NEW ORLEANS — More than a hundred people rallied Thursday to protest as part of the writers and actors strike.
Protestors rallied at Armstrong Park, calling for better pay, residuals and restrictions using artificial intelligence. The strike has been going on for months now, causing Hollywood and, "Hollywood South," to shut down.
Actors like Billy Slaughter, standing up to studios, he told Eyewitness News, "Our very livelihood, our existence as working actors is on the line."
Slaughter went on to say, "The disparity is unacceptable and literally unlivable."
"Most of what actors make are from residuals that's what we use to survive that's how we get our health insurance, pay our bills and feed our families, it's just getting our fair share of the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars the executives, the studios and producers are making."
It’s not just the people you see on screen fighting for what they say they deserve, it’s those writing the movies and TV shows they appear in also striking, and screenwriter David DuBos is one of them.
"I might sell a screenplay and make some pretty good money, but I have to make that last because I might not sell a screenplay for a couple of years... its important to get paid and get the residuals," DuBos said.
According to New Orleans SAG AFTRA President, Jim Gleason there hasn't been a strike like this since the '60s, he said the aim of the rally is to show support, saying, "We show our solidarity with the national SAG AFTRA so we say we're here, we're part of it."
He went on to say, "Generations like myself that came after it have benefited from that, this is another historic strike, the model for streamers are different from television and they have taken advantage of it. And no longer, we're putting our foot down."
The fight isn’t over until those on and off screen say they get what they're calling for.
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