Hollywood actors vote unanimously to strike

(CN) — The show will not go on after the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio announced Thursday its board members have unanimously voted to strike.

The union represents 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, editors and other media professionals. SAG-AFTRA will join the Writers Guild of America — representing 11,500 screenwriters — on the picket line. Television and film writers have been on strike for three months and have not returned to the bargaining table with studios since negotiations imploded.

Actors and screenwriters have not been on strike at the same time since 1960.

Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers wilted Wednesday night when the current contract expired.

The producers' alliance represents major motion picture studios such as Sony, Disney and Paramount, broadcast and cable networks and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. It negotiates close to 60 collective bargaining agreements for hundreds of motion picture and television producers.

Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, blasted AMPTP and the studios.

“It came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads, but we had no choice. We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” Drescher said during a news conference Thursday.

“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I can not believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are,” said Drescher, best-known for the television sitcom “The Nanny,” which she acted in, co-created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson.

“It’s a disgusting shame on them,” Drescher said.

The two sides are butting heads on pay, the use of artificial intelligence and the way streaming services pay talent, among other issues.

The actors' union says streaming has greatly altered the landscape of the business model, but their contract doesn’t reflect this new model.

The producers' alliance says the strike will ultimately prove to be a hit to people’s pocketbooks.

“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life,” AMPTP said in a statement. “The union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

Drescher said the strike is needed to save livelihoods.

“Because at some point, the jig is up. You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored. The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI. This is a moment in history. It is a moment in truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we’re all going to be in trouble. We’re all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business who cares more about Wall Street than you and your family,” Drescher said.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator, was asked about AMPTP’s “groundbreaking AI proposal” to protect performers’ digital likeness.

“This groundbreaking AI proposal that they gave us yesterday … proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned and paid for one day’s pay and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and be able to use it, for eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” Crabtree-Ireland said.

Although there was plenty of tough talk from the union, the door is open for continued negotiations.

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