After 118 days of strike led in Hollywood by SAG-Aftra actors, an agreement was reached this Wednesday with the Alliance of Cinema and Television Producers (AMPTP). A look back at the consequences of this historic mobilization.
Last May and following the failure of negotiations with the main studios and platforms regarding the increase in their remuneration, the screenwriters of the Writers Guild of America went on strike. They were joined in July by actors from SAG-Aftra, the largest actors’ union in the world. This is the start of a common struggle.
The strikers are demanding an increase in their salaries, which have seen a decline in recent years due to the development of streaming platforms. They are therefore calling for greater transparency from these platforms, particularly regarding attendance figures. Indeed, actors are supposed to receive residual income which depends on the number of views, but this information is often kept secret. On another level, screenwriters and actors are calling for supervision of the use of artificial intelligence, a new threat to the profession. While the screenwriters’ strike ends in September, the actors’ strike continues until Wednesday, November 8. And the consequences for the world of cinema are numerous.
Offbeat releases and filming
Five months without writers, four months without actors. The exceptional duration of this strike, leading to the shutdown of certain projects, caused a large number of delays in Hollywood. Major productions like films Deadpool 3, Mission: Impossible 8 or the remake of Lilo & Stitch which will be broadcast on Disney+ are subject to postponement. The next three parts ofAvatar were postponed by a year, this is also the case for several Marvel and the series Stranger Things.
While it was to take place during the month of September, the Emmy Awards ceremony, the most prestigious awards in American television, has been postponed to January. Indeed, the directives of SAG-Aftra, which represents 160,000 actors, stuntmen, dancers and other professionals from the small and big screen, prohibit its members from filming, but also from promoting their productions. It is therefore impossible to organize an awards ceremony without stars to whom to present them.
Absent stars
With promotional activities banned as part of the strike, American stars have deserted the red carpets. Accustomed to welcoming actors and actresses from across the Atlantic, the Deauville American film festival, which was held at the beginning of September, had to face a wave of cancellations. The festival, which however chose to maintain the programming, was waiting prestigious guests like Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The Venice Film Festival, for its part, made programming changes, notably replacing the opening film, made in Hollywood, with an Italian film.
Certain actors, like Adam Driver seen in Venice, have however benefited from exemptions from the union, issued in the event of support for the production of the film in which a particular actor or actress plays. Thus, if the production of the actor or actress complies in advance with the agreement which will be concluded by SAG-Aftra and the Alliance of Cinema and Television Producers (AMPTP), he or she may ensure its promotion, a powerful argument for bringing negotiations to a successful conclusion.
An echo beyond borders
If, of Deauville to Venice, cancellations were numerous, the support of these festivals, via the publication of press releases and the organization of round tables, nevertheless remained unwavering. French, British and even Canadian actors’ unions have also demonstrated their support for this historic strike movement. The International Federation of Actors (FIA), located in Belgium, also expressed itself through a press release published last July: “This goes well beyond American actors. It’s about upholding respect and fairness for actors around the world, recognizing their exceptional contribution to the success of our industry and the creation of content that entertains millions of people in the world.”
More than supporting, certain unions have also taken steps. The Federation of the French union CGT Spectacle thus challenged the Minister of Culture about the use of artificial intelligence which, in the eyes of its members, presents a real threat to the sector.
An agreement favorable to the strikers
The most important consequences of these long months of stoppage remain, undoubtedly, those which were expected by the strikers. If the terms of the agreement have, on this first day of resumption, not yet been communicated, it nevertheless seems that the actors and actresses of Hollywood have succeeded in carrying out most of their demands, their union evoking a mobilization of“extraordinary scope”.
The agreement would notably include, and as the screenwriters had obtained, a significant increase in minimum salaries, would provide for supervision of the use of artificial intelligence and would establish a unique bonus system for streaming rebroadcasts. Perceived as a formality, the signing of a collective agreement is necessary for the implementation of these new measures.