Gigi Hadid and her friend was arrested ‘on suspicion of importation of ganja and importation of utensils used for the consumption of ganja’ in Cayman Islands.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid was arrested with her friend for possession of marijuana in the Cayman Islands earlier this month. As per the media reports, Gigi landed at the Owen Roberts International Airport in Grand Cayman on July 10 with her friend Leah McCarthy.
When Border Control agents scanned ther their luggage, they found ‘relatively small’ amounts of pot. They were arrested ‘on suspicion of importation of ganja and importation of utensils used for the consumption of ganja.’ Later, they were released on bail.
As per Cayman Marl Road, on July 12, they were fined $1,000 each and no conviction was recorded. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Hadid said, “Gigi was traveling with marijuana purchased legally in NYC with a medical license. It has also been legal for medical use in Grand Cayman since 2017. Her record remains clear and she enjoyed the rest of her time on the island.”
Meanwhile, recently, there were reports that actor Leonardo DiCaprio is back with model Gigi Hadid. The latest reports suggest that there might be something more serious between them. If reports are to be believed, Leonardo DiCaprio and Gigi Hadid’s on-again, off-again relationship might just grow into some serious. Leonardo DiCaprio and Gigi Hadid were first reported to be in a relationship shortly after the Titanic actor and…
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.
Missed the second half of the show? The latest on…podcast host Kara Swisher tells “Face the Nation” that amid the Hollywood strikes, the real issue is the shift to streaming, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas tells “Face the Nation” that although the National Defense Authorization Act only received four Democrat votes in the House due to GOP-added restrictions on abortion, he believes it will ultimately be a “bipartisan bill”, and Jake Sullivan tells “Face the Nation” that “we have indicated to North Korea that we’re prepared to sit down and talk without preconditions about their nuclear program.”
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Washington — Media mogul Barry Diller suggested top Hollywood executives and the highest-paid actors take a 25% pay cut “to try and narrow the difference” between the highest and lowest earners in the industry as TV and movie actors joined screenwriters on strike.
“Everybody’s probably overpaid at the top end,” Diller, chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia, told “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Diller served as the chairman and CEO of Fox, Inc., in the 1980s as it created the Fox Broadcasting Company and its motion picture operations, another turbulent time in the industry. Prior to Fox, he served 10 years as chairman and chief executive of Paramount Pictures Corporation.
Actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike Friday amid concerns about artificial intelligence replacing jobs and the impact of streaming services on actors’ residual pay. Writers represented by the Writers Guild of America walked out in May over similar concerns. It’s the first time the two Hollywood unions have been on strike simultaneously in six decades.
Diller said “the perfect storm” led to the current issues in Hollywood which faces an industry-wide shutdown.
Barry Diller on “Face the Nation,” July 16, 2023
CBS News
“You had COVID, which sent people home to watch streaming and television and killed theaters,” he said. “You’ve had the results of huge investments in streaming, which have produced all these losses for all these companies who are now kind of retrenching.”
Diller said it will have a lasting consequences on the industry if the strikes carry on until the end of the year. In fact, he said the strikes could potentially cause an “absolute collapse” of the industry if a settlement is not reached before September.
“Next year, there’s not going to be many programs for anybody to watch,” he said. “You’re going to see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies. The result of which is that there will be no programs. And it just the time the strike is settled, that you want to gear back up, there won’t be enough money. So this actually will have devastating effects if it is not settled soon.”
But, he said, it’s going to be hard to reach a settlement when both sides lack trust in the other.
“The one idea I had is to say, as a good-faith measure, both the executives and the most-paid actors should take a 25% pay cut to try and narrow the difference between those who get highly paid and those that don’t,” he said.
Diller also said he thinks the concerns over A.I. in the industry have been overhyped and he does not believe the technology will replace actors or writers, but it will be used to assist them.
“Most of these actual performing crafts, I don’t think in tech are in danger of artificial intelligence,” he said.
Kara Swisher, co-host of the “Pivot” podcast, told “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Diller’s pay cut proposal won’t go anywhere and the industry is facing a “Rubicon moment” as it shifts to streaming.
