Some of you may or may not know that both the WGA(Writers Guild of America) and SAG-AFTRA(Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Actors) are on strike. The WGA wants better pay for content that is going out via streaming services. For instance it has been reported that the writer/creator of the Netflix hit show Squid Game(a show that made $900M for Netflix), was paid $0 dollars in residuals. Residuals are the money that actors/creators(writers) receive each time a show is played. When we just had “regular” TV and cable networks, that amount was “baked” into the contract. With streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ etc, that model no longer works, primarily because Streaming Services pay for the original purchase of content, and then nothing after that. This is what the WGA is wanting to change, so if Squid Game(for instance) gets watched 500 times by 500 different households next week, the creator will get residuals from each “watching”. Now, studios don’t do that, and they don’t want to because that cuts into their profits. There have been reports that the studios want to “bleed the unions dry” to break them, which will allow the studios to set the terms in the next contract as opposed to negotiating them with the union.
Now the Actors strike(SAG-AFTRA) is completely different, but actually helps the writers in their strike. The Actors are fighting the studios use of AI for things such as Background Characters, Why hire actors for background roles and pay them $250 a day(or so), plus have to pay for their health insurance when they are on the set, and have craft services(food and drink). If you are doing a 1 day shoot on a beach, you need about 250 background people, so that is $250 per actor, plus Food and drink, and meal breaks for all those people. even if you are doing sandwiches(the cheapest way to do it), it still adds to the cost. Instead the studios want to shoot the main actors, and then digitally insert the other 250 people via computer. The second thing the actors are fighting is the studios want to have them record their voice, and then “allow” the studio to use their voice “whenever they want to”. Now the actors will get paid for a day of voice over work, but nothing else. So 50 years from now, if a studio wants to do a reboot of Indiana Jones, they would have both Harrison Fords’ image and voice, and be able to make a movie by computer, and not pay his estate anything because “he didn’t do the work”.
Now what does the actors strike mean, it means all productions involving the studios is shut down. some movies already affected include “Gladiator 2″, MI:Dead Reckoning part 2”, “Deadpool 3” etc. It also means all press junkets for movies such as Oppenheimer(coming out on 7/21/23) have stopped, In fact, when the strike started, the actors got up and left the theater where the premier was being held. It means events like SDCC where a lot of new shows and movies are announced in Hall H, won’t have the writers or actors in attendance. Now Actors can attend fan conventions and do autograph sessions and photo ops, for past shows, they just can not promote anything upcoming. So things like STLV(Star Trek Las Vegas) will still go on. In fact these fan conventions will become the only income source for a lot of actors.
Now comes the big question…..WHAT CAN THE FANS DO TO SUPPORT THE STRIKES??? #1 – Go to fan conventions and purchase autograph and photo ops. #2 – DO NOT go to the movies, by staying out of the theater, you are hurting the studios, and supporting the strikers. #3 – Cancel or avoid using streaming services such as Netflix, HULU, Disney+ etc. Yes I know #3 is gonna hurt, there are a lot of great shows on streaming services right now(I’m in the middle of Marvels Secret Invasion), but you can use free services such as VUDU etc to find something to watch, or catch up on something that was made a few years ago, that you need to binge watch. If you are like me and have stuff saved to a hard drive, watch that instead.
I talked to 2 friends who are in the union, one got a .23 cent residual check last month, the other says “my last residual check for a commercial I did was .02 cents”. I’m going to support my fellow creator and actor friends, the vast majority of them are not wealthy by any imagination. They need to pay bills just like you and I, and want their job(studio’s) to treat them with respect. Remember while the studios are saying it costs to much to pay the creators fairly, they ARE paying their CEO’s MILLIONS of dollars each year. If they can afford that Studio CEO pay, they can afford to pay the writers and actors as well.
Stay Geeky, my friends
