It takes a village to make a movie or television show, and right now, that village is struggling — even four months after the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Jeff Johnson, president of the Property Masters Guild, an association of some 200 prop masters and houses — estimates that approximately only 20% of his members are currently working post-strikes.
“A lot of our members aren’t working — a lot of property persons in general are not working,” Johnson said. “I’m not currently working; I’ve spent 30 years working show-to-show-to-show.”
According to Film LA, the number of filming permits and shoot days in Los Angeles are down 10% and 12%, respectively, since the beginning of 2024, and that productions are hiring fewer people. People both in front of and behind the camera say studios are cutting back on productions and moving them out of California, causing a domino effect across the state’s economy.
“I can afford to change the tires of my car, I can’t afford to get dry cleaning done,” Johnson said. “There’s a ripple effect that goes to the gardener, to the grocery store, to the local coffee vendor.”
Johnson also says he would like to see California’s tax incentives for productions be more attractive, more available and less complicated — and that avoiding another potentially crippling strike could help avoid complete disaster.
“I think we’re in a kind of a seismic shift in how the local film and TV community is going to be working moving forward,” said Johnson.
Hours before the Hollywood actors’ strike officially ended, Beth Goodnight’s phone began ringing with opportunity.
The head of a Hollywood construction company and prop shop that bears her name dispatched two project managers to begin bidding for work. By the end of the day Wednesday, they had crunched numbers on seven projects, including a Super Bowl commercial, a television show, a large event and smaller pieces that add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“My phone would not stop ringing and buzzing last night,” said Goodnight, who estimated she may have spoken to as many as 100 people, including her laid-off workers. “I did not imagine the wave of tears that came, because … like Sisyphus being able to put down a 200-pound rock, I wasn’t even aware of how much pressure I was under.”
How will end of Hollywood actors’ strike impact B.C. film industry?
The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union reached a tentative deal with the major studios and streamers Wednesday, opening the floodgates to Hollywood production and returning the entertainment industry to work after dual writers’ and actors’ strikes stopped most filming. Writers reached a deal in late September after going on strike in May.
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Major film projects, such as Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Gladiator 2,” are expected to return to production by the end of the year or early next year, according to one source familiar with the project. Schedules are being matched, flights to Malta and accommodations are being booked, and other preparations are under way.
Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool 3,” a high-priority project for Walt Disney, will most likely resume filming before Thanksgiving, after the actors’ strike shut down production in July. Disney announced Thursday that the new “Deadpool” movie would debut in late July, rather than early May as originally planned.
SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood studios reach tentative deal to end actors strike
Martial arts film “Mortal Kombat 2” will resume shooting on the Gold Coast of Australia.
“We don’t have a lot of locations, so we ended up just holding all the sets,” said producer Todd Garner. “We’re basically ready to go, we just have to turn the lights back on and get everybody back.”
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One major hurdle to resuming production will be coordinating the schedule of A-list actors.
“It’s going to be bedlam,” said a talent agent, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Some actors will want to spend their next few months promoting their films in the Oscar race rather than going to a set to shoot, holding up a production that other actors want to return to. The scheduling conflicts could force some projects to be dropped altogether.
“A lot of plans, I think, are going to fall by the wayside,” the agent said.
In the meantime, production executives throughout the industry are contacting lighting houses, prop shops and costumers, many of whom were forced to lay off workers, to make preparations for returning to the set.
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It will take time, however, for many projects to restart. Producers will have to book facilities and hire staff before they begin building sets and renting props.
“It’s not going to be business as usual for a few months, and probably not until after the first of the year,” said Pam Elyea, owner of prop supplier History for Hire. Her company has provided props for movies from the 1997 hit “Titanic” to this year’s “Oppenheimer.”
Lingering impact of the Hollywood writers’ strike
One feature film the company had been working on just got delayed until 2024, she said.
Broadcast TV networks are trying to salvage part of their season. After filling the fall schedule with reality shows and repeats, executives hope to air some episodes of hits such as “Abbott Elementary,” “NCIS” and “Law & Order” next year.
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ABC Studios aims to begin production this month on new seasons of long-running medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” and the police show “The Rookie,” according to a source familiar with the productions. Fresh episodes could debut early next year. “Tracker,” a new drama that ABC Studios is producing for CBS, also is expected to start filming this month.
Actors were preparing to hit red carpets, talk shows and social media to tout their projects. Most had been forbidden from promoting films and TV shows during the strike. Studios are eager to have actors promoting Oscar hopefuls such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro.”
“YES!!! Hallelujah. I can tweet a certain trailer that I am VERY EXCITED ABOUT,” actor Kumail Nanjiani wrote on social media platform X. Nanjiani then posted a trailer for “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” which had been scheduled for release in December but was pushed back by distributor Sony Pictures to March 2024 because of the strikes.
Hollywood’s actors union reached a tentative deal with studios Wednesday to end its strike, bringing a close to months of labor strife that ground the entertainment industry to a historic halt.
The three-year contract agreement must be approved by votes from the union’s board and its members in the coming days, but the leadership declared that the strike will end at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.
At nearly four months, it was by far the longest strike ever for film and television actors.
More than 60,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Performers went on strike July 14, joining screenwriters who had walked off the job more than two months earlier. It was the first time the two unions had been on strike together since 1960. Studios chose to negotiate with the writers first, striking a deal that their leadership marked as a major win and bringing their strike to an end on Sept. 26.
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The terms of the agreement were not immediately released. SAG-AFTRA said details would be made public after a meeting on Friday where board members review the contract. Issues on the table included both short-term compensation and future royalty payments for film and TV performances, along with control over actors’ images and likenesses regenerated with artificial intelligence.
