A "double strike" in the entertainment industry hasn't happened in more than 60 years, but following failed negotiations between Hollywood studios and SAG-AFTRA, both actors and writers are now on strike.
With film and television studios part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers unable to reach a deal with SAG-AFTRA as of July 12, the strike officially begins at midnight and will impact 160,000 union members.
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP hadn't been going on for long, only beginning on June 7, with SAG fighting to gain protections against studios using generative AI in films and shows, as well as better overall compensation for streaming films and shows. SAG has said the AMPTP has not budged on any single talking point, which led to the vote for a strike.
The silver lining for Apple, which is just one company associated with the failed negotiations, is the company's size. Apple TV+ only plays a small role in its Services division that rakes in billions of dollars every single quarter.
As the strike goes on, all actors that are part of the union will stop work on projects, from films to TV shows and promotional efforts. Despite the ongoing writer's strike, actors have been working on projects as available as long as the scripts for those films and series were already completed.
SAG-AFTRA's National Board officially called an #ActorsStrike against major film and television companies as contract talks with studios and streamers broke down without a deal on July 12 https://t.co/C1VI1daRRD pic.twitter.com/6keqd4jeI1
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 13, 2023
The writer's strike already hit Apple TV+ pretty hard, especially for notable series like "Severance" and the highly anticipated "Metropolis." But the second season of "Loot" starring Maya Rudolph has also seen production halt due to the strike, and even the third season finale for "Ted Lasso" at the Paley Center in California was canceled over the issue.
With SAG-AFTRA moving to strike, this means any and all productions Apple TV+ has a hand in will be coming to a halt beginning July 14. What's more, there's no telling how long these strikes will go on, so there's no way of knowing when production will begin for new films and series for any studio, not just Apple.
11 Comments
It will be interesting to see what scheme the studios/streamers come up with going forward. So far no one has business model for streaming that works for all parties involved. Unfortunately, any new scheme will 100% means higher costs to consumers. In order for writers, directors and actors to receive residuals from streaming, we will have to pay on a per view basis. And of course that means we will pay a lot more than we pay now for content.
I've updated John Lennon's fine words to a more modern concept - I hope he approves, or maybe I am totally out of touch.
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today, I
Imagine there's no social media
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no influencers too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no opinions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Dust off the library card and actually stimulate your mind with some reading and perhaps discourse with other human beings...
OnlyFans is loving this strike. OnlyFans is COiN. Who cares about Hollywierd.
They were saying that the cast of Oppenheimer had to leave the UK premier of the film due to the strike.