The Barbenheimer phenomenon resulted in an international craze this past summer. However, while occasional movie-watchers and cinephiles made their way to the theatres, beloved and well renowned actors approached picket lines.
Streaming services and artificial intelligence technologies are rapidly changing the entire landscape of television and movie-watching. As a result, various media professionals took to the picket lines this past July to fight for better wages and working conditions as they combat the consequences of these developments. On 9 November 2023 at 12:01 AM, after 118 days, the longest strike against Hollywood studios came to a conclusion. This resolution was the result of a tentative agreement between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“SAG-AFTRA”) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”), which has been officially ratified since early December.
Understandably, these long acronyms warrant a further description of the members of whom they represent. The SAG-AFTRA is a union which represents approximately 160 thousand media professionals, ranging from actors to journalists to stunt performers. In contrast, AMPTP represents production companies and widely used streaming services such as Netflix and Disney. Every 3 years, the contract between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is to be renegotiated. This past year, the June 2023 deadline was extended until 12 July 2023. Though, with the advent of streaming services and the unregulated use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies, SAG members raised concerns regarding declining residuals, alongside wages that do not correspond properly with inflation. For example, actors can no longer depend on royalties paid from reruns of television shows they have starred in, and AI technologies are powerful enough to reproduce the way in which an actor delivers their performance.
Of 65 thousand SAG members, 98 percent authorized union leaders to strike in the event that no deal on these matters is reached by the renegotiation deadline. AMPTP remained stringent on their position, however, the SAG-AFTRA’s position was leveraged by the participation of powerful actors who joined fellow members directly on the ground, at the picket lines. Familiar names include Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, who walked out of the UK premiere of Oppenheimer upon receiving word of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Finally, in November the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA negotiated an agreement which includes increasing wages, protections against the use of AI, and even streaming-based bonuses. This agreement was officially ratified in December.
With the collective action of actors, including large names like Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, this year’s strike resulted in a historic halt to labour services for film and television in the United States. The union was successful in their endeavour to better protect their professionals in a world with rapid technological advancements, where the artistic value of one’s work has been neglected as a consequence of digitization.