US actors’ strike: Why are Hollywood stars walking out and what does it mean for film and TV industry?
Hollywood actors are going on strike after talks with studios broke down, joining film and television writers who have been on picket lines since May.
Fran Drescher, the president of the US actors’ union, says its walkout will impact “thousands if not millions of people”.
The strike, organised by the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), is likely to have far-reaching reverberations beyond the sun-soaked streets of Los Angeles.
It also comes as Hollywood grapples to get to grips with how technology is rapidly changing the way visual entertainment is made – and watched.
Why are the actors striking and what do they want?
Actors are seeking higher pay and safeguards against unauthorised use of their images through artificial intelligence (AI).
Performers see their jobs as especially vulnerable to new technology, with generative AI able to replicate facial expressions, body movement and voice with alarming accuracy.
Many would like to see a guarantee that AI will not be used to replace the duties performed by actors, potentially rendering them obsolete.
Stars including Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves are among the actors who have been the subject of widely viewed unauthorised deepfakes – realistic yet fabricated videos created by AI algorithms.
Tom Cruise at a New York premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
The streaming boom – which provides the bulk of TV actors’ work – is also a big factor in contract negotiations.
Series have become shorter, breaks between seasons longer, and the unions say that although series budgets are rising, that increase is not being reflected in the share of the money coming to performers.
Residuals – payments for the reuse of credited work – are also much smaller on streamers compared to broadcast TV rates.
Actors have also flagged the burden of “self-taped auditions” – when actors are asked to film their own audition and send it in directly for consideration by the casting director.
This cost was previously the responsibility of the casting and production teams, who would set up auditions at a set location themselves and organise the filming of invited actors. But now that’s all changed.
Benefits including health and pension plans have also been the subject of talks.
But SAG-AFTRA says that, after four weeks of intensive talks, film and TV bosses have refused to budge.
What do the studios say?
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) – the association representing major Hollywood studios including Walt Disney and Netflix – disputes the SAG-AFTRA’s version of events.
It says a deal, including better pay and AI safeguards, has been offered, and accused the union of walking away from talks.
In a statement, it said: “We are deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations.
“This is the union’s choice, not ours. In doing so, it has dismissed our offer of historic pay and residual increases, substantially higher caps on pension and health contributions, audition protections, shortened series option periods, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses, and more.”
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‘It’s war’
When is the strike and how long will it last?
The walkout was officially set to begin at midnight on Friday 14 July (Los Angeles time).
SAG-AFTRA said picket lines would start the following morning, with the strike continuing indefinitely.
No date has been set for when it will end.
When asked how long it would last, union president Ms Drescher told reporters at a press conference on 13 July that it was “up to” film studios.
What does the strike mean for movie and TV fans?
A lot depends on how long it goes on for. If the dispute is resolved quickly, disruption may be limited.
But if it drags on, as some fear, many film releases will be delayed and television shows could go off air.
What makes the industrial action so historic is that, for the first time in 63 years, both SAG-AFTRA and WGA (the Writers Guild of America) will be on strike at the same time.
Members of the WGA have been striking for the last two months and that has already had a big impact on productions such as season five of Stranger Things, season two of The Last Of Us, season six of The Handmaid’s Tale and Game Of Thrones spinoff A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.
With actors and performers joining writers, that disruption is only going to get worse.
In short, Hollywood is effectively being shut down and will come to a near-standstill. With no scripts, and no performers to bring them to life, many studios will fall dark.
If both strikes were to continue on for many months, next year’s theatrical release schedules could run into difficulties, causing a big problem for studios who put much time and energy into selecting the release dates for their films.
Numerous film festivals leading into awards season could also be hit, with carefully planned campaigns falling foul due to lack of actors to share the buzz of their films.
The 75th Emmy TV awards is also due to take place in September.
But trade magazine Variety has reported organisers are considering delaying the ceremony to November or even January due to the Hollywood walkouts.
Other upcoming dates which could be hit include the Toronto and Venice film festivals.
Looking beyond the inevitable disappointment of movie and TV lovers, the strike is likely to have a big impact on the financial side of the business too.
The box office has recently begun picking up post-pandemic, with the US nearing $4bn for the year and running 30% ahead of the same January-to-early June period.
It’s a pickup that would inevitably suffer from prolonged actor walkouts.
News and broadcast work would not be directly affected by the strikes.
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The stars of Oppenheimer spoke of their support for the strike, before walking out of its London premiere
Has a US actors’ strike happened before?
The last time Hollywood actors went on strike was in 2000 in a six-month dispute over their commercials contract.
The US actors’ union successfully defended the “pay-for-play” TV advert payment formula, by which actors are paid residuals for the number of times their commercial airs, and reached an agreement over cable and internet advertising.
Prior to that, US stars staged a 95-day strike over terms for paid television and VHS tapes back in 1980, achieving a 32.5% wage increase and a 4.5% of the gross revenues for home media releases.
What does it mean for UK performers?
