(RepublicanPress.org) – On May 1, writers went on strike after contract negotiations went south between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Over the course of that month, actors started speaking out in solidarity with one clear message — “pay your writers.” At the end of June, actors from SAG-AFTRA joined the picket lines after their contract negotiations failed too. Both writers and actors were protesting for months until the end of September when the writers cut a deal and went back to work. The actors weren’t so lucky.
On October 11, ABC News reported that talks were happening between studios and actors in Hollywood that could’ve revived the entertainment business. However, talks broke down, and the studios suspended contract negotiations. The businesses claimed the gap between what they were willing to give and what the actors were demanding was too big. Apparently, the studios took one look at the actors’ proposal and walked away from the table.
Strike talks have broken off between Hollywood actors and studios. The alliance of studios and streaming services that negotiates with actors say that the two sides are so far apart in their contract talks that there is no point in continuing. https://t.co/PsLm2sgaKx
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 12, 2023
AMPTP released a statement afterward, stating the two sides had “meaningful conversations,” but SAG-AFTRA was asking too much, and the talks weren’t moving in a “productive direction,” so the group ended the discussion. The studios claimed just one of the actors’ asks would cost over $800 million every year, which was unacceptable.
SAG-AFTRA also released a statement in response to the studios, claiming they were using “bully tactics” by “misrepresenting” the group’s requests in the press. The actors said the studio overstated what the workers wanted by 60%, making it seem as though the entertainers were being unreasonable. SAG-AFTRA said they “negotiated…in good faith,” but the studio’s proposal was even less than what it was when the strike kicked off.
Actors are looking for pay associated with streaming, and they want to control how their images are used — especially when generated by AI.
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