Hollywood writers, studios reach tentative deal to end strike
Executives from top entertainment companies including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal had a direct hand in negotiations, which like all Hollywood union talks were led by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The end of the strike announcement came hours after Disney CEO Robert Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav reported their latest earning statements. Both executives said they hoped the strike would be resolved soon.
Disney’s shares rose based on its report, which said its net income jumped 63% to $264 million in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, up from $162 million a year earlier. Zaslav said on an earnings call that the studios’ last offer “ met virtually all of the union’s goals and includes the highest wage increase in 40 years.”
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Warner Bros. Discovery reported losses and saw its shares fall 19% Wednesday.
Although the writers strike had immediate, visible effects for viewers, including the months-long suspension of late-night talk shows and “ Saturday Night Live,” the impact of the actors’ absence was not as immediately apparent. But its ripple effects — delayed release dates and waits for new show seasons — could be felt for months or even years.
Actors should quickly return to movie sets where productions were paused, including “Deadpool 3,” “Gladiator 2” and “Wicked.” Other movies and shows will restart shooting once returning writers finish scripts.
And beyond scripted productions, the end of the strike allows actors to return to red carpets, talk shows and podcasts, as Hollywood’s awards season approaches.
“The SAG strike is over!! I can finally say it: watch my documentary Saturday night at 8 on HBO/MAX!” actor-director Albert Brooks said on social media moments after the strike ended. “Couldn’t say a word until now!!”
The only major awards show directly effected by the strike was the Emmys, which was moved from September to January. Now, the usual fall Oscar campaigns will mobilize.
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But any feeling of industry normalcy could prove temporary. The circumstances that brought on the strikes — the shift from traditional theatrical and broadcast media to streaming, and emerging tech like AI — have not been slowed. And the gains made by the strikes may embolden other Hollywood unions, or these same guilds in negotiations that will come up again in just a few years.
Union leaders treated the strike like a watershed moment from the start, coming as it did amid wider labor fights in other industries.
“I think it’s a conversation now about the culture of big business, and how it treats everybody up and down the ladder in the name of profit,” SAG-AFTRA President and “The Nanny” star Fran Drescher told The Associated Press in an August interview.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director and chief negotiator who led the team that struck the deal for the guild, told the AP in August that he was “honored to be part of making sure that our members get a fair contract that’s going to protect them going into the future and make sure that the 14-year-olds I talked to on the Disney picket line still have the ability to be an actor when they turn 18.”
The agreement also means a return to sets for thousands of film crew members who have left with nothing to work on during the strikes. SAG-AFTRA sought to offset their hardship by allowing sometimes controversial interim agreements for some smaller productions to proceed, and by making their strike relief fund available to all workers in the industry.
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Associated Press Writer Krysta Fauria contributed to this report.
Halloween in Hollywood may look a little different this year as actors have been instructed not to wear costumes inspired by famous movies and TV series amid the ongoing Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) strike. If A-list couples were hoping on being Barbie and Ken this year, looks like they’ll have to change their plans.
SAG-AFTRA released the Halloween guidance in a Wednesday post on their website, providing tips and tricks on how to “make Halloween a scream” with “strike-friendly” costumes.
Strike rules dictate that actors cannot promote content from major studios, who are on the other side of the bargaining table as actors negotiate a new contract. So far, this has played out in stripped-down film festivals and a dearth of promotion for new movies and TV shows.
TIFF to see fewer stars amid Hollywood strikes
Now, with Halloween approaching, actors have been reminded of their union commitments not to promote struck content with their costumes.
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“Let’s use our collective power to send a loud and clear message to our struck employers that we will not promote their content without a fair contract,” the union writes.
SAG-AFTRA recommends that actors dress up in more generic costumes, instead of specific characters. Say, a spider instead of Spider-Man, or a chef instead of Carmy from FX’s The Bear.
Actors are, however, permitted to dress up as characters from animated TV shows and other non-struck content.
A few high-profile movies were given strike exemptions because they were filmed outside the U.S. without affiliation with Hollywood studios, including A24’s Priscilla. So actors would seemingly be able to dress up at Jacob Elordi’s Elvis Presley, though Austin Butler’s rendition of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll from Warner Bros.’ Elvis is off the table.
There are some grey areas: Hit summer blockbuster Barbie is sure to inspire tons of costumes this Halloween, and while Barbie is back in the public eye because of the Warner Bros. film, she is first and foremost a creation by toy company Mattel.
Would actors be able to dress up as a Barbie, so long as the costume wasn’t inspired by the 2023 movie? The answer is unclear, though actors probably don’t want to wade into those muddy waters and find out.
Wednesday Addams is sure to be another popular costume this year off the success of Netflix’s Wednesday, though the character first appeared in a series of one-panel comics for The New Yorker.
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Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds weighed in on the costume rules with a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing that he looks forward to “screaming ‘scab’ at my 8 year old all night.”
“She’s not in the union but she needs to learn,” he added.
While the Hollywood writers’ strike has come to an end, the actors’ strike is still ongoing and will reach its 100th day on Saturday.
Hopes were high and leaders of the union were cautiously optimistic when they resumed negotiations on Oct. 2 for the first time since the strike began two-and-a-half months earlier.
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The same group of chief executives from the biggest studios had made a major deal just over a week earlier with striking writers, whose leaders celebrated their gains on many issues actors are also fighting for: long-term pay, consistency of employment and control over the use of artificial intelligence.
But the actors’ talks were tepid, with days off between sessions and no reports of progress. Then studios abruptly ended them on Oct. 11, saying the actors’ demands were exorbitantly expensive and the two sides were too far apart to continue.
Leaders of Hollywood’s writers union declared their nearly five-month-old strike over Tuesday after board members approved a contract agreement with studios.
