Hollywood strike enters second week, no resolution in sight

The combined strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters is entering its second week with no signs of a quick resolution to the dispute.

For a week, actors like Tina Fey, Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick, Rosario Dawson, David Duchovny and other stars joined screenwriters in picketing outside the studios and offices of online video streaming giants Amazon, MAX and Netflix.

The regular appearance of actors on the picket lines has helped shine a spotlight on issues critical to both groups: better pay, the preservation of established practices like residual payments, and protection against the use of artificial intelligence.

About 65,000 actors — the vast majority of whom do not earn enough to qualify for health benefits through their guild — are on strike, as are 11,500 screenwriters.

Although many of the pickets are in Los Angeles and New York, film and television production takes place throughout the United States. Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago were among the main cities where strike events were taking place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Concerns about AI

On Friday, actors from London held an event in solidarity with their colleagues from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

Stars such as Brian Cox, Andy Serkis, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and Imelda Staunton gathered with other artists and production crews in Leicester Square for a protest, organized by British actors’ union Equity.

“Wages are one thing, but the worst part is the whole idea of [l’intelligence artificielle] and what AI can do to us,” said Brian Cox, who played media mogul Logan Roy in Succession.

“AI is the most serious, serious business. And this is where we are most vulnerable. »

Brian Cox also said it was important for the cast to show solidarity with the striking Writers Guild of America screenwriters.

“We are like furniture without scriptwriters,” he argued.

No resolution in sight

There is no indication when negotiations with studios and video-on-demand companies, which are represented by the Alliance of Film and Television Producers, will resume. The group said it offered the writers and actors substantial pay raises and attempted to meet other demands.

“Please come back to the table, be realistic, please have a little more socialism in your heart and think about people making money for you,” one of the stars of the saga asked. Impossible missionSimon Pegg, to studios and online video streaming services.

At an event on Wednesday, Netflix co-head Ted Sarandos said he grew up in a unionized household, adding he knows the strike is painful for workers and their families.

“We are very determined to reach an agreement as soon as possible. One that is fair and enables unions, industry and everyone in it to move forward into the future,” he said.

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