SAG-AFTRA Joins WGA On Strike
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
This morning, SAG-AFTRA confirmed the long-standing rumour that it would be joining the Writers Guild of America in its strike against unfair pay and the looming threat of the usage of artificial intelligence. The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is a labour union made up of actors, journalists, personalities, and talent all across the board relating to film, television, and broadcasting. They are affiliated with most forms of visual entertainment so this strike will likely affect quite a lot of the near future when it comes to consuming what you enjoy.
Their concerns are nearly identical to those of the WGA. First and foremost, the age of streaming doesn’t create a sustainable or fair environment for artists and storytellers outside of producers and the streaming services themselves. SAG-AFTRA and WGA members aren’t getting proper residuals from the streaming service model; they would also like a higher base pay in general and feel that producers and studios are hogging a major percentage of earnings for themselves without distributing them properly. Finally, we cannot forget the issues concerning AI; actors are concerned that their visual and audible likenesses will be used against their will, particularly in the discussion of reboots, franchises, and other continuations of existing properties.
If you believe that actors and the like are being greedy or spiteful, consider the straw that broke the camel’s back: a quote floating around where a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) gladly proclaimed that producers won’t even begin to negotiate with the WGA until they continue to bleed them out, stating that “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” with an emphasis on breaking the WGA for good. It didn’t take long for SAG-AFTRA to join the battle, but that’s because they were experiencing their own discussions as well. SAG-AFTRA’s contract expired with AMPTP on June 30th, and they were in negotiations for almost two weeks (hence the lingering rumours that SAG-AFTRA would also strike).
You can tell AMPTP’s stance is firm, and newly reappointed Disney CEO Bob Iger tried to set the tone in a less bloodthirsty way by stating “There's a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. And they are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous.” He would also profess to empathize with a labour organization’s defence of its members regarding disparity. On the other side of the fence is SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher (of The Nanny fame) who has gone on record to call AMPTP’s responses to both her union and the WGA “insulting and disrespectful”.
The cast of Oppenheimer discussed the strike before clocking out early and standing in solidarity with the other SAG-AFTRA members.
A more complete announcement from Fran Drescher was presented on the official SAG-AFTRA website, stating:
“SAG-AFTRA negotiated in good faith and was eager to reach a deal that sufficiently addressed performer needs, but the AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals have been insulting and disrespectful of our massive contributions to this industry. The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us. Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal. We have no choice but to move forward in unity, and on behalf of our membership, with a strike recommendation to our National Board. The board will discuss the issue this morning and will make its decision.”
This was followed up by National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who said the following:
“The studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry’s business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber. That’s not how you treat a valued, respected partner and essential contributor. Their refusal to meaningfully engage with our key proposals and the fundamental disrespect shown to our members is what has brought us to this point. The studios and streamers have underestimated our members’ resolve, as they are about to fully discover.”
After this decision was made by SAG-AFTRA (97.91% voted in favour of a strike, making for a nearly-unanimous stance in solidarity), the Oppenheimer red carpet premiere allowed for the proper segue: the cast of the film making a final statement about the strike and its importance before bowing out early to take part in the strike. This is only an appetizer for what will happen next, and it’s good to prepare for what is to come in this massive strike (for reference, the last time that both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA held a strike together was back in 1960 (this strike carried similar sentiments, with both unions fearing how film-based residual payments would carry out during the quick rise of television; this lasted for slightly over one month).
So what can we expect to see now that this strike has gotten much larger?
The obvious side effect will be a hiatus on ongoing productions, so whatever films and series are currently being made (even outside of the writing element that was already paused due to the WGA strike) are now in limbo. If actors and other SAG-AFTRA members cannot partake in productions, they also will not partake in the promotion of said productions. This is where things get extremely interesting, and you only saw a taste of what is to come during the prematurely-concluded Oppenheimer red carpet. SAG-AFTRA members will no longer partake in press circuits, interviews, or red carpets of any sort until the strike is over. Consider how online algorithms affect promotional media, to begin with (have you ever seen an ad for the same film a billion times, yet someone else told you they didn’t see any marketing for the exact same film? You can thank the fickleness of the frigid algorithm we all have to pray to). Studios actually rely on these press circuits quite a lot, especially in the face of social media and content creation; one interview can turn into chopped-up clips fit for viral-potent content transmissible on any platform (and this is only just the start of the possibilities).
This is a particularly prickly time because we’ve just had Cannes’ annual film festival, meaning we are knee-deep in festival season and are expecting the likes of Venice, TIFF, Telluride, the New York Film Festival, and many more. These festivals are crucial for films to be picked up and press junkets and red carpet appearances are essential for not just the public to learn of these films’ existences, but also for distributors (that attend these festivals and purchase the rights to bring these works to theatres and home release) to have their work already done for them via word-of-mouth spread (imagine how much more marketing will be needed now). Furthermore, in cases like TIFF (known as the people’s festival as it is heavily connected with the general public), the festivals themselves will be hurt by these gaping absences, creating a potential fragmentation between the festivals and the studios and producers that continue to burn them out of stubbornness.
Effectively, SAG-AFTRA is responding to the vitriol of the AMPTP with their own version of playing the “bleeding-out” game: how much money will studios and producers already lose with the tail end of the summer blockbuster season not being promoted properly, never mind the upcoming height of film festival season? If Iger is right (and he is right) that the entertainment industries are already hurting immensely, can they really afford these losses right now? Let’s also assume that Iger is also correct about how unfair SAG-AFTRA is being and that producers and studios are doing all that they can (that part, I really don’t rate whatsoever): wouldn’t the fate of this strike be much worse for them in the long run?
In short, we can expect most of the films of 2023 to carry their rollout as expected, just without the promotional elements. Television is much more up-in-the-air as it is a medium that has a far different production schedule than film; expect much of your expected autumnal programming to remain at a standstill. As for 2024, both film and television will now be severely delayed (just when things were looking better after the abysmal schedules during the pandemic, right?). Will studios and producers try their hand at a complete AI takeover (where content is created almost extensively via technology)? If they’re so spoiled as to take a stance on “bleeding out” those striking, I can only imagine a similarly pathetic follow-up with AI is potentially in the cards. I honestly feel like SAG-AFTRA’s striking will put lots of pressure on AMPTP, except this isn’t 1960. There are other means of making money in this day and age (should AMPTP continue to sit on their pile of gold in their cave known as “streaming services”). I don’t think the strike will last only a month, and I, unfortunately, expect the height of the festival season coming up to be severely impacted.
However, I think that this strike truly puts the screws on AMPTP. At the end of the day, entertainment is a consumer’s market, and I can foresee the already-declining viewership only worsening as time goes on should this strike last long enough. It’s all a shame because our society can use the escapism of entertainment more than ever as times get tough, but we also have to understand that they’re getting tough for other professions as well (including those that entertain us). This is far more than millionaire artists making more money. The real threat comes from the expulsion of others and their jobs as the rich continue to get richer, diluting the elite population bit by bit while the rest of the world struggles economically. It is indicative of the oft-discussed notion of “late-stage capitalism” that has been tossed around for obvious reasons these last ten years or so and the gripping onto ways of old as to not provide parity in the wake of new measures and innovations. We’ll see how long this strike goes on, but expect shifts of either kind to occur in the near future.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.