Monday, 17 July 2023, Bengaluru, India
Hollywood came to a complete stop on the first day of a Sag-Aftra strike because of a contract with producers that included a wide range of topics, including remuneration and the use of artificial intelligence in films and television.
While the inclusion of AI is a massive reason for the strike, it is also a threat to human livelihood, as completely relying on AI will be a bad sign for writers and actors who work full-time. The writers’ rooms and late-night variety events were swiftly shut down, and several films and TV projects had their premiere dates postponed due courtesy of the ongoing strike.
Hollywood television and movie actors are going on strike starting at midnight on Friday, July 14.- CGTN America
As per data, a simultaneous strike from the 160000 members of Sag-Aftra can bring Hollywood to a complete halt. Actors and fellow writers were seen protesting at locations in New York and Los Angeles, holding banners and boards showing their concerns regarding low payments and the influence of AI in the industry.
The strike has bought actors and writers to lead together for the first time since 1960. People involved in the strike will not attend any promotional events, premieres, award shows, or talk shows and promote their completed movies or shows on social media.
Days into the strike, it has already started to affect big movie hits. The cast of Oppenheimer, a Christopher Nolan movie about the creator of the atomic bomb, was seen leaving early from the movie’s London premiere. Another anticipated hit movie, Barbie, concluded its promotional events early. Margot Robbie, who plays the role of Barbie in the movie, reveals that she is a part of Sag and completely supports the movement.
One of the first major movie hits affected by the strike is an under-production Deadpool 3. The Marvel Enterprise’s superhero movie stopped filming as the strike got underway. The star-studded cast of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, that play Deadpool and Wolverine in the movie, were seen together on the sets as Marvel shared a BTS on social media. The situation as of now is that Marvel can continue production, but the movie’s release date seems to be delayed.
Major summer and autumn film festivals, which are now in wait-and-see mode, might be severely hampered by a strike. Festivals with a focus on flashy picture ops, like Venice, which starts on August 30, may take place without famous Hollywood stars. In a statement to Deadline on Thursday, the Toronto Film Festival, which takes place in September, stated that organizers will “continue preparing for this year’s festival with the expectation of a speedy resolution in the coming weeks.”
As Sag-Aftra does not represent stage performers, Broadway will continue to be open. Actors’ Equity, which represents stage performers and stage managers, issued a warning to its members on Friday, urging them to proactively and forcefully avoid breaching the Sag-Aftra strike by accidentally crossing the picket line. The guild’s president, Kate Shindle, advised members to get in touch with Sag-Aftra if they had any inquiries regarding possibly struck work and warned them that the opposing side would attempt to set them against one another to continue producing material. Avoid falling for that.
Several Hollywood celebrities, including Josh Gad, Cynthia Nixon, Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, publicly supported the two work stoppages in the hours after the strike’s declaration. In a statement on Friday, George Clooney, who has also endorsed the strike, claimed that “actors and writers in vast numbers have lost their capacity to make a life.”