“This shift to streaming, which is necessary and important, is expensive,” she said. “Nobody’s figured out how to pay for people. Now, the actors are correct as they should get a piece of this and figuring out who values and who’s valuable is going to be very hard. But there is a real strain on these companies at this moment in time.”
Some CBS News staff are SAG-AFTRA members. But they work under a different contract than the actors and are not affected by the strike.
For the first time in 63 years, actors and writers are on strike at the same time, demanding better pay and job protection as streaming has upended film and TV production, and artificial intelligence threatens the livelihoods of writers and actors. Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with those on the frontlines of the picket lines.
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Directed by Steven Spielberg, then just 26 years old, “Jaws” surfaced in the summer of 1975. John Williams’ theme (the most famous two notes in Hollywood history), and those teeth, scared families out of the water and into movie theaters, becoming the blueprint for the modern blockbuster.
“I was a kid when ‘Jaws’ came out,” said Slate film critic Dana Stevens. “But I remember that in prime time every night there would be, you know, these scary trailers for ‘Jaws’ on TV. And so, by the time it opened in the summer of ’75, people were hyped.”
Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz said, “It was a blockbuster about summer, set in summer, about things that we totally associate with summer.”
Thirty-five years after “Jaws,” “Avatar” redefined the blockbuster. So far, James Cameron’s 3-D science fiction film has earned $3 billion at the box office. It’s Hollywood’s biggest moneymaker ever.
A prolific character actor, Stephen Lang played villain Miles Quaritch in “Avatar.” “It widened the array of choices that I had,” he said. “Look, one time they asked Robert Mitchum and they said, ‘How do you choose your roles?’ And he said, ‘Well, I read what’s offered and accept the least embarrassing.’”
Crowds line up outside a New York City theater to see “Jaws,” which became the highest-grossing movie in 1975. And yes, it was rated PG.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
The formula established by “Jaws,” then exceeded by “Avatar,” is in theaters this summer: the seventh “Mission: Impossible,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Oppenheimer” – they all fit the definition of a big-budget, mass-marketed movie designed to make big money, at the box office and beyond.
“The truth is, the blockbuster is a concept, an idea, a strategy that Hollywood has been using for quite a few decades before 1975, when ‘Jaws’ was released,” said Charles Acland, who chronicles this cinematic business model in his book, “American Blockbuster.”
The term’s origin story is no Hollywood tale; it came from the American military, the name of a devastating World War II bomb. Acland said, “The blockbuster was initially the highest-capacity explosive that had ever been used in warfare. There was very, very high public awareness of what this was.”
Duke University Press
Movie studios re-purposed the word in the late 1940s and ’50s, first as a way to sell films to theaters, and later, to lure audiences back from TV by promoting grand epics, often on a Biblical scale.
In 1959, The New York Times used the word “blockbuster” in its review of “Ben-Hur.” Of course, not all these epics succeed. There’s 1963’s “Cleopatra” (directed by Ben’s great-uncle, Joseph L. Mankiewicz).
Meanwhile, far less expensive sleepers hit the jackpot. “Dirty Dancing,” released in the summer of 1987, cost roughly $6 million to produce, and returned more than $200 million. Stevens said, “This falls really into that niche about the women’s movie, a movie that focuses on a female character and her world, that isn’t sci-fi/adventure, doesn’t have any violence in it, and has massive, massive appeal.”
Premiering next week, “Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig, similarly focuses on a female character.
Charles Acland believes the movie will sell much more than tickets: “What we are talking about here are these really gigantic investment opportunities – in the case of Mattel, reintroducing Barbie as a particular item of relevance to many different audiences.”
For Stephen Lang, the key to turning big-budget film into a blockbuster comes down to a single word: story. “I think as a rule, it’s good to have a very simple narrative,” he said. “Take ‘E.T.’ I would characterize ‘E.T.’ as a blockbuster, although, you know, it doesn’t have the huge, huge scale. But what it does have, it’s got the cutest alien ever created, and the storyline’s pretty simple: I’m here, I’m stuck, and I wanna go home.”