Still recovering from the COVID pandemic, and now dealing with a cost of living crisis, the UK film industry already has plenty on its plate.
Equity, the British performing arts and entertainment union, has offered its support to the US strike and said in a statement that it “stands full square behind our sister union in their claim, and the action their Board have agreed to take”.
While events in the US will not directly affect those working in the UK, it is thought that British performers who are members of SAG-AFTRA and working in the US will lawfully be allowed to take part.
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Actress Margot Robbie said she supports the actors’ strike
Could an actors’ strike happen in the UK?
As an independent union, Equity, which has 47,000 members, has not called its own strike in solidarity with US actors.
However, Paul W Fleming, the general secretary, said the union was always “strike ready,” describing it as one of the “key objectives” of the union.
The UK’s current Pact-Equity contracts are due to enter negotiations later this year, having not been updated since 2021, when a transitional contract was put in place during the pandemic.
Deals are normally struck every two to four years.
Pact is the UK trade body which represents independent production and distribution companies.
With all the same issues at stake as the US actors, it’s likely that the influence of AI, streamer payment rates and self-taped auditions will also form key parts of the upcoming UK negotiations.
Mr Fleming says a “framework” setting out “exactly what AI is and where it is used” is what now needs to be put in place to protect performers.
Equity is already in talks with ITV over AI clauses in their agreements.
So watch this space.
World
Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza – as 41 killed in attack on northern Lebanon
An 18-month-old boy and his 10-year-old sister are among 25 people who were killed in a series of Israeli strikes on central parts of Gaza, hospital officials have said.
Sixteen people were initially reported to have been killed in two strikes on the central Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday, but officials from the Al Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in.
The hospital said they had received 21 bodies from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been taken the day before.
Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al Balah on Friday killed four more, hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25.
Five children and seven women are among those who have been confirmed dead.
The mother of the 18-month-old boy is missing and his father was killed in an Israeli strike four months ago, the family has said.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA earlier reported that 57 people had died in the Israeli strikes.
The Israeli military did not comment on the specific strikes but said its troops had identified and eliminated “several armed terrorists” in central Gaza.
Palestinians watch as smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
It also said its forces had eliminated “dozens of terrorists” in raids in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area – home to one of the territory’s refugee camps.
It comes as the Israeli military said on Friday it killed senior Hamas official Izz al Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.
A displaced Palestinian boy in Gaza City on 28 October. Pic: Reuters
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have over the past few weeks resumed intense operations in the north of Gaza, claiming they are seeking to stop Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, from regrouping.
Meanwhile, top UN officials said in a statement on Friday that the situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic” and the entire Palestinian population in the area is at “imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.
The overall number of people killed in Gaza in the 13-month war is more than 43,000, officials from the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, reported this week.
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Civil defence members work at a site damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Pic: Reuters
It comes as at least 41 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek region on Friday, the regional governor said.
The deaths were confirmed hours after Lebanon’s health ministry said 30 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on the country in the past 24 hours.
It is not clear if any of those killed in the Baalbek region were included in that figure.
In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the northeast city of Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as different parts of southern Lebanon, prompting roughly 60,000 people to flee their homes, according to Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese official representing the region.
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Israel has issued evacuation orders for people living in parts of Lebanon
Israel’s military said in a statement that attacks “in the area of Beirut” had targeted Hezbollah weapons manufacturing sites, command centres and other infrastructure.
Israeli planes also pounded Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighbourhoods, according to the Lebanese state news agency.
More than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after Hamas’s 7 October attack last year, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
Meanwhile, in northern Israel, seven people, including three Israelis and four Thai nationals, were killed by projectiles fired from Lebanon on Thursday, Israeli medics said.
World
North Korea vows to back Russia until ‘victory’ over Ukraine – as thousands of its troops ‘set to enter combat’
North Korea says it will support Russia in its war with Ukraine “until the day of victory” – after the US warned thousands of Pyongyang’s troops are set to enter combat in the coming days.
North Korea’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui hailed Vladimir Putin’s “wise leadership” ahead of talks in Moscow on Friday, and insisted that Russia will “achieve a great victory”.
“We also assure that until the day of victory we will firmly stand alongside our Russian comrades,” she added.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said thousands of North Korean troops are stationed near Ukraine’s border and are set to enter combat in the coming days.
Mr Blinken said 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to Russia, with up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, and indicated they would be used on the frontline.
He added that the troops have been trained by Russian forces in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”.
In an interview with South Korean TV channel KBS, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the West’s response to the deployment as “nothing, it’s zero”.
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North Korean troops near Ukraine border, US says
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday that he had “nothing to add to what has already been said” on the US claims, and thanked Ms Choe for North Korea’s support.
The deployment of troops to Russia comes after Mr Putin met Kim Jong Un in June, when the Russian president travelled to North Korea for the first time in 24 years.
Vladimir Putin met Kim Jong Un in North Korea in June. Pic: Reuters
A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.
Speaking in Moscow, Ms Choe accused the US and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.