The governing boards of the eastern and western branches of the Writers Guild of America both voted to accept the deal, and afterward declared that the strike would be over and writers would be free to work starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
The writers still have to vote to ratify the contract themselves, but lifting the strike will allow them to work during that process, the Writers Guild told members in an email.
Hollywood actors remain on strike with no talks yet on the horizon.
Hollywood North awaits end to writers strike
A new spirit of optimism animated actors who were picketing Tuesday for the first time since writers reached their tentative deal Sunday night.
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“For a hot second, I really thought that this was going to go on until next year,” said Marissa Cuevas, an actor who has appeared on the TV series “Kung Fu” and “The Big Bang Theory.” “Knowing that at least one of us has gotten a good deal gives a lot of hope that we will also get a good deal.”
Writers’ picket lines have been suspended, but they were encouraged to walk in solidarity with actors, and many were on the lines Tuesday, including “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, who picketed alongside friend and “ER” actor Noah Wyle as he has throughout the strikes.
“We would never have had the leverage we had if SAG had not gone out,” Weiner said. “They were very brave to do it.”
Striking actors voted to expand their walkout to include the lucrative video game market, a step that could put new pressure on Hollywood studios to make a deal with the performers who provide voices and stunts for games.
Writers Guild and Hollywood studios reach tentative deal to end strike
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists announced the move late Monday, saying that 98% of its members voted to go on strike against video game companies if ongoing negotiations are not successful. The announcement came ahead of more talks planned for Tuesday.
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Acting in video games can include a variety of roles, from voice performances to motion capture work as well as stunts. Video game actors went on strike in 2016 in a work stoppage that lasted nearly a year.
Some of the same issues are at play in the video game negotiations as in the broader actors strike that has shut down Hollywood for months, including wages, safety measures and protections on the use of artificial intelligence. The companies involved include gaming giants Activision, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take 2 Productions as well as Disney and Warner Bros.? video game divisions.
“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a statement.
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for video game producers, said they are “continuing to negotiate in good faith” and have reached tentative agreements on more than half of the proposals on the table.
Lingering impact of the Hollywood writers’ strike
So far this year, U.S. consumers have spent $34.9 billion on video games, consoles and accessories, according to market research group Circana.
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The threat of a video game strike emerged as Hollywood writers were on the verge of getting back to work after months on the picket lines.
The alliance of studios, streaming services and producers has chosen to negotiate only with the writers so far, and has made no overtures yet toward restarting talks with SAG-AFTRA. That will presumably change soon.
SAG-AFTRA leaders have said they will look closely at the writers’ agreement, which includes many of the same issues, but it will not effect their demands.
Associated Press video journalists Leslie Ambriz and Krysta Fauria in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
In Hollywood, where movies and culture mix, a drama is unfolding that’s not from a script, but from the actions of actors and writers themselves. The Writers Guild of America(WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strikes against the film studios are really about an age-old issue in American entertainment: the disruptive role of new technologies as they periodically upend the established order. The history of film and the film industry has been shaped by the introduction of new technologies, from sound and color to television and video. Today, it’s streaming and artificial intelligence.
In each case, the industry was wary of these innovations. Television and video were both seen as existential threats. And in truth, they were. However, the players who realized that innovations could be employed to create revenue streams beyond the box office saw profits well beyond any that had existed before.
Once again, we find the entertainment sector in the throes of technology-driven radical change.
For the actors and writers, these issues are fairly straightforward. While streaming companies technically pay residuals to actors and writers, the payments are significantly lower than those generated by films released theatrically or broadcast TV series, given the opaque system used by streamers to allocate revenue to individual films or TV series.
Additionally, the streamers’ preference to limit series episodes to no more than 10 per season significantly reduces residuals for the actors and writers. The specter of AI further raises the question of actors losing control of their likenesses and being replaced by AI-generated characters. Writers may need to share credit with–or lose jobs to–AI-generated scripts. The complication of the recent court ruling that artworks generated entirely by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted is easily overcome. Hollywood will merely combine humans into the writing and filmmaking process.
These strikes also reveal a larger issue: the unfairness that’s been around for a long time. Hollywood isn’t just about glitz and glamour. It’s about the hard work of writers and actors who make it all happen. Now, the industry has a chance to change things for the better–and treat its workers fairly.
The strikes are revealing how little performers and writers get paid compared to studio executives, many of whom continue to get paid eight and nine-figure salaries even in the face of slumping box office revenues.
Movies start with the ideas of writers who create stories that become our favorite movies and TV programs. But these writers don’t always get paid fairly, especially when their work is shown on streaming platforms. The WGA strikes have revealed the fact that writers can earn as little as three figures for a year’s worth of their work on streaming sites like Netflix.
Actors are striking too, fighting for better pay and better working conditions. This isn’t the first time it has happened. In 2000, actors stood up for their rights–and won.
Who will prevail this time? The strikes are by now imposing real economic pain on actors and writers. But the studios are also feeling the pain. Films scheduled for release in late 2023 and the summer of 2024, the peak periods for the release of high-profile (and expensive) films, are now in jeopardy of missing those release dates, resulting in a significant loss of revenues at a time when the box office was already slipping. All of this suggests that a settlement is near.
Will the artists completely prevail? History tells us that they will not. The strikes will likely conclude with concessions made for higher wages and some remedial promises to actors and writers, but the actual danger is real. Technology is unrelenting. The possibility of unpaid workers (AI) is just too potentially profitable to abandon. Every Hollywood strike that concluded was a win-win for the parties in a way, but the basic inequity never changes. Studios (and now the biggest streamers) will always have the upper hand because they have the deepest pockets and control the industry: They control the money.
