For the first time in over 60 years, Hollywood film production studios have announced a work stoppage following a strike by thousands of actors, marking the worst event for the industry. The actors' strike complements the writers' strike that began nearly two months ago. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher emphasized the seriousness of the union's decision, which represents about 160,000 actors, to go on strike at midnight PT on Friday morning.
The strike comes after the actors’ and writers’ unions failed to reach a financial settlement with production studios for higher wages and concerns about their skills being replaced by artificial intelligence technologies for writing scripts, or for replicating their voices and images. The union, which includes more than 160,000 actors and workers, described the production companies' salary proposals as degrading.
Actors and major film and television studios were working to avoid reaching this moment by meeting with federal mediators for contract discussions. Union President Fran Drescher stated that the union no longer had options, particularly after they became "victims of very greedy institutions." She called the strike a "historic moment," asserting that everyone is at risk of being replaced by machines, with the sole concern of companies being profit.
The strike coincides with the centennial of the famous Hollywood sign, which originally read "Hollywoodland" before being changed to its current form in 1949.