She provided no evidence to back her claim, but spoke of regular consultations between Washington and Seoul, at which she alleged such plotting took place.
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Ms Choe also told Mr Lavrov that tensions on the Korean Peninsula could turn “explosive” at any moment.
On Thursday, North Korea tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it claimed was “the world’s most powerful strategic deterrent”.
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North Korea tests giant missile
On Friday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 31 Russian drones and one missile during an overnight strike across the country.
It said 48 drones were launched by Moscow, along with three cruise missiles. Out of the drones launched, another 14 were “locationally lost”.
More than 200 people have died in Spain after nearly a year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.
On Friday, there were at least 205 confirmed deaths in Valencia, two in Castilla La Mancha, and one in Andalusia.
Local authorities issued warnings late on Tuesday, but many say this gave them next-to-no time to prepare for the conditions that had killed dozens by Wednesday.
Here we look at what caused the flooding – and why they could happen again.
How quickly did the floods hit?
Heavy rain had already begun in parts of southern Spain on Monday.
In contrast to areas like Malaga, where residents told Sky News it had been “chucking it down for two days”, the rain did not start in the worst-hit region of Valencia until around 7pm on Tuesday.
At 8pm, people in Valencia received smartphone alerts warning them not to leave their homes.
But by then, many were already trapped in dangerous conditions, particularly in the south of the city where a major road had flooded, leaving drivers stuck in their cars.
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‘No one came to rescue us’
Deadly flood damage is ‘utterly random’
Deadliest weather events were fuelled by climate change
By Wednesday morning, more than 50 people had been found dead.
The Chiva area of Valencia had been hit by 491 litres per square metre of rain in eight hours. Only around 65 l/m2 usually falls in the whole of October.
Storms spread west on Wednesday night and into Thursday, bringing deadly conditions to Andalusia and Castilla La Mancha as well.
What caused them?
Heavy rain is not uncommon across eastern Spain at this time of year.
It’s caused by a weather phenomenon called DANA – ‘depresion aislada en niveles altos’ in Spanish – which translates as ‘isolated low-pressure system at high levels’.
DANA occurs when:
1) Cold air from the north moves south;
2) Warm air then blows over the Mediterranean, rising quickly and forming heavy clouds;
3) The low pressure from the north gets blocked by the high pressure above the water, causing it to slow down or stop completely.
A graphic shows how the DANA phenomenon happens
This creates storm-like conditions that cannot move anywhere else – so the rain falls over the same area for a sustained period of time.
What role did climate change play?
General flash floods and those caused by DANA specifically have struck Spain long before humans started warming the climate.
But climate change is making heavy rain worse, and therefore more dangerous.
That’s because hotter air is able to hold more moisture. So when it rains, it unleashes more water.
The current 1.3C increase in global temperatures since pre-industrial times means the air can carry about 9% more moisture.
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What caused the floods in Spain?
And higher sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean are a “key driver” of strong storms, said Dr Marilena Oltmanns, research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.
The world is on track for 3.1C warming by the end of this century, which is expected to make rain heavier still, increasing the chances of flash flooding and giving areas little time to respond.
Imperial College London’s lead for its World Weather Attribution (WWA) group Dr Friederike Otto says there is “no doubt about it”.
“These explosive downpours were intensified by climate change,” she says.
Professor Mark Smith, an expert in water science and health at the University of Leeds, adds that hotter summers also dry out the soil in the ground, which means it absorbs less rain – and more of it flows into rivers and lakes – which flood quicker.
Scale of devastation in Paiporta, Valencia on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
Abandoned and mangled cars in Valencia on Thursday. Pic: AP
Will they keep happening?
A red weather warning is in place for the Huelva area of Andalusia until Friday afternoon.
Beyond the warning period, storms are set to continue across parts of Spain for several days.
In the longer term, Dr Marilena Oltmanns says: “Given the long-term warming trend, both in the sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean region and the global air temperature, we expect the events like the currently observed one in Spain to become more frequent.”
Chiva and the surrounding worst-hit area also suffers from the unfortunate geography of being in a river catchment – where water feeds into the River Turia – and close to the mountains. And is not far from the sea.
That means water has little chance to absorb into the land and so builds up very quickly.
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This makes it all the more imperative that forecasts are accurate, authorities prepare accordingly, and residents respond quickly.
Professor Hannah Cloke, professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, describes people dying in their cars and being swept away in the street as “entirely avoidable”.
“This suggests the system for alerting people to the dangers of floods in Valencia has failed,” she says.
“People need to understand that extreme weather warnings for floods are very different from regular weather reports. We need to consider flood warnings totally differently, more like fire alarms or earthquake sirens, and less like the way we browse daily weather forecasts on our phones or on the TV.”
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Residents: ‘No one came to rescue us’
Gareth Redmond-King, international analyst at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), says Spain’s tragedy should serve as a “wake-up call” to the UK.
“This is not about future events in a far-off place with a dramatically different climate from the UK. Spain is one of our nearest neighbours,” he warns.
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