In a world where streaming and technology have the potential to change everything, the WGA and SAG strikes are a wake-up call. They are telling those who run the industry to fix things, not just for now but also for the future. We all love movies, and the people who create and make them should be respected and paid fairly. These strikes are like a major plot point, a chance for Hollywood to make things right and show that it values its workers–all of whom create the magic of movies.
Stephen R. Greenwald has been professionally involved in the motion picture and related industries for over 40 years as an attorney, film financier, corporate executive, producer, and consultant, including as CEO of three public companies in the film business. Greenwald is Of Counsel at the law firm Garson, Segal, Steinmetz, Fladgate LLP.
Paula Landry is a writer, producer, and film business and media consultant who is interested in disruptive business models. Landry crafts feature films and episodic content, business plans, budgets and schedules, as well as branded content for Fortune 500 companies and non-profits. Landry is the president of IdeaBlizzard Productions and author of Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film: A Panic-Free Guide and Applying Entrepreneurship to the Arts: How Artists, Creatives, and Performers Can Use Start-up Principles to Build Careers and Generate Income.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
Hollywood studios and streaming services on Tuesday released the terms of a revised proposal to striking writers, but the union urged members to continue picketing as the new offer failed to address all their concerns.
The Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) had walked off the job on May 2 after negotiations reached an impasse, and were later joined by members of the Screen Actors Guild, halting productions across Hollywood and costing the California economy billions of dollars.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of companies including Walt Disney and Netflix, changed its offer to include new details about critical issues like compensation, minimum staffing, residual payments and curbs on artificial intelligence.
Impact of Ongoing Hollywood Strike on BC Film/TV Industry
According to the latest proposal, the WGA will get a compounded 13 per cent pay increase over the three-year contract, and AI-generated written content will not be considered “literary material.”
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The streaming platforms also offered to provide the WGA, which represents around 11,500 film and television writers, with the total number of hours viewed for each made-for-streaming show in confidential quarterly reports.
“We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution,” AMPTP President Carol Lombardini said in a statement.
‘Their fight is our fight’: Canadian workers monitor Hollywood strikes
WGA received the counterproposal from AMPTP on Aug. 11 and on Tuesday met with Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav, NBCUniversal Studio Group Chair Donna Langley and Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos, to discuss the new offer.
“But this was not a meeting to make a deal. This was a meeting to get us to cave,” WGA said in a message to its members.
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The union said it explained in the meeting why the offer fell short and “failed to sufficiently protect writers from the existential threats that caused us to strike in the first place,” but AMPTP released details of the proposal anyway.
Writers’ strike reaches 100 days: Where do we stand?
WGA plans to continue picketing and said it would share with members more details on the state of the negotiations.
“And we will see you all out on the picket lines and let the companies continue to see what labor power looks like,” it said.
The Hollywood writers’ strike marks 100 days on Wednesday with contract talks stalled and people on the picket lines protesting what they describe as a disregard for their demands.
The strike began on May 2 after negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the major studios reached an impasse over compensation, minimum staffing of writers’ rooms and residual payments in the streaming era, among other issues.
Writers also sought to regulate the use of artificial intelligence, which they fear could replace their creative input.
Entertainment industry executives have been trying to navigate the cross-currents of declining television revenues, a movie box office that has yet to return to pre-COVID levels, and streaming businesses that are largely struggling to turn a profit.
“We are in some uncharted waters,” Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O Chief Executive David Zaslav told investors last week, as the company warned that uncertainty over labor unrest in Hollywood could impact the timing of the company’s film slate and its ability to produce and deliver content.
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Striking Hollywood writers set to restart negotiations with studios after 3 months
Actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) went on strike on July 14 also over pay and artificial intelligence, effectively halting production of scripted television shows and films and impacting businesses throughout the entertainment world’s orbit. It is the first time both unions have gone on strike since 1960.
A meeting last week to discuss resuming talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group representing the major studios in negotiations, resulted in no firm date for returning to the bargaining table.
The WGA sent a message to its 11,500 members later that same day, complaining about details leaking from the confidential session, but asserting the guild’s negotiating committee “remains willing to engage with the companies and resume negotiations in good faith.”
The WGA did not respond to requests for comment for this story, and the AMPTP declined comment.
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Hollywood actors and writers on strike
Out on the picket lines this week, resolve mixed with anger.
“We are in it until we get the deal we need and deserve, but we can’t help but be discouraged by the attitude that we’re getting from the AMPTP,” said Dawn Prestwich, whose credits include the TV drama “Chicago Hope.” “The indifference, and in some ways, it’s sort of outright cruelty.”
Prestwich said studio executives are supposed to be writers’ creative partners, as they have in the past.
“This business is changing now,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a human business now.”
The three-month-long strike has occasionally taken on the rhetoric of class warfare, with writers assailing the media executives’ compensation.
The impact of Hollywood strikes on Alberta’s film industry
Walt Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, fresh off a contract extension that gave him the opportunity to receive an annual incentive bonus of five times his base salary, was criticized for calling the union demands “just not realistic.”
“What makes me sad isn’t thinking we’re not going to win,” said TV writer and WGA member Jamey Perry. “What makes me sad is being exposed to greed and the cruelty of what these companies are doing and the absolute wrongness of what they’re doing. It feels really bad.”
As with past writers’ strikes, this job action responds to Hollywood capitalizing on a new form of distribution – and writers seek to participate in the newfound revenue.
Hollywood’s actors’ strike being felt in Montreal’s film industry
The first strike, in 1960, revolved around writers and actors seeking residual payments for showing old movies on television. Two decades later, writers walked off the job in 1985 to demand a share of revenue from the booming home video market.
The 100-day strike in 2007-08 focused, in part, on extending guild protections to “new media,” including movies and TV downloads as well as content delivered via ad-supported internet services.
