Hollywood: A city made of underpaid dreams. A city of protesting actors, where picket lines parade down the streets. A city where one strike has ended, but another strike wages on.
Part One: The Actors Vs Hollywood
On October 9, the Writers Guild of America’s strike came to an end, as members voted to embrace an industrial agreement that drastically improved all of their wages. According to the Guild, American-based scriptwriters are now receiving higher salaries and equitable streaming service residuals.
However, this strike hasn’t been the only one to overtake Hollywood this year. Since July 14, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has been at war with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The AMPTP is an institution that conducts most contract negotiations on behalf of all Hollywood’s studios. On June 5, SAG members held a vote, with 98% voting in favour of a strike if no deal was achieved by June 30. The date came and went, and the deadline was extended until July 12 to allow for more negotiations. On July 13, negotiations broke off, and the Screen Actors Guild announce the strike.
Over the past 100+ days, numerous meetings between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP have taken place. Most of these meetings have been gridlocks, with no formal agreements taking place. It has only been since October that these meetings have been classified as fruitful.
According to SAG-AFTRA, they’re gunning for several contract-based improvements. It want SAG members to receive salaries that’ll rise with inflation, better streaming service residuals, and a guarantee that no one will be replaced by AI. While the AMPTP has made some concessions, both sides still haven’t come to a consensus regarding streaming residuals and AI-related matters.
On November 1, Duncan Crabtree, the Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, made an announcement that corroborated some of these claims.
“I’m cautiously optimistic, that means we’ve got to keep the pressure on,” Crabtree said. “We’ve got to keep on pushing because there are really important pieces of this agreement that are not there yet, and they have to come across. AI, for example, has to be right. This deal cannot be done without a fair deal on AI.”
Part Two: When Will the Actors Strike End?
As it stands, numerous industry insiders are pushing the narrative that the actors strike could end within the next few days. They believe that both sides are on the precipice of a deal. However, Crabtree hasn’t been making such claims.
On November 2, Crabtree told Reuters that he doesn’t know when the actor’s strike will end.
Crabtree said, “I don’t think we can put a timeline on it at this point.”
This means that this war isn’t quite over. Either that, or Crabtree is keeping his cards close to his chest. Crabtree, SAG-AFTRA, and their members want to end things with a bang. So it would be surprising if they backed away now.
Hollywood: A city made of underpaid dreams. A city where one strike has ended, but another strike wages on.
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