Hollywood actors began strike at midnight on Thursday after talks with studios broke down, joining film and television writers who have been on picket lines since May and deepening the disruption of scores of shows and movies.
The twin strikes will add to the economic damage from the writers walkout, delivering another blow to an industry struggling with changes to its business.
The actors’ union announced at a Thursday press conference that the strike will begin at midnight after its national board unanimously authorized the walkout.
Fran Drescher, former star of “The Nanny” TV show and the president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to actors’ concerns “insulting and disrespectful.”
“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” Drescher said. “I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions to their CEOs. It is disgusting.”
The group said it had offered the highest percentage increases in minimum pay levels in 35 years, “substantial increases” in pension and healthcare contribution caps, and a 76% increase in foreign residuals paid from big-budget streaming shows, among other benefits.
The studios also put forward “a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses,” the AMPTP said. Actors are worried that their digital images will be used without their permission or proper compensation.
“Rather than continuing to negotiate, SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods,” the AMPTP said.