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This time around, a central issue is residual payments for streaming services, though demands for curbs on emerging AI technology have also gained importance. Reuters reported that Disney has created a task force to study artificial intelligence and how it can be applied across the entertainment conglomerate, signaling its importance.
“When technologies create new revenue streams, workers want a share of that revenue. Period,” said Steven J. Ross, a professor of history at the University of Southern California. “When it comes to artificial intelligence, it is an existential crisis. They have the potential of losing their jobs forever.”
As the Hollywood writers’ strike approaches the 100-day mark, Writers Guild of America (WGA) negotiators will meet on Friday with representatives of the major studios for the first time in three months to discuss whether contract talks can resume.
The 11,500 members of the guild walked out May 2, citing an impasse over pay, streaming residuals and other issues such as setting curbs on the use of artificial intelligence. Next Wednesday marks the 100th day of the strike.
Ahead of the meeting, the WGA’s negotiating committee issued a statement to union members, saying it was time for the studios to abandon the tactics they used during the previous writers’ strike in 2007-08, including allegedly spreading misinformation about the real impact of the strike.
“We challenge the studios and AMPTP to come to the meeting they called for this Friday with a new playbook,” the WGA said in an email. “Be willing to make a fair deal and begin to repair the damage your strikes and your business practices have caused the workers in this industry.”
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Striking Hollywood writers set to restart negotiations with studios after 3 months
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of Walt Disney DIS.N, Netflix NFLX.O and other companies, called the WGA rhetoric “unfortunate.”
“Tomorrow’s discussion with the WGA is to determine whether we have a willing bargaining partner,” the AMPTP said in a statement, adding “Our only playbook is getting people back to work.”
Previously, the group said it had offered writers generous increases in compensation, and put forward improvements in the residuals paid to writers for making their movies and TV shows available on streaming services.
The work stoppage is taking a toll on florists, caterers, costume suppliers and other small businesses that support the entertainment industry. Those impacts were magnified, on July 14, when members of the Screen Actors Guild went on strike, after being unable to reach an agreement with the studios on a new three-year contract.
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Hollywood actors and writers on strike
The AMPTP issued a statement, saying the actors had walked away from more than US$1 billion in wage increases, pension and health contributions and residual increases.
The twin job actions are rippling broadly through the entertainment industry, halting most work on scripted series for the fall TV season as well as film production. The strikes also cast a pall over British Columbia’s creative industry, which has become a hub for American film and TV production.
Fox is expected to announce that television’s Emmy Awards will be rescheduled to air in January due to the strikes, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a person familiar with the plans.
The impact of Hollywood strikes on Alberta’s film industry
Meanwhile, Warner Bros Discovery warned investors Thursday that uncertainty over the dual strikes could delay film releases and impact its ability to produce and deliver content.
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Some writers turned to social media Thursday to demonstrate their resolve and solidarity with the negotiating team.
“This strike ends when we get our target deal. NOT before,” wrote Jorge A. Reyes, writer and creator of the series “Kevin Hill,” on the social media platform now known as X.
“And it should be THE BEST DEAL. We didn’t spend this time or come this far to just get something just okay. Something I’m sure our valiant leadership is aware of. We’re behind you, as solidly as we were on Day 1.”
It’s a classic holiday film tale: small towns, snowflakes and star-crossed lovers.
But this year’s queue of beloved holiday movies may be considerably smaller due to the worldwide shut-down of productions caused by current Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes.
Glitch SPFX is an Ottawa-based special effects company responsible for simulating most of the artificial snow in holiday films produced in the province in the last five years — the majority of those films for American studios and networks.
Now, Glitch SPFX founder Ben Belanger said the company is completely out of work.
“It went from us working on literally three films at the same time in June … and then it was the writers’ strike that seemed like it was going to be nice and short.”
Glitch has been in business for 10 years, but Belanger said the last five have been especially lucrative due to deals with American networks such as the Hallmark Channel, known for pumping out some of the most talked about holiday films each year.
Many of those films have been produced in Canada, with small-town locations in Ontario and British Columbia as well as the nation’s capital Ottawa flourishing with business the past few years.
But due to the strikes this year, the number of holiday films produced in Canada for Hallmark and similar networks will be greatly reduced, experts say — not because of the crews, but actors.
1Development Entertainment Services is an Ottawa-based production company with a focus on holiday, made-for-TV movies. Like Glitch, almost all of the studio’s projects are in collaboration with American unions and networks due to having a larger market and audience size.
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Founder of 1Development, Shane Boucher, said it’s a big deal for networks to have at least one American star in a holiday film. That’s why many companies will likely choose to wait out the actors’ strike instead of working on new projects with an entirely Canadian cast.
“The SAG requirement is usually pretty high. There’s either a level of a Hallmark-known star … that’s going to help drive the viewership, or it’s just an American star that has a really high social media presence. Normally they’re higher than some of your top-level Canadians just because of the reach and the audience.”
Canadian studios will typically opt to hire domestic crews for tax credit purposes, which is more cost-effective.
Picketers carry signs outside Netflix studios on Thursday in Los Angeles. The strike by actors comes more than two months after screenwriters began striking in their bid to get better pay and working conditions.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
Boucher said 1Development will not be one of the companies waiting out the strike and will work with networks to develop their own intellectual property (IP) in the meantime.
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“We’re usually busy servicing production, so that’s kind of the silver lining. It gives us an opportunity,” he said.
Boucher said his goal has always been to grow the film industry in Ottawa since joining 20 years ago. Since work with American unions and networks is currently off the board, he’ll be focusing on smaller projects to fill the gaps.
“My job over the next few weeks to a month is to … work on getting some sort of projects so that we can keep everybody working … regardless of where it comes from.”
ACTRA Toronto executive director Alistair Hepburn said there is a small chance that some holiday film productions will be able to secure an American actor.
