After over 100 days of striking, the Writer’s Guild of America reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), meaning one part of Hollywood was finally back to work. But it took a while for the AMPTP to offer a similar deal to SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild. On Thursday 9 November, the 118-day strike came to an end with a landmark new collection of wins.
While these strikes have gone on, major productions had been put on pause — like the Paul Mescal-starring Gladiator sequel, Deadpool 3 and Wicked — and are expected to have been haemorrhaging upwards of $600,000 a week. Meanwhile, two major studio films have been delayed: Dune: Part Two and Challengers.
You might be wondering why members of SAG-AFTRA — which includes some of the richest people in entertainment — went on strike in the first place. Some walked out on their blockbuster movies mid-filming while others, like at the Oppenheimer premiere, left the red carpet before the whole affair had actually ended. Aren’t these some of the highest paid people in the world, with whole teams around them to protect their wellbeing? People who get paid so well that they can take months, if not years off from working and still make ends meet?
The answer is, actually, no: while the Hollywood cognoscenti — your Leonardo DiCaprios, your Jennifer Lawrences, the bonafide film stars — are raking in big pay-checks for pretty much all of their jobs, huge swathes of the industry, the jobbing actors, so to speak, are struggling to make ends meet. They’re also being threatened by the advent of AI on screen, with studios considering the possibility of hiring an actor and then later duplicating their likeness ad infinitum so as to not have to pay them more than once.
It was the first time the Screen Actors Guild have gone on strike since 1980, and the effects on Hollywood are akin to those of the Coronavirus lockdowns, in a sense: no movie shoots, no public events, only with the added ban on publicity. The extreme changes in the industry’s makeup over the past 10 years forced them to do this.
Here’s a rundown of why SAG-AFTRA members were striking, the movies you’re excited for that are likely to be affected, who was exempt from the strike and how the whole thing came to an end.
Why did SAG-AFTRA members strike?
Put simply: for fair pay and to ensure that AI doesn’t interfere with their work. The most prominent issue today is linked to the rise of streaming services. Back in the day, when actors would appear on a network television show — say, Friends or The Sopranos — they would get residual paychecks every time the show aired after it premiered. But as we shifted from network TV to streaming, networks lost advertising revenue and these shows didn’t get aired as frequently. Instead, the distribution rights might have been sold to a streaming service. But no matter how popular the shows may seem to be, the actors involved saw none of that additional money.
The same goes for original content on streaming platforms. The stars of Heartstopper, Sex Education, Narcos, Squid Game… any Netflix show, for example, didn’t get paid more if the show itself was popular. What’s more, they were never really told the official watch figures, which means they had no tools to go into meetings with when they sign on for another season.
This trickled down to jobbing actors in smaller supporting roles too. After all, they’re the ones at the bottom of the proverbial food chain. If a Hollywood star is complaining about what they get paid — imagine how much money this lot are making. All from shows that audiences pay big money to see.
As of earlier this year, Netflix had 232.5 million monthly subscribers. Their annual income in 2022 was $31.6 billion.
According to Eleven Films, 95% of SAG-AFTRA members earn less than $25,000 per year now, meaning that they fall below the rate that helps their union provide them with health insurance. The strikes took place to ensure that profits are shared more equally, allowing these members to afford health care and rent.
So what’s this about AI?
There had been swirling rumours and suggestions that the rise of AI could become a way for studios to jump over the hurdle of paying actors at all. Instead, if they work on one job, they could have been contractually obligated to sign over the rights for studios to use their likeness on screen in later projects without their consent. Take the scary recreation of dead actors in franchise movies as an example; imagine if that happened to the still-living, instead of paying them for their performance?
Who is exempt from the SAG-AFTRA strike?
The Screen Actors Guild strike only affected those working in film or television in the US. Stage actors were permitted to continue working, as well as those working under Equity, the UK equivalent of SAG-AFTRA. As such, a handful of British, European, Australian and Asian productions were unaffected. House of the Dragon, HBO’s big Game of Thrones spin-off, had been given the go-ahead to continue shooting in the UK.
There was a brief moment where Equity members in the UK suggested walking out in solidarity, but the official Equity solidarity statement gave members advice to keep working, as it could constitute a breach of contract.
What movies were affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike?
Pretty much every film that was imminently due for release or was shooting at that time.
Challengers was pulled from its opening night slot at the Venice Film Festival and has been pushed back to 26 April 2024. Dune: Part Two has also been pushed back to March.
Some productions — including ones by A24, who are not part of Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — were allowed to go ahead. Amongst them was Mother Mary, David Lowery’s pop star drama starring Anne Hathaway. Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s Presley biopic, also got a waiver for its cast to promote it.
When did the SAG-AFTRA strike end?
The SAG-AFTRA strike ended on 9 November 2023 after weeks of negotiations.
What did the actors win from the SAG-AFTRA strike?
According to a statement released by SAG-AFTRA, the negotiations led to members receiving: “above-pattern minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and a streaming participation bonus. Our Pension & Health caps have been substantially raised, which will bring much needed value to our plans. In addition, the deal includes numerous improvements for multiple categories including outsize compensation increases for background performers, and critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities.”