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Demonstrator in Hollywood: Many strikers are running out of breath

Photo: Mike Blake / REUTERS

In July, the industry portal Deadline published an article in which an anonymous insider speculated that the studios would keep the strikes going until the rebellious screenwriters and actors ran out of money. A cynical strategy, but one that seems to be working, at least in part: According to the Hollywood Reporter, more and more applications for financial support are currently being submitted to aid organizations.

According to the report, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which is affiliated with the actors' union, currently receives 50 to 75 requests per wear – in normal times it is ten to twelve. The chairman of the organization, Cyd Wilson, is quoted as saying: "People move in with friends and relatives, they sleep there on the couch." The SAG-AFTRA Foundation is not always able to help, even if financial resources are available: "Those affected think ahead. They are considering whether it makes sense to move into a new apartment if the strike drags on until the end of the year." More important for them is that they can at least pay for their car and mobile phone.

Another aid organization, the Motion Pictures & Television Fund, reports a surge in the number of eviction notices in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. "People are losing their homes or can't pay the mortgages that are on their homes," says President Bob Beitcher. "We talk to people who live in their cars, some of them to their families."

The reasons do not lie solely in the strike and the resulting lack of income. Many workers in the American entertainment industry had not yet recovered from the financial losses incurred during the pandemic. Savings that were actually intended for retirement or bad times were already going on at that time. In addition, the cost of living in the Los Angeles area is very high. Many people save where they can – rent often remains the biggest cost factor.

So far, there has been no movement in the entrenched positions between studios and unions. At the end of August, the actors' representatives rejected an offer from the bosses as insufficient. Points of contention continue to be the payment of fees for reruns of series and films and the use of artificial intelligence.

KAE