SAG-AFTRA is working on an agreement in which independent producers — those not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — will be able to engage the services of a SAG member through a waiver system for the duration of the strike.
“That may be something that we see maybe even more of because they will be filling that gap,” Hepburn said in an interview with Global News.
Hepburn noted that even if Canadian productions are able to hire SAG-AFTRA actors, those projects cannot be distributed by AMPTP companies, such as Netflix or Disney. Instead, independent producers can sell their project’s wares to unaffiliated networks like Hallmark.
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“That is a very clear direction from SAG,” he said.
‘We are the victims here’: SAG-AFTRA president says as Hollywood actors go on strike
Belanger said that he’s fortunate to feel financially secure enough during Glitch’s uncertainty, but that he worries about many of his employees.
“I’m more worried about the guys whose pay cheques I sign. The guys that work for me are looking for whatever other income they can get right now.”
Belanger said that what his company is currently experiencing is similar to the strain felt in the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also saw an industry-wide shut-down. A number of Glitch employees left at the time to supplement their income elsewhere, and not all returned.
However, Belanger said many of his staff are enjoying having a break. Though the holidays are still some time away, the summer season is typically the busiest for filming.
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“It’s a bit of an abnormality. They don’t seem to be too worried about it, but we also don’t know when we’re coming back,” he said.
SAG-AFTRA is entering its second week of striking. Hepburn said that he doesn’t know how long the strikes will go on and that doesn’t see a resolution coming soon.
“This is going to have an impact for months, absolutely months,” Hepburn said. “On not just performance, but the entire industry as a whole.”
Canadian movie theatre owners say they’re nervously watching for developments in dual Hollywood strikes and plan to show more classics, cult favourites and live events if the labour disruptions stretch on.
The owners are expecting striking stars represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and talent backed by the Writers Guild of America, to be on the picket lines for months as they seek better wages and protections from artificial intelligence.
The strikes, which immediately stopped the production and promotion of films and television shows, stand to slow down the flow of content as studios and distributors run out of movies completed before the strike to release.
“I am absolutely petrified about it,” said Jeff Knoll, chief executive of Film.ca Cinemas, an Oakville, Ont. theatre.
“We barely survived the pandemic…and we are quite nervous about what the future is going to hold with all that’s going on in Hollywood right now.”
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This week alone, Knoll’s theatre has scheduled screenings of “Mission: Impossible _ Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” along with the hotly-anticipated “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
Knoll, however, fears that flow of Hollywood fare moviegoers have waited months, if not years, to see could ease up soon.
“There’s no question that if the strike drags out, (studios) are going to have to either start spreading out their content or simply postponing it until a point in the future when they anticipate the strike will be over,” he said.
Hollywood’s actors’ strike being felt in Montreal’s film industry
Even if they don’t switch up their release schedules, Knoll thinks theatres will be hit hard by a lack of promotion around films.
The strikes are preventing stars from walking red carpets, participating in press junkets and interviews and taping new marketing materials.
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The cast of “Oppenheimer,” for example, walked out of their premiere in solidarity with striking workers last week, while Disney sent Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Maleficent and Cruella de Vil down the “Haunted Mansion” red carpet in lieu of stars Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson over the weekend.
Knoll also suspects “Mission: Impossible _ Dead Reckoning Part One” had a rough ride at the box office because of the strikes.
“It didn’t perform the way it was supposed to perform over the weekend and it could very well be because there wasn’t as much publicity with the stars, particularly Tom Cruise, leading up to opening day.”
If films do slow down, Knoll said he will toy with bringing in more Canadian fare and movies from parts of the globe not as impacted by the strike. Bollywood films and screenings of hits like “Harry Potter” could also factor into Film.ca’s schedule.
Implications of Hollywood strikes on Canadian Film Industry
Corinne Lea, the chief executive of the Rio Theatre in Vancouver, also plans to get crafty with programming, but said it’s nothing new for indie theatres.
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Before the strikes, the Rio had to wait between three and six months to screen some films Cineplex, the country’s biggest cinema chain, had for months.
As a result, the Rio often screened new films months after they were released and relied on a rotation of previously released fare, burlesque and drag shows and Canadian hits.
Its July calendar shows “Star Wars” screenings, a “Grease” singalong and Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 New Wave drama “Pierrot le Fou.” Hundreds of people show up to its classic screenings of hits like “the Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Lea added.
“We’re used to not being able to get current content,” she said.
“This strike is going to hurt Cineplex actually more than it’ll hurt us because all the theatres that actually rely on current content are the ones that are going to have a problem. But because we’ve been denied access to it for so long, we’ve become these like creative shape shifters.”“
Hollywood strike hits local workers and economy in Toronto
In May, when the 11,5000 film and television writers represented by the Writers Guild of America walked off the job, Cineplex chief executive Ellis Jacob didn’t expect the strike to have a material impact on its business.
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Network TV and streamers, whose content is completed shortly before it is released, tend to feel the brunt of such strikes, not theatres, he reasoned.
“I always say to people yes, it will impact us, but it’ll take a long time to impact us,” Jacob later told The Canadian Press in an interview.
“We’re talking three years from now because a lot of the movies are already in process of being produced.”
In an email, a Cineplex spokesperson said, “Like everyone in the industry, we hope that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA can come to a quick resolution with the AMPTP.”
As for Knoll and Lea, they are anxiously awaiting any new developments in the strike.
“It’s definitely one that we’re all keeping an eye on,” Lea said.
Canada’s film and television community is bracing for more job uncertainty amid a Hollywood actors’ strike that observers say has the potential to throw more people out of work, upend TV schedules and dim the wattage of celeb-studded events like the Toronto International Film Festival.
It also raised questions about the fate of celeb-studded tourist draws including TIFF, set for Sept. 7 to 17, and Fan Expo Canada, set for Aug. 24 to 27.
