(Los Angeles) The studios negotiated in a dishonest way to buy time and promote their summer blockbusters before the strike of Hollywood actors, estimated Thursday with AFP Fran Drescher, the president of the SAG-AFTRA, powerful union. which brings together all the actors in the United States.
“We were duped,” lambasted the star of the flagship 90s series “A Nanny from Hell”, saying he was “deeply disappointed” just after the announcement of this historic strike.
Representatives from studios and streaming platforms “stayed behind the scenes, they kept canceling our meetings,” she said. “It was probably to have more time to promote their summer films. »
The actors’ strike will paralyze the production of series and films in the United States, which had already been idling since the beginning of May because of that of screenwriters. This double social movement bringing together faces and feathers of the industry is a first since 1960 in Hollywood.
PHOTO MARK J. TERRILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
People protesting outside the Netflix building in Los Angeles
The walkout of the 160,000 actors and other film professionals represented by SAG-AFTRA prohibits them from participating in any form of promotion, whether at premieres, on the red carpets of festivals or on social networks.
What seriously handicap the promotion of large summer productions, such as the highly anticipated Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan.
Before taking the plunge, the union first agreed to an extension of the talks by a dozen days, pushing back the deadline until Wednesday evening instead of June 30.
During this period, box office behemoths like Barbie or the new Impossible mission were able to ensure their promotion by benefiting from the aura of big stars like Tom Cruise, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
“I may have been naive, because it was my first big negotiation”, regretted Mme Drescher. “Greed is at the heart of all the misfortunes of the world. And this is a perfect example. »
“Replaced by artificial intelligence”
“I really thought that we could achieve a convergence of points of view. That they would see how this new business model has been forced on the whole industry,” she added, referring to the advent of the streaming.
Like screenwriters, actors are demanding a revaluation of their “residual” remuneration, which results from each rerun of a film or series and has plummeted because of the streaming.
Substantial for television because calculated according to the price of advertisements, these emoluments are much lower with streaming platforms, which do not communicate their audience figures and pay a flat rate, regardless of success.
“I find it crazy that they don’t want to sit down and say ‘we need to be with you in an honorable and respectful way, so that you can live with this important change,’ M continued.me Drescher.
The other major point of the negotiations concerns the use of artificial intelligence, which is developing rapidly in Hollywood. Disney, for example, used an AI to create the credits for its new Marvel series, “Secret Invasion”.
The actors claim guarantees against the cloning of their voice and their image, likely to be used without their consent.
“We are going to be systematically replaced by artificial intelligence”, feared Mme Drescher. “We will continue to be marginalized and I suggest everyone wake up. »
The Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios and platforms of streamingassured Thursday that he had offered “salary increases […] stories” and “a revolutionary proposal concerning AI that protects the digital image of the actors”.
In a statement, she regretted that SAG-AFTRA “has chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for thousands of people.”
Disney boss Bob Iger blasted the “unrealistic” demands of actors and screenwriters on CNBC.
Despite his frustration with the studios, Mme Drescher recalled that “SAG-AFTRA’s door remained open to continue negotiations.
“The strike is not the end, it’s just the next step,” she insisted. “We would like to continue to negotiate with them. But the ball is in their court. ”