industry moguls also come into play. On Thursday, before the strike, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the outages had come at “the worst time in the world.” “They have a level of expectations that just isn’t realistic, and they add to a number of challenges that this company is already facing, which is frankly very disruptive,” he said.
Striking writers and actors outside Paramount Studios on Friday. Photo: Chris Pizzello/AP
Production companies in countries with booming film economies like the UK, Ireland, Greece and Canada are poised for an unprecedented downturn. Canadian filmmaker Shawn Williamson told the BBC that Canada’s entertainment industry is dependent on American writers and actors. Brightlight has been the basis for shows like ABC’s The Good Doctor and Netflix’s Firefly Lane, and does up to nine shows at a time. “All of these things are now on hold while we wait for the studios and the unions to sort this out,” Williamson said.
In the UK and other European countries, national acting and writing unions are monitoring the damage. And the technical unions that represent the occupation and auxiliary industries share the foreboding. Bectu, the UK’s creative industries union, has warned that a “perfect storm” is brewing for freelancers. Many productions are now at risk of going on hiatus, and it expects others to follow if mediation fails.
Although the writers’ strike, which has prevented all editing and even work-related emails, has already affected filming on location in many countries, it is the solidarity of the actors that is taking action against productions. This fall and winter there will be less scripted entertainment, fewer stars to admire and fewer stories to enjoy.
The Hollywood Actors’ Strike: Everything You Need to Know
The filming location of Wicked in Buckinghamshire, where Grande was supposed to play Glinda, was cancelled. Beetlejuice, Leavesden, and Deadpool 3 are all said to be significantly affected, but HBO’s House of the Dragon might escape as the cast is largely non-American. Actors are also believed to cancel sound recordings of films that have already been made.
UK site manager Ben Sanderson is calling for more help for anyone working in support industries. “These are freelance film producers who will no longer earn wages from now on. I’ve had numerous calls from concerned people in the department I work in alone,” he told the Observer.
Film production in the UK directly and indirectly employs around 100,000 people and was worth £12.9 billion before the pandemic. Many of these people have become unemployed overnight. So while viewers grapple with the impending lack of new entertainment, others suffer from a lack of pay. There’s real pain now that touches more than just famous faces waving placards.
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