TIFF said in an emailed statement that a SAG strike would almost certainly impact its typically star-packed festival, known for fan-friendly red carpets and premieres, as well as A-list studded press conferences and junkets that draw journalists from around the world.
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“The impact of this strike on the industry and events like ours cannot be denied,” TIFF said moments after SAG announced job action.
“We urge our partners and colleagues to resume an open dialogue. We will continue planning for this year’s festival with the hope of a swift resolution in the coming weeks.”
Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike
Asked last week about the potential impact of a SAG strike on Fan Expo Canada, a vice president with Fan Expo HQ dismissed the possibility of no-shows at the genre-focused pop culture event.
“There will be no impact to the experience we have planned,” Andrew Moyes said in an emailed statement Saturday.
“We hope all parties affected by this are able to reach an amicable agreement soon.”
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However, it was not clear Thursday if some SAG members might decide to sit out such events in solidarity, even if their appearance does not involve a studio project affected by the strike, said one Toronto-based SAG member who predicted TIFF would be “a quiet place this year.”
“I think they’re trying to do a hard no to everything,” Anthony Q. Farrell said of the strike’s intent when it comes to things like Comic-Con and Fan Expo.
“You definitely can’t go as someone who is trying to market a series, that is a SAG series. But they’re also telling you, if you don’t have to go then don’t go. Let’s cut them in the pockets where it really, really hurts.”
FILE – Actors and comedians Tina Fey, center, and Fred Armisen, right, join striking members of the Writers Guild of America on the picket line during a rally outside Silvercup Studios, Tuesday May 9, 2023, in New York. Unionized Hollywood actors on the verge of a strike have agreed to allow a last-minute intervention from federal mediators but say they doubt a deal will be reached by a negotiation deadline late Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File).
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The U.S.-based battle is expected to send myriad ripple effects across the border, where more than half of Canadian-set film and TV shoots are U.S. productions that collectively employ tens of thousands of local talent and crew.
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Farrell said he was happy to see his union stand up to the studios but predicted the move would put more Canadian crew members out of work if their shoot includes a SAG cast member.
Also a member of the WGA, Farrell hoped the twin strikes would accelerate deals for both unionized actors and screenwriters, and get everyone back to work soon.
“Things simply are not in a place where they are fair yet,” Farrell said from Winnipeg, where he was speaking to emerging showrunners.
“I feel like this will hopefully be a good thing for our cause, the WGA. I think we’ll have a strong contingent on the picket line and hopefully we’ll get to a resolution much faster because of it.”
Canada’s actors union, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, which represents 28,000 members across the country, expressed their solidarity with SAG.
What a U.S. writers’ strike means to BC’s film industry?
The U.S. dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — which represents employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others — has largely centred on compensation, benefits and guarantees around the use of artificial intelligence.
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“We recognize that their fight is our fight and is for the good of all performers,” ACTRA president Eleanor Noble said in a statement.
“Together we will continue working to ensure performers are respected and achieve fair compensation for the value we bring to every production.”
Shaftesbury Films CEO Christina Jennings said a SAG strike would not impact Canadian shows with Canadian casts, such as Shaftesbury’s “Murdoch Mysteries” and “Hudson & Rex,” both currently shooting.
But she said it could affect future unannounced Canadian projects with a SAG cast.
“This isn’t a great day but we’re lucky at Shaftesbury that it really has not impacted our business at all right now,” said Jennings.
“We have a couple of new shows coming and you know, we’re in no urgency, but we will watch this news carefully…. We may have to make adjustments to strategy.”
Hollywood writers strike: Screenwriters join picket lines to fight for fair pay in streaming era
At least one Canadian broadcaster acknowledged the chance of derailed fall TV plans, with Citytv noting that if the strike continues, it would delay the return of titles including “Law & Order,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.”
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Jennings said shifts like that could open opportunities for Canadian shows, believing that homegrown broadcasters would have holes to fill.
“I already know this from talking with them that they have been really, really looking at their schedules just because of the writers guild strike,” she said.
“They’re already moving shows. Often Canadian shows are moving up in the schedule because they need them to fill the fall hole.”
Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.
“A strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight. Outside Netflix’s Hollywood offices, picketing screenwriters chanted “Pay Your Actors!” immediately after the strike was announced.
It’s the first strike for actors from film and television shows since 1980. And it’s the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the actors’ guild president.
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“Employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said. “Shame on them. They are on the wrong side of history.”
With a stoppage looming, the premiere of Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer in London was moved up an hour so that the cast could walk the red carpet before the SAG board’s announcement.
The looming strike also cast a shadow over the upcoming 75th Emmy Awards, whose nominations were announced a day earlier.
Disney chief Bob Iger warned Thursday that an actors strike would have a “very damaging effect on the whole industry.”
“This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” Iger said in an appearance on CNBC. “There’s a level of expectation that (SAG-AFTRA and the WGA) have that is just not realistic.”
Hollywood actors to strike, join writers on picket lines in 1st dual walk-off since ’60s
An extension of the contract, and negotiations, for nearly two weeks only heightened the hostility between the two groups.
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Before the talks began June 7, the 65,000 actors who cast ballots voted overwhelmingly union leaders to send them into a strike, as the Writers Guild of America did when their deal expired more than two months ago.
When the initial deadline approached in late June, more than 1,000 members of the union, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, added their names to a letter signalling to leaders their willingness to strike.
The stakes in the negotiations included both base and residual pay, which actors say has been undercut by inflation and the streaming ecosystem, benefits, and the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence.
The group representing the studios, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), said earlier it was disappointed by the failure to reach a deal.
“This is the Union’s choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more,” the AMPTP said in a statement.
