The TV and film industries are already faltering after Hollywood screenwriters have been on strike for more than two months.
Now the actors will also cling.
Hold a press conference
During a press conference organized by the SAG-AFTRA union, the union’s president, Fran Drescher, said that the entire business model has changed with streaming, digitization and artificial intelligence.
Fran Drescher is a star actor known from the TV series The Nanny.
– We have met by the majority vote in the history of the union.
– We stand strong. You have to wake up and smell the coffee, she continued.
The union believes there is a danger that the actors will be replaced by machines.
SAG-AFTRA director and negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, told the press conference that the studios had suggested scanning the actors’ photos, and using them forever.
A strike is the last resort. We had no other choice, he says.
Film journalist Einar Arvig believes the strike could gain extra weight with big names like Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson in the union.
Photo: private
– It’s huge. Without actors, you have nothing, says film journalist Einar Arvig.
SAG-AFTRA is not satisfied.
It consists of 160,000 actors, artists and entertainers. Members include Meryl Streep, Rami Malek, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Neeson.
Aarvig believes these star names can give the hit extra weight.
The association was in negotiations with production companies until Thursday morning, Norwegian time. They did not agree on the exact date.
Therefore, we are likely to see a double strike in the industry for the first time in 63 years – and Hollywood imploded.
– Screenwriters can live without Hollywood machines for a while, but if actors also strike out, it will be an even bigger problem, says film and series researcher Gry Cecilie Rustad of the Norwegian Film School.
Gry Cecilie Rustad thinks Hollywood could have a bigger problem if actors also strike it down.
Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas
Major films may be delayed
A strike can cause most large production operations to be paused, canceled or postponed.
– If it goes on for too long, he’ll eventually run out of new movies and series to watch — and there simply won’t be any more to produce, he says. Rustad to NRK.
In recent months, only films with finished scenarios have continued to be shot.
Long-awaited productions like the Avengers movies, the new Avatar movie, and the upcoming Star Wars movie took a hit when the screenwriters went on strike.
Viewers will have to wait longer than planned to see the Avengers on the big screen again.
Photo: Zadeh Rosenthal
The premiere date has been pushed back by up to a year.
If the actors start to strike, they are late in time.
In addition, Gladiator 2, the next Impossible Mission movie and the House of Dragon series are in jeopardy.
Why is Hollywood on strike?
There are two big reasons why actors are taking to the streets now:
- broadcast services. It’s not as profitable to be an actor in, say, a Netflix production as it was in linear TV before. In addition, the representatives believe that the live broadcast market is difficult, and that it is difficult to get good jobs and deals.
- artificial intelligence. With today’s technology, you can use AI to read in audiobooks and engage in voice acting. Hollywood can also bring deceased stars “to life” on screen, or make good versions of the living. Actors fear that AI will steal their jobs.
– Film scholar Rustad says these are very large sources of income that many actors could miss.
It could be a short hit
When SAG-AFTRA voted earlier on whether they were willing to strike, 98 percent voted yes.
Rustad believes it is likely that several groups in Hollywood will eventually join the strike.
-DrShe says this is important to the livelihood of those in the film industry.
Both she and Arvig think she could be a short hit now.
– The more people strike in Hollywood, Rustad says, the shorter I think the strike will last.
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