SAG-AFTRA Members and Supporters Raise Their Pickets
As floods of entertainment professionals march steadfastly onto the picket lines, the essence of Hollywood has been muted. On July 13, SAG-AFTRA announced that its members would be going on strike following their defeat against a fair contract with renowned production studios under AMPTP.
In light of this announcement, cast members of the upcoming film Oppenheimer walked out of their London premiere to write their picket signs for the strike. Alongside the Oppenheimer cast, other members of SAG-AFTRA have raised their signs and began their protest against unfair compensation, artificial intelligence, and a list of other mistreatments in the industry.
SAG-AFTRA represents a long list of celebrity favorites—approximately 160,000. From actors to broadcasters, DJs, dancers, writers, and artists, they all stand as one voice for the creative intellectuals we see and hear both on and off our screens. On the opposing side of the strike is The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents well-known companies including Netflix, Amazon, Disney, NBC Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros.
Proposals and Counters
On July 17, SAG-AFTRA released the document above where they stated their purpose alongside specific proposals made to AMPTP as of July 13 and the counters they were offered. To read into the specific proposals and counters, click here.
The 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike has been flooding the news since the beginning of May. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA go hand-in-hand with one another—calling on fair compensation for professionals all over the entertainment industry. While the WGA is calling on fair compensation for writers who bring us casual TV watchers compelling shows like Yellowjackets, Succession, and Stranger Things—SAG-AFTRA alike is protesting the unfair compensation of actors when their work is streamed, released on DVD, or rerun on cable TV.
When one imagines Hollywood, one may think of headlining actors and their luxurious lives. While “big names,” including Meryl Streep and Mark Ruffalo, have joined the strike; at the forefront of this calling are actors whose names aren’t commonly heard, alongside the writers who are arguably the reason for our entertainment.
These are not the first strikes Hollywood has seen. Across decades, since the founding of the Writer’s Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, picket signs have been raised a handful of times—the most recent being from 2007 to 2008, which lasted approximately 100 days. While the final total financial loss for the 2023 strikes cannot be said yet, the 2007 strike cost California around $2 billion.
Now that you’ve grasped the baseline of this strike, you may be left wondering: what does this mean for the press tours of movies like Barbie, release dates for series like Euphoria, and filming for movies like Gladiator 2?
The SAG-AFTRA strike will halt the production of numerous films and TV shows. While some dates are yet to be confirmed, there is talk of further release years for productions many of us have been on the edge of the seat waiting for.
Euphoria’s season three release is said to be pushed to 2026, leaving most actors including Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, and Jacob Elordi to enter their 30s. Stranger Things production was halted at the start of the WGA strike, and with the SAG-AFTRA strike—we may be waiting until 2025 for the final season of the show to turn our world “Upside Down.”
The post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us, starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal has halted production until further notice, leaving fans in the air with a release date. After criticism for continuing production despite the strikes, American Horror Story has put an official hold on the production of season 12 featuring the controversial cameo of Kim Kardashian.
While all release dates depend on the result and timeline of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it can be guaranteed our favorites mentioned above with honorable mentions of White Lotus, Saturday Night Live, and films including Wicked and Beetlejuice 2 will not reach our screens for quite some time.
Movies nearing our theaters, such as Barbie and Oppenheimer, have discontinued the remainder of their press tours to join the picket line. While audiences will still be able to view these productions, it is encouraged to remember the writers’, directors’, and actors’ roles in the making of these films.
Although the silence of our screens comes with disappointed fans of affected productions, The Lexington Line encourages all watchers to redirect the disappointment to the production corporations. The creatives who provide us with soul-wrenching, laugh-inducing, and, all-in-all, comfort entertainment deserve their spot against artificial intelligence and unfair compensation.