The actors’ guild has previously authorized a strike by a nearly 98 per cent margin. With the actors on strike, they will formally join screenwriters on the picket lines outside studios and filming locations in a bid to get better terms from studios and streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
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Members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since early May, slowing the production of film and television series on both coasts and in other production centres. Issues in negotiations include the unregulated use of artificial intelligence and the effects on residual pay brought on by the streaming ecosystem that has emerged in recent years. Actors have joined writers on picket lines for weeks in solidarity.
An actors’ strike would prevent performers from working on sets or promoting their projects.
Attending a photo event on Wednesday, actor Matt Damon said that while everyone was hoping a strike could be averted, many actors need a fair contract to survive.
“We ought to protect the people who are kind of on the margins,” Damon told The Associated Press. “And $26,000 a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance. And there are a lot of people whose residual payments are what carry them across that threshold. And if those residual payments dry up, so does their health care. And that’s absolutely unacceptable. We can’t have that. So, we got to figure out something that is fair.”
The looming strike has cast a shadow over the upcoming 75th Emmys. Nominations were announced Wednesday, and the strike was on the mind of many nominees.
“People are standing up and saying, ‘This doesn’t really work, and people need to be paid fairly,’” Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who was nominated for her first Emmy Award on Wednesday for playing Tammy Wynette in George & Tammy, told the AP.
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“It is very clear that there are certain streamers that have really kind of changed the way we work and the way that we have worked, and the contracts really haven’t caught up to the innovation that’s happened.”
“The impact of this strike on the industry and events like ours cannot be denied. We urge our partners and colleagues to resume an open dialogue. We will continue planning for this year’s festival with the hope of a swift resolution in the coming weeks,” said Alejandra Sosa, the director of communications with the Toronto International Film Festival.
The union representing film and television actors says no deal has been reached with studios and streaming services and its leadership will vote on whether to strike later Thursday.
If the actors go on strike, it will be the first time since 1960 that actors and writers picket film and television productions.
The actors’ guild released a statement early Thursday announcing that its deadline for negotiations to conclude had ended without a contract. The statement came hours after this year’s Emmy nominations, recognizing the best work on television, were announced.
‘We are the victims here’: SAG-AFTRA president says as Hollywood actors go on strike
“The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us. Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal,” said Fran Drescher, the star of “The Nanny” who is now the actors’ guild president.
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The group representing the studios, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said it was disappointed by the failure to reach a deal.
“This is the Union’s choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more,” the AMPTP said in a statement.
It added that instead of continuing to negotiate, “SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods.”
If the actors strike, they will formally join screenwriters on the picket lines outside studios and filming locations in a bid to get better terms from studios and streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. The actors’ guild has previously authorized a strike by a nearly 98% margin.
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Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike
bers of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since early May, slowing the production of film and television series on both coasts and in production centers like Atlanta.
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Issues in negotiations include the unregulated use of artificial intelligence and the effects on residual pay brought on by the streaming ecosystem that has emerged in recent years.
Actors have joined writers on picket lines for weeks in solidarity. An actors’ strike would prevent performers from working on sets or promoting their projects.
Whether the cast of Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer” attends Thursday’s London premiere hangs in the balance of whether the actors strike.
Attending a photo event on Wednesday, star Matt Damon said that while everyone was hoping a strike could be averted, many actors need a fair contract to survive.
Writers strike could affect B.C. productions
“We ought to protect the people who are kind of on the margins,” Damon told The Associated Press. “And 26,000 bucks a year is what you have to make to get your health insurance. And there are a lot of people whose residual payments are what carry them across that threshold. And if those residual payments dry up, so does their health care. And that’s absolutely unacceptable. We can’t have that. So, we got to figure out something that is fair.”
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The looming strike has cast a shadow over the upcoming 75th Emmys. Nominations were announced Wednesday, and the strike was on the mind of many nominees.
“People are standing up and saying, `This doesn’t really work, and people need to be paid fairly,”’ Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who was nominated for her first Emmy Award on Wednesday for playing Tammy Wynette in “George & Tammy,” told the AP. “It is very clear that there are certain streamers that have really kind of changed the way we work and the way that we have worked, and the contracts really haven’t caught up to the innovation that’s happened.”
Fifty days into a strike with no end in sight, about 1,000 Hollywood writers and their supporters marched and rallied in Los Angeles for a new contract with studios that includes payment guarantees and job security.
Speakers at the Writers Guild of America’s WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract on Wednesday emphasized the broad support for their cause shown by other Hollywood unions — including actors in their own contract negotiations — and labor at large.
“We’re all in it together, we’re all fighting the same fight, for a sustainable job in the face of corporate greed,” Adam Conover, a writer and a member of the guild’s board and its negotiating committee, told a crowd at the end of the march at the La Brea Tar Pits.
“We are going to win because they need us. Writers are the ones who stare at a blank page. We are the ones who invent the characters, tell the stories and write the jokes that their audiences love. They’d have nothing without us.”
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Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike
Talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group representing studios in negotiations, have not resumed since breaking off hours before the writers’ contract expired on May 1. The strike began a day later, with more and more productions shutting down as it has gone on.
A similar deadline now looms for actors, whose union, SAG-AFTRA, is negotiating with the AMPTP on a contract that expires June 30. Members voted overwhelmingly to authorize guild leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached.
Streaming and its ripple effects are at the center of the dispute. The guild says that even as series budgets have increased, writers’ share of that money has consistently shrunk.
The AMPTP says writers’ demands would require they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them, and that its contract proposals have been generous.
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“We are here for the sake of the profession we love,” writer Liz Alper said at Wednesday’s rally. “The industry we work in, our audiences, our fellow sister unions in Hollywood, and all the workers across America who have been hurt and disenfranchised by Wall Street and big tech.”
