Running lines
After a strung-out series of unsuccessful contract negotiations with a group representing major movie and TV studios, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA for short) announced it would be joining the Writers Guild of America on the picket line in the first dual strike to hit Hollywood in over 60 years.
Stars like Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon left the London premiere of the hotly-anticipated Oppenheimer early following the strike’s announcement, and speculation is already brewing on how this will impact huge titles like Avatar 3, Gladiator 2, and many more in the coming months.
Act your wage
Many of SAG-AFTRA’s demands mirrored those of the Writers Guild before them, who set out on their strike over 2 months ago now, with actors calling for better pay and improved working conditions after seeing the industry warp and shift under the influence of technology. Performers are pointing to waning residuals (a form of royalty payment), wages that haven’t risen with inflation, and shorter seasons brought about by streaming that have meant less pay — on top of the threat of AI using their digital likeness in future.
It’s easy to picture the multi-millionaire Hollywood elite when we hear the word actor, but they only represent a tiny minority of the industry. Data from the American Community Survey reveals that actors typically earn unremarkable pay packets, with some 71% earning less than $40k in 2020.