The fact is, what matters to movie lovers isn’t the take at the box office, but what we take away from the film. Lang said, “You just don’t want to leach the art out of Hollywood. Think of the films that have come out of there, you know? They’ve been extraordinary. And they can’t be just replaced by comic book characters and just huge stunt films from end to end.”
Dana Stevens said, “Anybody who goes to the movies wants to either laugh or cry, to experience intense emotions.”
“People want to see something move, and they want to be moved,” said Mankiewicz.
“Right, moved in both senses – moving on screen, and moving something inside you.”
Fans dressed as Indiana Jones attend the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in Leicester Square, London, June 26, 2023.
Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
For more info:
Story produced by Gabriel Falcon. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
It’s been assumed that the Hollywood summer blockbuster was born with the 1975 release of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” followed two years later by “Star Wars.” But the film industry’s desire for box office blockbusters existed long before a shark prowled the waters off Amity. Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz talks with actor Stephen Lang (star of the “Avatar” films), critic Dana Stevens, and Charles Acland, author of “American Blockbuster,” about the origin of blockbuster movies – both big-budget spectacles of Biblical proportions, and low-budget films with heart that won a huge audience.
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Hollywood actors joined writers on picket lines on Friday for the first time after failing to reach a deal on a new contract with motion picture studios. Here’s the latest on the SAG-AFTRA strike and what the actors’ union is asking for.
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Newly striking members of SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood actors union, joined picket lines this week with the already-striking Writers Guild of America, while some, like actor Ron Perlman, protested on Twitter.
The “Sons of Anarchy” actor didn’t mince words about what he thought of studio executives in the 55-second, expletive-laced video he posted Friday.
He was especially angry at an unnamed executive quoted in a recent Deadline article who spoke about the weekslong WGA strike and said the studios’ endgame “is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
Perlman addressed the unidentified executive in his Twitter rant and pointed out that there are many ways a person can lose their house besides a foreclosure caused by a long strike.
“Listen to me, motherfucker, there’s a lot of ways to lose your house,” he said. “Some of it is financial, some of it is karma, and some of it is just figuring out who the fuck said that — and we know who said that — and where he fucking lives.”
Perlman also warned against wishing “that families starve, while you’re making $27 fucking million a year for creating nothing.”
“Be careful, motherfucker. Be really careful, ’cause that’s the kind of shit that stirs shit up,” he added.
He then concluded his message with two words: “Peace out.”
Perlman speaks in the video below:
The actor struck a chord with his colleagues, many of whom warned fellow Twitter users that crossing the “Hellboy” actor probably isn’t a good idea.
TV and film writers and actors are on strike over fair pay and working conditions in the streaming era.
“The compensation issues include both upfront compensation, the session fees, the money they’re paid when they do the work, and also residuals or royalties that actors, and also writers and directors get paid when product is rerun or reused,” said Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel in an interview with Global News.
When it comes to streaming, actors are concerned that being on a successful show on services like Netflix or Prime video won’t earn them a higher compensation than one that draws in less buzz.
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“‘Wednesday’ doesn’t pay any higher residual than ‘Tuesday’ as it works,” Handel said, referencing the recent Netflix series produced and partially directed by Tim Burton.
American producer Tom Nunan told Global News that actors are increasingly being paid one lump-sum for their work on streaming services. Now, they want longer relationships with their content — similar to how they have been paid by non-streamers — and to see more transparency with the way that streaming services are measuring success.
The impact of the Hollywood strike on Canada
Before streaming services, “actors would have a movie or TV show premiere and then get paid for that one thing and then it would be on cable systems or on demand… and they would continue to have what we call residual relationships with the content financially,” Nunan said.
“Now in the streaming era, you get paid once and that’s all you get paid.”
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Attending a photo event on Wednesday, film star 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 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 that’s absolutely unacceptable. We can’t have that.”
Actor Rosario Dawson attends a rally by striking writers and actors outside Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, Calif. on Friday, July 14, 2023.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill).
Actor Jac Cheairs and his son Wyatt, 11, take part in a rally by striking writers and actors outside Netflix studio in Los Angeles on Friday, July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello).
Actor Dermot Mulroney takes part in a rally by striking writers and actors outside Netflix studio in Los Angeles on Friday, July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello).
