NEW ORLEANS — As of Friday, the actors' union SAG-AFTRA has joined the Writers Guild of America on strike against the The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Without actors and screenwriters, production has paused on most major TV shows.
The shutdown is already being felt in Louisiana. The state is home to dozens of studios and soundstages, half of which are in the greater New Orleans area. The workers associated with them create hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue every year.
One of them is Casey Dave. She is working as a costumer and production assistant on the set of the show Twisted Metal. When the writers went on strike, they were still able to continue shooting, since there were some episodes written already. Then SAG-AFTRA struck. Now, production is on pause. "We’re wrapping up we’re getting the clothes back in the studio like off the trucks and like everything," she said. "There’s no work." Next week the set will shut down completely.
Both the striking writers and actors are demanding better pay. Before the streaming era, they would be paid "residuals" every time an episode of their show aired, including reruns. Now, the structure has changed completely. "Even though that content is viewed over and over by someone who is paying to see that content," said Yvette Foy, a screenwriter from New Orleans who lived in Los Angeles, "the writer is seeing none or in some cases very little of what is coming from that content." Foy has been on the picket line in front of major LA studios since the WGA strike began. "We’re gonna be in it as long as we need to to affect change," she told WWL-TV.
The strikers are also asking for better working conditions, shorter exclusivity contracts, and protections against artificial intelligence. There is fear studios could use AI technology to create infinite quasi-copies of both scripts and appearances.
"They want to be able to pay an extra one time then use their likeness," explained Martin "Bats" Bradford. He is an actor with a long list of credits, including Venom, The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray, and NCIS: New Orleans. "You pay the extra, what, a hundred dollars? And then use their face for decades to come and not pay them."
AMPTP said it presented a "groundbreaking" AI protections proposal during negotiations, as well as a large pay bump and "substantial increases" in pensions and benefits. It accused SAG-AFTRA of deepening the "financial hardships" of its members.
Bradford, like other actors, has been unable to find screen work since the WGA strike began.
He says it is a misconception that everyone who works in Hollywood has millions to get them through a period of unemployment, saying for the majority, it is akin to a "nine to five, and even less than a nine to five because you do a gig, you're unemployed again, and you’re looking for your next gig." He is looking forward to August, when he will resume his other work as a teacher. "I say we need to be checking on the mental health of everyone in this industry," he said, "because none of us are doing well especially as it continues."