As The Clock Ticks Down, SAG-AFTRA Members Prepare Picket Signs
Image Source: France 24
In preparation for a potential strike, members of the SAG-AFTRA actors guild are creating picket signs to use in the strike. A strike can still be avoided if the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA reach an agreement by midnight on July 12. If they can’t find common ground, the actors will have their signs ready to announce their complaints to the industry. This strike, in conjunction with the WGA strike, would essentially bring Hollywood to a halt as neither writers nor actors would be working.
Some of the top concerns among Hollywood professional performers are the rising use of AI and the lack of guidance around self-tape auditions. Speaking on AI, the guild explained, “Artificial intelligence has already proven to be a real and immediate threat to the work of our members and can mimic members’ voices, likenesses and performances. We must get agreement around acceptable uses, bargain protections against misuse, and ensure consent and fair compensation for the use of your work to train AI systems and create new performances. In their public statements and policy work, the companies have not shown a desire to take our members’ basic rights to our own voices and likenesses seriously.”
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The guild aired their grievances with self-taped auditions, “[They ] are unregulated and out of control. Too many pages, too little time and unreasonable requirements have made self-taping auditions a massive, daily, uncompensated burden on the lives of performers. Reasonable rules and limitations, and access to other casting formats, are sorely needed to ensure fair access to work opportunities and protect performers against exploitation.”
Image Source: Variety
The union also brought up how the transition to streaming leaves them with shorter work seasons and longer breaks between seasons. The guild laid out their plans with this official statement, “Outdated contract terms, coupled with the evolution of the media business, including shorter season orders and longer hiatuses between seasons makes it increasingly difficult for our members to achieve and maintain a middle class lifestyle working as a performer. In sharp contrast to the diminishing compensation paid to our members, the studios are posting immense profits with a bullish outlook as demonstrated by lavish corporate executive compensation. SAG-AFTRA is committed to ensuring our members are able to make a living performing in scripted dramatic live action entertainment. This means ensuring increased compensation when our members work, shoring up the funding of our Health, Retirement, and Pension Plans, and providing our members a meaningful share of the economic value created by their performances.”
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