After months of protesting and negotiating, the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike ended, leaving a major impact on Hollywood. As production resumes, movie and television fans alike are excited for the roll out of these new films.
On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild officially went on strike, protesting around Los Angeles CA to demand higher pay. The strike went on for nearly five months, but on September 27, it finally wrapped up after a new contract with studios. Thanks to the new deal, writers meet their expectations on a higher pay, more writers for seven to twelve or thirteen to more episodes, transparency on the total number of hours streamed on a streaming service, higher health contributions, pensions, etc.
“It was going to happen and I’m glad it happened,” senior Eric Robinson said. “The writers weren’t getting enough recognition.”
The strike was major news, but there was more news to come. On July 14, actors officially went on strike for better pay and working conditions. Actors also weren’t allowed to promote their movies and shows in compliance with the strike organizers. Some actors, mainly background actors, were also scanned to be replaced with AI.
“It is disrespectful to the actors, especially if the intent is to replace them with that scanned model,” sophomore Justin Tobiason said. “Even if the actor is deceased, it just doesn’t feel right to me to continue using their image.”
On November 9, a deal was made for SAG, ending the four month-long strike. The deal included higher pay, limits on AI, increased number of background actors, bonuses for shows and movies that are streaming, and much more.
With both of the strikes happening concurrently at that time, many TV shows and movies took a toll due to actors not being able to promote them, casting processes being paused and halts in production and filming for nearly five months. Saturday Night Live, Stranger Things, and Marvel movies such as Deadpool 3 and Thunderbolts were just some of the many on the long list that were affected by the strikes with the long delay in writing and filming.
“One thing I was worried about was the Bob Marley movie that’s coming out,” Robinson said.
Now that both of the strikes are over, things in the movie and TV show business are back in motion. The fifth season of the hit Netflix show, Stranger Things, has begun filming, Saturday Night Live is back in its full glory, Deadpool 3 has recently wrapped filming, the new Superman movie will begin filming next month, and tons of other projects are progressing as they continue to write and film.
Although things are back on track in the movie business, there are some issues that arose following the strikes. Steven Yeun recently dropped out of Marvel’s Thunderbolts due to scheduling conflicts, but he was just one of the many actors who dropped out of a project due to this issue. The strike has impacted many aspects of the film business for better or for worse, but fortunately, things in the industry are moving forward.
“I’m glad to see that they striked but I’m also glad to see it’s over,” Robinson said.
Everything seems to have worked out well for writers and actors, but this isn’t the first time something similar like this has happened. There have been around eight different writers and actors’ strikes over the years fighting for a similar cause. These strikes are extremely important for all writers and actors to unite together and get what they deserve.
“It’s always important for people to get what they deserve,” Tobiason said. “Whether it’s better pay or better working conditions or anything in between.”