Actor Jason Sudeikis, center, walk a picket line with striking writers and actors, Friday, July 14, 2023 at NBC Universal Studios in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews).
Actors and comedians Tina Fey, second from right, and Fred Armisen, second from left, 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. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews).
Another key issue in the strike is the use of artificial intelligence — or AI. Computer generated imagery (CGI) is already widely used in the industry to simulate crowds or audiences, for example.
But as the digital age advances, studios have started to explore ways to convincingly replicate actors’ voices and faces. Early rumblings of ‘deepfakes’ already exist, where AI is used to make images of fake events or make appear that someone is saying something they didn’t.
Handel says that the industry generally holds two schools of thought on the matter. Some actors say they don’t have an issue with studios reproducing their likeness with AI, but they want to be compensated by studios. Others take issue with the use of AI entirely for authenticity purposes.
“It’s a compromise between both sides of the table… but I think the unions are most likely to take the first position: that as long as there’s compensation that would be satisfactory,” Handel said.
Nunan says he doesn’t think there is a large risk of Canadians’ favourite A-listers having their likeness replicated without their consent. Rather, lesser-known actors are more likely to have their features replicated without being aware because they don’t have the same protections through lawyers, agents and managers.
Hollywood actors join screenwriters on strike: ‘We are being victimized by a very greedy entity’
With actors and writers stepping away from U.S. productions, Handel says audiences may have to brace themselves for slightly different content for the time being. Reality television will be emphasized, he says, along with sports.
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There’s also an opportunity for foreign content with actors and writers who are not part of the striking unions.
“Some companies, Netflix in particular, have proved very adept at creating content overseas and getting Americans to watch it. You know, “Squid Game,” for example. Netflix managed to do something that no one thought was possible, which is to get Americans to watch foreign content.”
Nunan, on the other hand, does not see foreign content now dominating screens, but it “could be promoted more heavily,” he says.
The actors’ guild released a statement early Thursday announcing that its deadline for negotiations to conclude had ended without a contract.
BIV: Impact of Hollywood strikes on B.C. film industry
“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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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 production centres like Atlanta.
Handel said the dual actors’ and writers’ strike is a “win” for studios because “they’re not spending money on production.”
With files from the Associated Press and Global News’ Reggie Cecchini.
The Screen Actors Guild went on strike Friday morning, joining the ongoing writer’s strike. This marks the first time in 63 years when both unions have been on strike at the same time. Errol Barnett reports from New York City.
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The star-studded cast of “Oppenheimer” left the film’s London premiere early as the Hollywood actors’ union on Thursday called its first major strike in more than 40 years.
Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh walked the red carpet outside the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square cinema Thursday, but then exited before the movie’s showing, director Christopher Nolan told the audience inside the theater.
“We have to acknowledge, you’ve seen them earlier on the red carpet,” Nolan said of the actors. “Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG (Screen Actors Guild), joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of their union.”
Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh attend the London premiere of “Oppenheimer” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 13, 2023.
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
After months of negotiations with Hollywood studios failed to achieve a new film and television contract, SAG-AFTRA, which has approximately 160,000 members, announced Thursday that it would go on strike beginning at midnight Thursday, joining about 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who have already been on the picket lines since early May.
This will mark the first time since 1960 that both Hollywood’s actors and writers have been on strike simultaneously.
The Screen Actors Guild last held a strike in 2000 over its commercials contract, but this is the first time it has struck over its film and television deal since 1980.
According to the union’s strike rules released Thursday, actors are not allowed to promote their work through premieres, interviews, personal appearances, conventions, fan expos or festivals.
Speaking to Deadline on the red carpet prior to leaving the premiere, Damon said he supported the decision to strike, but acknowledged that it would also be “brutal for our sister unions,” including the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE, which represents tens of thousands of below-the-line film and TV workers, such as editors, camera operators, set designers and grips.
“Nobody wants a work stoppage,” Damon said. “But if our leadership is saying that the deal isn’t fair, then we gotta hold strong until we get a deal that’s fair for working actors. It’s the difference between having healthcare or not for a lot of actors. And we’ve got to do what’s right by them.”
