Four simultaneous protests occurred in New York City on Friday, the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike, with Writers Guild, IATSE, local Democratic Socialists of America members and more from other unions joining in on the picket lines and similar protests occurring in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid beating, hot sun and spurts of rain, picketers rallied in front of the Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery Offices near Union Square, Amazon and HBO in Hudson Yards, Paramount in Times Square and NBCUniversal at 30 Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the hundreds that walked the New York picket lines Friday were Ted Lasso\u2019s Jason Sudeikis, Survival of the Thickest\u2019s Peppermint and Sagan Chen, Numb3rs\u2019 David Krumholtz, Grounded for Life\u2019s Kevin Corrigan, Severance stars Zach Cherry and Jen Tullock, as well as Runaway\u2019s actors Ariela Barer and Clarissa Thibeaux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Netflix\/WBD alone, picketers saw a brief, but early police presence as officers herded eager actors off parts of the sidewalk and into the barricades, before the line hit play on a curated playlist featuring Sister Sledge\u2019s \u201cWe Are Family,\u201d Beyonce\u2019s \u201cBreak My Soul\u201d and Lizzo\u2019s \u201cAbout Damn Time\u201d \u2014 which carried through even as picketers had to don ponchos due to the rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top issues for actors out on the picket lines Friday included fair pay, including residuals from streamers, as well as the use of artificial intelligence, which came into some prominence as part of the WGA negotiations and then gained renewed focus Thursday as part of the SAG-AFTRA negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe issues that they won\u2019t even discuss are the most important issues, and if we don\u2019t settle them now, if we don\u2019t deal with streaming now, if we don\u2019t deal with AI now, there\u2019s not going to be any turning back. We can\u2019t make that mistake,\u201d said Thelma & Louise and Monarch actress Susan Sarandon, speaking outside the Netflix protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat we are doing is not even asking for what some might call a fair contract, but something that would just at a bare minimum allow people to continue to try to be in the arts professionally,\u201d said Unbelievable\u2019s star Merritt Wever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pay was a hot topic for workers in all levels of the field. Speaking from Times Square, where actors and writers were circulating in a barricaded area and receiving support from tourists and even the neighborhood naked cowboy, Chris Henry Coffey, a SAG-AFTRA member who does a lot of guest star appearances for networks and streamers, said he came to the picket line because it\u2019s felt like the contracts have been \u201cgoing in reverse,\u201d even as his career has advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One issue, in his experience, is that the idea of having a quote or baseline salary does not seem to exist anymore. \u201cI just want to support a new contract. It\u2019s offensive to me that I have been living under a worse wage in 2023 than when I started as an actor in 2000,\u201d Coffey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Gary Farris, who has been a SAG-AFTRA member since 2008 and has been primarily working as a background actor, says he feels the wages for that position, among many others, have not risen appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the workhorses of the industry,\u201d Farris said. \u201cWe work like dogs, and you know, they pay us pretty good, but it didn\u2019t meet inflation at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside of Netflix, Wever pointed to the discrepancy in her experiences with the linear and streaming models, as one major issue around negotiations for her while Chen, who had to leave the line early to attend a second job they\u2019ve taken on to support themselves, pointed to residuals \u2014 a contention point in terms of streamers \u2014 as \u201ca big one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat my union did for me decades ago was build into our contract ways that working actors could continue to make a living, and those are not in our current contracts with streamers,\u201d Wever said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly Klein, a member of SAG-AFTRA, said she attended the picket line in Hudson Yards out of concern for the use of AI and also to speak out about changes to the contract in recent years which have resulted in miniscule residuals, particularly from streamers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI get residual checks for cents,\u201d Klein said. \u201cOne time my ATM branch wouldn\u2019t even accept it. I had to go to the teller to deposit it, because the machine would not recognize this as money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Ariela Barer, who had their Marvel show Runaway\u2019s removed from Disney+ earlier this year, the double loss of residuals and one\u2019s own work is difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Background actors were also in the spotlight as part of the negotiations, when Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, said Thursday that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had presented them with an AI proposal that would see background performers receive one day of pay for getting a digitally scanned. The studios would be able to use that image from then on, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AMPTP has since rebutted this claim, saying the assertion made today by the actor\u2019s union leadership \u201cthat the digital replicas of background actors may be used in perpetuity with no consent or compensation is false.