Actors poised to go on strike against studios, streaming services
Some very famous faces could soon be on picket lines as the union representing about 160,000 actors prepares to possibly go on strike against major studios and streaming services. The current contract for the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) expires at 11:59 pm PDT Friday. The actors could join 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America, who have already been on strike for two months.
Industry experts like Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer and writer and author of a book on the 2007-08 writers strike, “Hollywood on Strike!: An Industry at War in the Internet Age,” expects that there will be a strike. Although there are signs, he added, that the current contract could be extended into next week and postpone the possible start of an actors strike past the July 4 holiday.
“My betting is that may be a short extension, but there will probably be a strike. While discussions have been productive, it does not necessarily mean they’re close to a deal,” said Handel.
Production of many movies and television shows have already been shutdown by the current writers strike. An actors strike would bring most remaining productions to a halt, other than on some independent films not associated with studios. There has been no visible progress in ending the writers strike since it started. Now, there are concerns that if the actors join the writers on strike, the shutdowns could stretch through the summer, maybe even through the end of the year.
This would be the first actors strike against television shows and movie productions since 1980. The industry has obviously changed radically since then, when most shows were on just three broadcast networks and movies were only shown first in theaters. Video rental giant Blockbuster hadn’t started yet, let alone been forced out of business by streaming.
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