Among the sticking points for both actors and writers are residuals from streaming services and the use of artificial intelligence.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group which represents all the major Hollywood studios — including CBS News’ parent company Paramount — said in a statement that the strike was “the union’s choice, not ours.”
In a news conference Thursday, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher criticized the studios, saying they “plead poverty, that they are losing money left and right, while they give millions to their CEOs. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”
The union representing thousands of film and television actors announced that they will go on strike beginning Thursday at midnight, leaving the Hollywood industry at a standstill. The SAG-AFTRA national board said its members will join Hollywood writers, who have been on strike since early May, on the picket lines. Elaine Low, staff writer for “The Ankler,” joined CBS News to unpack the sticking points actors are fighting for, and what the dual strikes could mean for the future of the industry.
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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.
Mem
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.”
Negotiators for the SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed late Tuesday to call in a federal mediator to try to forge a last-minute agreement with Hollywood studios and avoid a second simultaneous strike in the entertainment business.
The 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union, have authorized a strike if a new labor deal cannot be reached before midnight on Wednesday. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May.
In a statement late on Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said it was sticking with the Wednesday deadline and would “exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal.”
“However we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the statement said.
SAG-AFTRA is demanding higher compensation in the streaming TV era plus safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI). A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have said they are ready to walk off the job if union leaders cannot reach a “transformative deal.”
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Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike
On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, “has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process.”
The union said studio sources had leaked the request for a mediator to the press before SAG-AFTRA negotiators were informed.
“We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal,” the union said.
A spokesman for the AMPTP, which represents Walt Disney Co , Netflix Inc and other major studios, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Negotiations were taking place at a difficult time for media companies that are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming businesses profitable.
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Disney, Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global each lost hundreds of millions of dollars from streaming in the most recent quarter. The rise of streaming has also eroded television ad revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink.
With contract talks stalled and the possibility of a strike inching closer, the union representing Hollywood actors announced late Tuesday that it had agreed to the studios’ request for federal mediation to try to bridge the divide.
SAG-AFTRA, which represents thousands of actors in film and television, said that it had agreed to a “last-minute request for federal mediation” from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents all major Hollywood studios.
“We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.
Variety was first to report that the AMPTP had asked for help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
SAG-AFTRA’s current contract, which has already been extended once from its previous deadline of July 1, is set to expire at midnight Wednesday. Union members have already given leadership the authority to call a strike if no agreement is reached.
The last-minute negotiation effort comes amid an ongoing strike by the approximately 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America. While the WGA’s strike, which began in May, has slowed Hollywood, an actors’ strike would likely bring the industry to its knees, shuttering nearly all production.
It would mark the first Screen Actors Guild strike since 2000, and the first time both the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild would be on strike simultaneously since 1960. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists merged in 2012.
Meredith Stiehm, left, president of Writers Guild of America West, and Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, take part in a rally by striking writers outside Paramount Pictures studio in Los Angeles on May 8, 2023.
Chris Pizzello / AP
Some of the major contract issues for both actors and writers have included residuals from streaming and the use of artificial intelligence.
SAG-AFTRA has approximately 160,000 members, while the AMPTP represents Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Sony, Netflix, and CBS News’ parent company, Paramount.
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Motion capture can allow actors to appear in movies without ever setting foot on set. But questions about who controls and profits from these likenesses could lead to actors joining writers in their ongoing strike soon. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.
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Hollywood is bracing for actors to go on strike as the writers’ strike also continues. Thousands of other workers across the country are also striking or preparing to walk off the job as their contracts expire. Elise Preston reports.
