Strike in sight in Hollywood after the failure of negotiations between actors and major studios

2023-07-13T09:58:09.288Z

Highlights: The actors' union in Hollywood has ended negotiations with major US studios. The union's 160,000 members will then immediately stop working, resulting in an entire industry being furloughed. Cameramen or makeup artists will no longer have to film or make up. The actors will also not participate in the promotion of films already shot. The two groups will strike together for the first time since 1960. At the time, Ronald Reagan was the president of SAG-Aftra, the union.

Their union and studios did not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement until Thursday's deadline of midnight and one minute Los Angeles time. All that remains is to formalize...

Strike in sight in Hollywood after the failure of negotiations between actors and major studios

Their union and studios did not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement until Thursday's deadline of midnight and one minute Los Angeles time. It only remains to formalize the announcement of this strike of the 160,000 members of the union that will bring the entire industry to a standstill.

The actors' union in Hollywood has ended negotiations with major US studios (Illustration image). AP - J. David Ake

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With our correspondent in Los Angeles, Loïc Pialat

In Hollywood, actors are not yet officially on strike, but it is only a matter of time. The representative union of actors in Hollywood has ended negotiations with the major American studios on a failure that may paralyze filming, he announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. "After more than four weeks of negotiations, the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) (...) still refuses to offer a fair agreement on key issues that are critical to SAG-AFTRA members ", as their remuneration, said the union in a statement.

On the issue of artificial intelligence and the streaming ecosystem, studio responses have been "inadequate," said Fran Drescher, president of SAG-Aftra, the actors' union. The two sides negotiated for more than a month. A federal mediator was even called to the rescue. But the positions were too far apart.

A whole industry soon to be technically unemployed?

A board meeting at 9 a.m. local time (16 p.m. GMT) is expected to mark the first actors' strike since 1980. The union's 160,000 members will then immediately stop working, resulting in an entire industry being furloughed. Cameramen or makeup artists will no longer have to film or make up.

The actors will also not participate in the promotion of films already shot. No more interviews, no more red carpets, no presence at Comic Con, the big annual pop culture event in San Diego in a few days. Instead, they will join the screenwriters, on strike since May 2, to march placard in hand in front of the studios. The two groups will strike together for the first time since 1960. At the time, Ronald Reagan was the president of the actors' union.

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Strike in sight in Hollywood after the failure of negotiations between actors and major studios

Strike in sight in Hollywood after the failure of negotiations between actors and major studios

A whole industry soon to be technically unemployed?

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