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
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
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Do Trump and Netanyahu really get along?
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
Read more:
IDF chief says conditions ‘created’ for Gaza ceasefire
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal ?
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Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
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