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Big blockbusters, shiver-inducing horror, and much anticipated box office clashes.This month’s release calendar is chock full of reasons to head back to the theatre. In July movie lovers can look forward to the eagerly awaited bright pink Barbie and hop over to the very next screen to watch the dark and broody Oppenheimer. As if those two releases weren’t proof enough of the month’s spectacular nature, the Maverick Tom Cruise himself will also get a chance to save the movie business again with his latest Mission: Impossible film. Here are the upcoming Hollywood movies of the month of July:
Insidious: The Red Door (July 6)
The original cast of the horror series is back for the terrifying narrative of the Lambert family’s final chapter in Insidious: The Red Door. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must venture further into The Beyond than ever before in order to exorcise their demons. They must confront their family’s dark past as well as a number of new and more terrifying terrors that await them outside the red door. Ty Simpkins, Rose Byrne, Andrew Astor, and Patrick Wilson, who is also making his directorial debut, are all members of the original Insidious cast. Hiam Abbass and Sinclair Daniel are featured as well.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (July 12)
To find a frightening new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it gets into the wrong hands, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team set out on their most perilous mission yet in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. A deadly race across the world starts as terrible forces from Ethan’s past close in and sinister forces from the future and the fate of the world are at stake. Ethan is forced to think that nothing can matter more than his purpose – not even the lives of those he cares about most. This is because he is facing a mysterious, all-powerful enemy.
In the action-adventure comedy The Out-Laws, Owen, a straightforward man and bank employee, meets his fiancee’s parents for the first time and becomes caught in an unexpected mystery and a chaotic crime tale. A stuffy bank manager named Owen Browning (Adam Devine) is getting married to Parker, the love of his life (Nina Dobrev). He thinks his future in-laws (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin), who have just arrived in town, are the notorious outlaws when his bank is robbed by the infamous Ghost Bandits during the week before his wedding. The outstanding ensemble cast of The Out-Laws also features Michael Rooker, Poorna Jagannathan, Julie Hagerty, Richard Kind, Lil Rel Howery, Blake Anderson, Lauren Lapkus, and Laci Mosley in addition to the principal four characters.
Barbie might have had countless animated films thus far, but never a live-action rendition. Although the notion of making the beloved Mattel toy a live-action film had been explored for more than ten years, it took Greta Gerwig to endorse the idea and make it come to life. One of the most anticipated films of the summer may be Barbie, which stars none other than Margot Robbie as the iconic doll and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The official Barbie website has provided a vague description of the movie’s plot, which states,”To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re Ken.”
The unexpected is the one thing you can always count on in a new Christopher Nolan film. The five-time Oscar-nominated director is stepping into a new genre: the biography. After taking on everything from superheroes to espionage, time travel, dreams within dreams, and the farthest reaches of space, the filmmaker is doing this. The film relates the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as “the father of the atomic bomb,” whose work at the Los Alamos Laboratory of the Manhattan Project resulted in the development of the first nuclear weapons during World War II. Oppenheimer is based on Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the latter of whom spent more than two decades researching.
They Cloned Tyrone (July 14)
They Cloned Tyrone takes a group of people on an unexpected investigation into a government plot that is having an impact on how people in their town go about living their daily lives. The group is made up of a pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), a drug dealer named Fontaine (John Boyega), and his primary sex slave Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris). The movie’s imaginative premise incorporates science fiction and humorous satire to create a plot that crosses several genres. In a nutshell, it is described as,”A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper.”
Haunted Mansion (July 28)
The Walt Disney Company has a history of turning its innovative attractions into full-length motion pictures. The Pirates of the Caribbean film series, which consisted of a total of five films and gave rise to a contemporary pop culture hero in the form of Captain Jack Sparrow, is unquestionably the most well-known and successful example. The Haunted Mansion, however, is the one attraction in the Walt Disney parks that should be a no-brainer to modify. The first scene of Haunted Mansion introduces Gabbie, a single mother who recently bought a spooky-looking property in New Orleans. She moves into the mansion with her 9-year-old son, who is less enthusiastic about being in the incredibly creepy house than she is about what the future holds. It turns out that the child was correct; the area is rife with ghosts, and these aren’t your typical Casper-like ghosts. In order to expel the evil spirits residing in the mansion, Gabbie enlists a team of unlikely heroes—a priest, a psychic, a historian, and a paranormal expert—despite the fact that they are far over their heads.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood actors may be days from joining screenwriters in what would be the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades, with huge consequences for film and television production. Here is a look at how it could play out, and why it’s happening.
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH ACTORS’ NEGOTIATIONS?
