Strike in Hollywood? Deadline for agreement in US acting industry passed “This is unacceptable” – Lula rejects amendment to EU-Mercosur trade agreement

In poker for more money and other demands for American actors, a deadline for an agreement expired shortly before midnight (Los Angeles local time) on Wednesday.

It was initially unclear whether the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA would call for a strike after the expiry of this period, as previously threatened. SAG-AFTRA and the association of TV and film studios AMPTP had been negotiating for weeks and called in an arbitrator. A strike would again be a serious blow to the entertainment industry in the US, as screenwriters have been out of work since May 2.

The actors’ union had threatened to strike if an agreement was not reached by midnight on Wednesday (11:59 p.m. in Los Angeles, 8:59 a.m. CEST). Among other things, the actors had demanded better compensation and regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.

Both the creative industry – authors and actors – are suffering from the fact that more films and series are being produced, but budgets are falling and series are often shot with fewer episodes per season. In addition, reruns on streaming providers, unlike on television, entail lower royalties for the creatives and are independent of the number of viewers.

The SAG-AFTRA union, chaired by actress Fran Drescher (“The Nanny”), has more than 160,000 members, including film and television actors, stuntmen, TV journalists and presenters. A strike would only affect actors and actresses from series and films. It would be binding on all of them, they wouldn’t be allowed to work in front of the camera.

About 65,000 union members took part in a vote on June 7 and 97.9 percent were in favor of a strike. In addition, stars such as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Ben Stiller and Pedro Pascal publicly expressed their solidarity.

The screenwriters’ strike is already having an impact on viewers, for example, many nightly shows can no longer be broadcast as usual. According to American media, hardly any films and series could have been shot if there had been a double strike. (aeg/sda/dpa)