{"id":734,"date":"2023-07-14T10:26:10","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T10:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dmediagh.com\/?p=734"},"modified":"2023-07-14T10:26:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T10:26:11","slug":"hollywood-actors-walk-out-over-pay-and-ai-worries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dmediagh.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/14\/hollywood-actors-walk-out-over-pay-and-ai-worries\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood actors walk out over pay and AI worries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hollywood actors have joined a strike by screenwriters in the industry\u2019s biggest shutdown for more than 60 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 160,000 performers stopped work at midnight in Los Angeles, bringing to a halt most US film and TV productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) wants streaming giants to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also wants to protect actors from being usurped by digital replicas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union is seeking guarantees that artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-generated faces and voices will not be used to replace actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the strike lasts, actors cannot appear in films or even promote movies that they have already made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt left the premiere of Christopher Nolan\u2019s Oppenheimer in London on Thursday night as the strike was declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film\u2019s director, Christopher Nolan, told the cinema audience that they were \u201coff to write their picket signs\u201d, adding that he supported them in their struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several actors took to Instagram to voice their support for the strike, including Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk, Sex and the City\u2019s Cynthia Nixon and Hollywood veteran Jamie Lee Curtis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picketing will begin on Friday morning outside the California headquarters of Netflix, before moving on to Paramount, Warner Bros and Disney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address concerns about the use of AI, the big studios have offered what they call a \u201cground-breaking proposal\u201d that would protect the digital likeness of actors and require their consent when digital replicas are used in performances, or alterations are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the union rejected the offer, made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SAG\u2019s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, said it was unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day\u2019s pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you think that\u2019s a ground-breaking proposal, I suggest you think again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Actors Emily Blunt (L), Cillian Murphy (centre) and Florence Pugh (R) at the premiere of Oppenheimer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For films in production, the strike means a large portion of work will become impossible. Even in cases in which filming has already been completed, actors will be unavailable for re-shoots and other essential elements of the filmmaking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TV shows that are still being filmed will also largely have to stop, although in some cases side deals could be struck between performers and producers to allow work to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Hollywood stars will not be able to attend events to promote new and upcoming releases. Events including the Emmys and Comic-Con may be rescheduled or scaled back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AMPTP said the strike was \u201ccertainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry,\u201d its statement added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union is officially known as the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another of its demands of the streaming services is that actors should receive greater base pay and residuals \u2013 meaning payments made to actors from repeats of films and programmes they\u2019ve starred in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike includes tens of thousands of actors who receive significantly less pay for minor parts than their A-list colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the old model, they get residuals based on success,\u201d Kim Masters, the editor-in-chief of the Hollywood Reporter, told the BBC. \u201cIn the new model, they don\u2019t get to find out what\u2019s going on behind the scenes, because the streamers don\u2019t share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fran Drescher, SAG\u2019s president, said the strike came at a \u201cvery seminal moment\u201d for actors in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening to us is happening across all fields of labour,\u201d she said, \u201cwhen employers make Wall Street and greed their priority, and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A separate strike by the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America demanding better pay and working conditions has been going since 2 May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some writers have turned to projects that are not covered by the contract between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cdouble strike\u201d by both unions is the first since 1960, when the SAG was led by actor Ronald Reagan, long before he entered politics and became US president. The last strike by actors took place in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during a gathering of industry leaders at an Idaho resort ahead of the SAG\u2019s announcement on Thursday, Disney chief executive Bob Iger said the demands of both actors and writers were impractical and damaging to an industry still recovering from the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very disturbing to me,\u201d Mr Iger said. \u201cThis is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third union, the Directors Guild of America, successfully negotiated a contract in June and will not participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hollywood actirs<\/a>Salary<\/a>Screenwriters<\/a>Strike<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: BBC<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dmedia News
(Domajuosu Multimedia)<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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