The TV and film industry is already limping after Hollywood screenwriters have gone on strike for over two months. Now the actors will also hang on. Held press conference During a press conference organized by the trade union SAG-AFTRA, the association’s president, Fran Drescher, said that the entire business model has changed with streaming, digitization and artificial intelligence. Fran Drescher is a star actor and is known from the TV series The Nanny. – We came together with the most overwhelming majority vote in the union’s history. – We stand strong. You have to wake up and smell the coffee, she continues. The union believes there is a danger that the actors will be replaced by machines. Director and negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, tells the press conference that studios have proposed to scan actors’ photos, and use them forever. – A strike is a last resort. We had no other option, he says. Film journalist, Einar Aarvig, believes the strike could gain extra weight with big names such as Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson in the union. Photo: Private – It’s huge. Without actors, you have nothing, says film journalist Einar Aarvig. It is the SAG-AFTRA union that is dissatisfied. It consists of 160,000 actors, entertainers and TV people. Meryl Streep, Rami Malek, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Neeson are among the members. Aarvig believes such star names can give the strike extra weight. The association was in negotiations with the production companies until Thursday morning Norwegian time. They did not agree within the deadline. Therefore, we will probably see a double strike in the industry for the first time in 63 years – and a collapsed Hollywood. – Screenwriters can get by without the Hollywood machinery for a little while, but if the actors also strike, it will be an even bigger problem, says film and series researcher Gry Cecilie Rustad at the Norwegian Film School. Gry Cecilie Rustad believes Hollywood could have a bigger problem if the actors also strike. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaa’s big films may be postponed The strike may cause most major productions to be paused, canceled or postponed. – If it goes on for a long time, then we will eventually run out of new films and series to watch – that there simply won’t be any more produced, says Rustad to news. In recent months, only films with finished scripts have continued filming. Long-awaited productions such as the Avengers films, the new Avatar film and an upcoming Star Wars film were already hit hard when the scriptwriters went on strike. Viewers will have to wait longer than planned to see the Avengers on the big screen again. Photo: Zade Rosenthal They have had the premiere date postponed for up to a whole year. If the actors go on strike, they are delayed even further in time. In addition, Gladiator 2, the next Mission Impossible film and the series House of Dragon are at risk. Why is Hollywood on strike? There are two important reasons why the actors will now take to the streets: The streaming services. It is not as profitable to be an actor in, for example, Netflix productions as it was on linear TV before. In addition, the actors believe that the streaming market is tough, and that it is more difficult to get jobs and good deals. Artificial intelligence. With today’s technology, you can use AI to read in audiobooks and engage in voice acting. Hollywood can also bring deceased stars “to life” on the screen, or make good copies of the living. The actors are afraid that AI will steal their jobs. – These are quite large sources of income that can be lost for many actors, says film researcher Rustad. Could be a short strike When SAG-AFTRA previously voted on whether they were willing to go on strike, 98 percent voted yes. Rustad believes that it is likely that several groups in Hollywood will eventually join the strike. – This is important for the film workers’ livelihood, she says. Both she and Aarvig think it could now be a short strike. – The more Hollywood people who strike, the shorter I think the strike will last, says Rustad.
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