LA Actors Flood Picket Lines As SAG-AFTRA Members Join Writers In Historic Strike

Outside the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, on a hot summer's day, with drivers honking a continuous show of sport, hundreds of actors wore black shirts and carried picket signs reading “SAG-AFTRA On Strike!” They said they were determined to strike as long as needed to win better pay and labor conditions in an industry upended by the transition to digital streaming.

Actor Michael Scott, a SAG member since 2012, showed up to the picket line before 9 a.m. He said his career so far has shown how drastic the difference in pay and residuals can be between network projects and streaming shows.

“[Network] shows lasted a longer time. You could sustain yourself with that particular income,” Scott said. “Residuals from the streamers will definitely not add up the way that they used to.”

Human stories

Scott said the industry needs to include actors in new business models, and not propose replacing them with digitally rendered images created through artificial intelligence (AI).

“We really want to be a part of that growth and that change and continue to tell human stories,” Scott said. “That's what you'll lose if you only take on digital technology and make it all about the bottom line.”

Concern about AI was echoed by others on the picket line. SAG president Fran Drescher said yesterday, “If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble, we are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines.”

SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in the Thursday press conference announcing the strike that during negotiations, the studios proposed paying background actors for one day’s work, scanning their images and then using AI to replicate their likeness in perpetuity on any project without further compensation.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued a statement saying the strike will economically harm thousands who depend on L.A.'s entertainment industry.

They said they offered “historic pay and residual increases,” as well as AI protections.

Jack Leal has been a SAG member for 45 years, and said he joined the picket lines for the union’s last strike in 1980. He said this strike involves disputes over new technology, but in many ways the dynamics are exactly the same as they were 43 years ago.

“Greed just grows,” Leal said. “We’ve got to keep up with technology. We’ve got to keep up with everything that they're trying to use against us. That's all. We're just asking for a fair shake.”

Other picket lines were formed outside studios including Warner Brothers, Sony, Fox, Paramount, Netflix and Amazon.

Staying the distance

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the region on Friday, forecasting a high of 98 degrees Fahrenheit in Burbank. To combat the heat, union organizers set up canopies where striking actors could pick up free bottles of cold water. Many on the picket lines brought hats and sunscreen, ready to march throughout the day.

It’s unclear how long the dual actors and writers strikes will continue. Some on the picket line said they plan to use financial savings to sustain themselves if the strike drags on for months. Dry spells are nothing new for actors who often go long stretches of time without steady work, they said.

But others said the strike will be financially challenging. Youlanda Davis said making her home and car payments during the strike won’t be easy.

Speaking to producers on the other side of the bargaining table, Davis said, “Cut it out, guys. We're not sitting on yachts like you are. We're barely making our mortgage. We're one paycheck away from being homeless. So that's why we're out here.”

The strike will have wider effects locally too, as businesses that are connected to TV and movie production will see their revenue shrink. Economist Adam Fowler with L.A.-based CVL Economics says depending on how long this strike lasts, some companies might struggle to survive.

“A lot of those folks are small. And so it's a question of, are they able to pay their rents and keep other kinds of costs of business things in the period of time before they can expect that activity to be back.”