As I’m sure that you’re well aware by now, the actors and writers went on strike. It started with the writers, with an overwhelming majority of 97.85% voting yes for a strike. Shortly after, the actors followed, making history as it was the first time that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike synonymously since 1960. While this may have seemed like only bad news for the entertainment industry, the writers were thankfully able to settle a deal after a dreadful 146 days of striking. This also seemingly gave the actors a light at the end of the tunnel, as it has opened further negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). . With all this being said, it begs the questions of why the writers and actors went on strike in the first place, and what impact this is going to have on the future of the entertainment industry as a whole?
Why Did the Actors and Writers Go On Strike?
The common reason for most strikes is money and that holds up for the actors and writers strikes. There are many factors at play to be discussed, however the most important is they believed they weren’t getting paid enough. When one thinks of an actor or writer, they'll probably think of the same few actors as everyone else. Writers may be less prominent, but there are still a small group of well known and high paid writers, just like actors. However, there are tens of thousands of working actors and writers that get paid much less than the small circle that is the famous Hollywood writers and actors. This strike is mainly to support the monetary needs of these tens of thousands of writers and actors that are outside the small and exclusive Hollywood circle.
While money is the main reason for the strikes, there are several other contributing factors at play. One is creating rules surrounding self-audition tapes: auditions that the actors would record and submit from home. While COVID caused self-audition tapes to be the norm, it does cost the actors a lot of money for a job that they have just a small chance at landing. They have to buy all the equipment and set it all up themselves instead of going in where that first step is already done and paid for. In addition to this, the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) to just about every corner of the world was bound to affect the entertainment industry, and it has, on both the writers and actors. On the writer's side, they are concerned about AI scripts. The studios could easily just use AI to generate a script and then edit it themselves or even hire writers to edit it, taking away tons of work that the writers would have once had. On the actors side of things, the studios have begun creating digital scans of background actors and re-using them in future projects. This would be done without their knowledge, consent or compensation. The landscape of the entertainment industry has drastically changed, both with COVID and the introduction of AI, highlighting the importance of these strikes and the multitudes of factors at play.
How Will this Affect the Future of the Industry?
To state it bluntly, the future of the entertainment industry isn’t looking too bright right now. Next year there is going to be a large gap of time when movies and shows will be few and far between. Many movie and television favorites may end up being pushed back a full year and every day the actors are on strike means these movies and shows will continue to get pushed back. However, there is some hope. The writers reached an agreement with the studios and their strike has ended, showing it is entirely possible for the actors to do the same thing. Both sides are actively working towards a deal, because in reality, no one wants a strike and everyone wants to get back to work. It’s important to think about why these are happening and the benefits that the strikes will have on so many people. Tens of thousands of writers and actors will and have been so far fairly compensated and hopefully both sides will be happy when a deal is reached. While the future may look bleak, there is hope and each day we get closer and closer to both sides reaching fair deals.
Source(s):
Comments