Global Courant
The union that represents 160,000 actors agreed on Friday to extend negotiations with Hollywood studios and freeze until at least July 12 a strike that could almost completely paralyze the industry.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and platforms such as Netflix and Disney were engaged in lengthy negotiations, but as the deadline for a deal approached at midnight on Friday (0700 GMT), the parties agreed they would continue talking.
The current contract has been extended until July 12 at midnight Los Angeles time, SAG-AFTRA said in a terse statement, adding that “the parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed media blackout.”
It was feared that the union that represents some 160,000 artists, from celebrities to extras, would join the writers’ strike that has affected Hollywood for nine weeks.
SAG-AFTRA members have approved a strike in advance if negotiators fail to reach an agreement.
It would be the first time Hollywood writers and actors have gone on strike simultaneously since 1960, when actor – and later US President – Ronald Reagan led a strike that eventually forced the studios to back down.
“We are at a tipping point,” entertainment industry lawyer Jonathan Handle told AFP.
– “Transformer”
Hundreds of Hollywood stars, including Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence, signed a letter released this week asking the union for a “transformative” strike-agreement.
Jorome Melendez, a 59-year-old actor, pointed out that the changes in consumption models with the arrival of streaming justify the demands of the artists.
“Streaming has taken the place of network television,” he said.
“This contract is written in such a way that you don’t get the same benefits that the people who were on ‘Seinfeld’ and all these great TV shows did.”
Negotiations focus on salary improvements and the redefinition of residual compensation payments in line with changes in the industry.
Residuals are the income that artists receive each time content in which they participated is broadcast. These have decreased because streaming platforms do not disclose their viewing statistics.
Also on the table are the virtual auditions that proliferated during the pandemic and that impose the logistical burden on the actors, depriving them of the feedback of directors, in addition to the expansion of artificial intelligence in the industry.
“They could use your image and make you say things you wouldn’t say, or get you involved in a project you don’t want to be a part of. We have to make sure they don’t,” said Kim Donovan, a 52-year-old actress.
The writers’ strike dramatically reduced the number of movies and shows in production, but one action by the actors could virtually bring everything to a standstill.
Some reality and talk shows could continue, but events like the Emmy Awards, scheduled for September 18, would be at risk.
Popular series that were due to return to television in the third quarter of the year would be postponed, as would the filming of movies or the promotion of summer blockbusters.
