Lights, camera, action. On Nov. 9, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike was finally concluded. The strike started Jul. 14, 2023. The strike began after SAG-AFTRA failed to reach a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
On Nov. 8, SAG-AFTRA announced that the strike would end on Nov 9 due to a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. The new contract will be in place for the next three years which is traditional for SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP.
Actor and writer, Kyle More has worked with NBC, Fox and Netflix among many others. More spent the last few months without work and instead at the picket lines fighting alongside SAG-AFTRA.
“We do not always go on strike but the issues with streaming residuals and artificial intelligence (AI) were just too big to take the normal deal this time,” More said. “We had to go on strike.”
Artificial intelligence issues stemmed from the fear that studios would replace blue-collar actors with AI generations.
The general public saw the strike as just a pause in film and television, but insight from the frontlines in Hollywood painted the harsh reality. The strike lasted 118 days. 118 long days without pay at picket lines. Picket lines are boundaries established by workers on strike, typically at the entrance to the place of work.
“I was going to picket lines at Disney Land, Universal and Warner Brothers with fellow actors,” More said. “It was a long summer, it was hot out there and at one point, Universal cut their trees so it would not be shady at the picket lines to make it harder.”
Studios represented by the AMPTP dragged out the strike as long as possible to attempt to wait out the SAG-AFTRA members. Actors were unpaid while at the picket lines and some blue-collar actors lived gig-to-gig.
“90% of the SAG union make $26,000 a year, that is less than a teacher.” More said.
The end of the strike is a temporary solution for the acting working class. The tentative agreement raised the minimum rates for actors. Although some people might believe the actors’ strike consisted of the rich actors wanting more, the truth is that the SAG-AFTRA strike was for the working-class actors wanting a fair liveable share.
If you want to learn more about the SAG-AFTRA strike and the WGA strike check out “Hollywood stalemate: from the big screen to unseen” on Sequoitmedia.com
