A Hollywood mega-strike involving writers and performers is likely to grind to a halt the production of most movies and many popular television shows.
The last time members of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) walked out was in July 1980.
Back then, part of the row between members and entertainment giants was about profits from the sale of shows and movies made for cable television and videotapes, the New York Times reported at the time.
Forty-three years later, the new walkout – which joins an existing strike by writers – centres on similar demands relating to material made for streaming platforms and concerns over artificial intelligence.
Which movies are affected?
SAG-AFTRA said at a news conference on Thursday that the walkout will involve members on its 2020 TV and theatrical contract.
Upcoming releases due to hold promotional events like press junkets and red-carpet premieres include Disney’s Haunted Mansion (released 28 July), a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film (2 August), Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie mystery A Haunting In Venice (15 September).
Some of the biggest blockbusters currently in production include Wonder Woman 3, Ghostbusters 4, Mufasa: The Lion King and Avatar 3 and 4, according to the Internet Movie Database.
While writing for these projects is likely to be completed, the strike by performers will bring a stop to a large proportion of production work and cause havoc with scheduling.
The number of filming permits for feature films and television projects, including reality TV, in Los Angeles plunged 64% last week, compared to the same week in 2022, according to figures from FilmLA.
“In a normal week at this time of year, there would be dozens of scripted television projects in production. By contrast, we have no scripted TV series with permits to film this week,” the agency said.
Even if principal photography – the main bit of filming on a project – is finished, actors are now unavailable for common requests such as re-shoots and dialogue replacement – where lines are re-recorded to correct errors or mumbling.
Overseas productions, like Paramount’s Gladiator sequel filming in Morocco and Malta, are also expected to be affected.
What about TV shows?
In terms of TV, Warner Bros Discovery previously boasted about the minimal disruption of the writers’ strike to HBO projects like House of the Dragon series because scripts were complete.
But the strike by performers who are members of SAG-AFTRA means many fully written screenplays are now likely to be left sitting unused.
It is believed side deals could be struck between guild performers and producers to enable certain projects to continue.
In the US, other TV projects expected to be in production this summer include the second series of the Night Court reboot and Chicago Med, Fire and P.D. on NBC, NCIS and Young Sheldon on CBS, and Family Guy and The Simpsons on Fox.
US networks have responded by expanding the amount of “unscripted content”, like The Masked Singer, The Amazing Race, Survivor and Kitchen Nightmares, in their fall schedules.
What happens next?
As sound stages across the US and other parts of the world fall quieter as a result of the Hollywood mega-strike, meetings between the guilds and entertainment industry representatives will take place.
In 1980, during the last actors’ strike, the walkout lasted 10 weeks as the two sides grappled with the terms of a new settlement that reflected the demands and concerns of all sides.
The estimated cost of that walkout was put at about $100m (£76m) by the industry, the New York Times said at the time, equivalent to about $370m today.
The last time both writers and actors went on strike together was in 1960 – when writers downed tools for 21 weeks and actors stopped work for six.
This time around negotiations could be even more protracted, with some actors urging their union to take a hard-line approach, according to industry bible Variety.
“This is not a moment to meet in the middle, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that the eyes of history are on all of us,” it reported a letter, signed by 2,000 actors, as saying.
For their part, Hollywood employers and producers said they were disappointed by SAG-AFTRA’s decision, which they said dismissed a historic offer.
Responding to the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said it was “certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life”.
“The union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”