\u201d Rather, the studios say a digital replica of a background actor is only permissible as part of a motion picture for which that actor is employed and that use requires the actor\u2019s consent and bargaining for the use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the topic was prevalent on the lines Friday, as background actors such as Jonathan Kaine, who was picketing outside the HBO and Amazon offices in New York, spoke to the need for greater protections around background actors and the fear that the job may be wiped out entirely by AI, in addition to the challenges of working on pay that he says makes it \u201charder and harder to make a living wage in New york City.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur likeness is our lifeblood in this specific instance. And to give it away, not knowing what it will be used for down the line is folly, in my opinion,\u201d Kaine said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing able to own my perspective and my story is incredibly important. The fact that they think that they can take my face and manipulate it for their own goals \u2014 it\u2019s motivated by capitalism and getting back to their vacation home,\u201d Survival of the Thickest\u2019s Chen added from outside Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this was the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike, its members have been a familiar presence on the lines since the WGA began striking on May 2. Patrick Coker, a WGA East strike captain who joined the picket line outside Paramount\u2019s offices in Times Square, said the show of support from unions including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and more has been heartening. So WGA wanted to return the favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been with us the whole time. But as a union this is their first day on strike. And we just want to let them know that they\u2019re not in this alone,\u201d Coker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two unions have many similar issues, Coker said, adding that the topic of AI is one that impacts not only the entertainment unions, but unions across all industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe fact that they think that they can take my face and manipulate it for their own goals \u2014 it\u2019s motivated by capitalism and getting back to their vacation home,\u201d Chen added. \u201cAll I want to do is be out here and be someone that some random kid in the Midwest watching TV is going to be like, \u2018Oh, so I can.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For How to Blow Up a Pipeline writer Barer, AI contract protections are about ensuring the continuation of working class actors and artists. \u201cI want our likeness to be protected, for us to have agency over our image, our body and where we\u2019re doing. What we\u2019re saying in media and art forever is important,\u201d Barer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With WGA and SAG-AFTRA now both striking, Coker said he hoped the two unions would be able to make some headway with the AMPTP, given that having no writers and no actors on set essentially grinds projects to a halt. \u201cI don\u2019t know if [it will resolve] at the same time, but we\u2019ll be able to resolve some issues. So if it works for us, it\u2019ll work for them and vice versa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lauren Patten, a Tony Award winning actor for Jagged Little Pill and a SAG-AFTRA member, has been supporting WGA on the picket lines and said she feels that solidarity between the unions is at \u201can all-time high.\u201d The two largest issues of concern for Patten in the contract negotiations are the pay structures around streaming and protections against artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that we\u2019re at an inflection point as a country and that\u2019s being reflected as this enormous industry tries to address having proper respect for all of our work,\u201d Patten said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for what she\u2019ll do during the SAG-AFTRA work stoppage, Patten noted that she can continue to work in theater, which is under an Actors Equity contract, but that most artists already are multidisciplinary and have had to find other ways to make money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are, as actors, people who know how to withstand not having a job, it\u2019s a big part of our lives,\u201d Patten said. \u201cAnd so as far as what to do during the strike, I think we\u2019ll have a lot of solidarity, a lot of resolve and we\u2019ll be able to practice other ways of making our art and will be resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hiram Delgado, a SAG member who has also appeared on Broadway in Take Me Out, said he also had plans to return to theater during the strike and had been able to save money during the pandemic, as he was preparing for another Broadway shutdown or something like this strike. Most of his income came from film and TV work, but given the discussions around AI and the current state of the contracts, he\u2019s willing to stick it out for the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope it goes on for as long as it needs to go on so that we get the respect that we deserve, and I don\u2019t know when that will be,\u201d Delgado said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many walking the line, studios\u2019 respect for actors is in question following recent comments by Disney\u2019s Bob Iger that the actors\u2019 and writers\u2019 demands were \u201cunrealistic.\u201d According to Barer, who had their Marvel show Runaway\u2019s removed from Disney+ earlier this year \u201cwithout any warning,\u201d the moves and sentiments by some studios are \u201cdevastating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel great to read those comments, it doesn\u2019t feel great to read that your labor is not appreciated,\u201d they said. \u201cI think that what we were asking for is incredibly realistic, and incredibly important. We\u2019re asking for basic respect for our work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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