The contract between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists and the studios, streaming services and production companies that employ them had been set to expire Friday night at midnight Pacific time. But hours before that the two sides said they had agreed to extend the current contract, and talks on the next one, through July 12. Unionized actors have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached. Talks also went past the deadline in 2014 and 2017, and agreements resulted both times.
SAG-AFTRA union leaders have sent out a statement about the talks extension to July 12:
“No one should mistake this extension for weakness. We see you. We hear you. We are you.” pic.twitter.com/bSpSgpB2Hy
Reports have said the talks have been productive. But some actors have expressed worry that their leaders may not be pushing hard enough. More than 1,000 of them, including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Bob Odenkirk, have added their names to a letter to negotiators saying they are willing to strike, and are concerned they are “ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.” The letter says “this is not a moment to meet in the middle.”
The guild, led by president and former “Nanny” star Fran Drescher, represents over 160,000 screen actors, stunt performers, broadcast journalists, announcers, and hosts, but a strike would involve only actors working on television shows and films.
WHAT DO THE ACTORS WANT?
Many of the same issues that drove writers to strike are on the table for actors, including what the guilds say is shrinking compensation brought on by a streaming ecosystem in which royalty payments are no longer tethered to the popularity of a film or TV show. A role or a writing credit on a show that became a hit with a long life in reruns is no longer the cash cow that it once was. And the unions say inflation is outpacing the scheduled pay bumps within their contracts.
For both scribes and performers, the move to streaming and its ripple effects have also meant shorter seasons of shows with longer gaps between them, and therefore less work.
And like the writers, actors fear the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA said in a memo to members that the burgeoning ability of AI to recreate the performances of its members is “a real and immediate threat” that it wants to head off.
Issues particular to actors include the new and increasing burden of self-taped auditions — the cost of which used to be the responsibility of casting and productions.
HAVE HOLLYWOOD ACTORS GONE ON STRIKE BEFORE?
Movie and TV actors last went on strike for three months in 1980, though actors in broadcast commercials have gone on strike twice since then. Overall they have had far more labor peace than screenwriters, whose walkouts have been far more frequent. That includes the current standoff, in which 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike for nearly two months, with no end in sight.
In 1960 the actors’ union, led by then-SAG president and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan, went on strike for six weeks that fell in the middle of a five-month writers’ strike, the only time two major Hollywood unions walked off the job at the same time.
Actors have shown broad support for striking writers, and many have joined them on picket lines in an act of what has so far been symbolic solidarity.
WHAT EFFECT WOULD THE COMBINED STRIKES HAVE FOR VIEWERS?
The writers’ strike had an almost instant effect on late-night network talk shows, including NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” ABC’s “ Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which all went on hiatus immediately. “Saturday Night Live” axed its last three episodes of the season.
In the two months since, many scripted television series have also shut down, including Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” Max’s “Hacks,” Showtime’s “Yellow Jackets,” and Apple TV+’s “Severance.” Some movies have reportedly also been paused.
Actors joining writers would force nearly every other show or film that hasn’t already been shot into a similar shutdown. Forthcoming seasons of television shows would be delayed indefinitely, and movie releases will be pushed back.
Streaming menus on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video will show no immediate differences, though lovers of those outlets’ original series would eventually have to wait longer for their favorites to return.
Exceptions would be productions taking place outside the United States. And reality shows, game shows and most daytime talk shows will likely be unaffected.
The two strikes are also casting doubt on the viability of the Emmy Awards, whose nominations are scheduled to be announced on July 12 before a September ceremony, though the Tony Awards and BET Awards managed to shows go on despite the writers strike.
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE WRITERS?
The writers’ strike has seen persistent picketing and some major rallies for two months, but so far no movement. There are no current negotiations happening between the strikers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, streamers and production companies in all the industry’s union negotiations. The longest previous writers strike, in 1988, lasted five months.
Along with the issues they have in common with actors, writers are especially concerned with the shrinking staffs that are used on shows, which they call “mini-rooms.” They have meant much less work, and far fewer guarantees of future work.
The AMPTP says the writers’ demands would require that they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them. The group also said that it had offered generous pay increases.
The two sides were so far apart on its negotiations that talks broke off hours before the contract expired. Whether a different outcome can be found with actors in the coming days remains to be seen.
