HOLLYWOOD on strike!

ACTORS FOLLOW WRITERS IN PROTESTING FOR BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS

- Sara Tapia

Actors have joined screenwriters in walking off the job, a historic move that has Hollywood grinding to an immediate halt. On July 14, members of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) stopped work, joining members of the Writers Guild of America who have been protesting since May 2 – in the biggest tandem strike in over 60 years.

Here, WHO breaks down why the walkout happened, who is involved and what it means for the future of entertainment and all your favourite TV shows.

HOW DID IT START?

The decision to strike came hours after contract negotiations with companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Warner Bros. failed to pass before the July 12 deadline. Both writers and actors had been back-andforth with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over a series of issues, including wages and residuals, with the unions accusing them of being “unwilling to offer a fair deal”.

Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny and the current president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios’ responses to actors’ concerns “insulting and disrespectful”, and hit out at them in a powerful speech.

“I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us,” the 65-year-old said at a Los Angeles press conference on July 13. “I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?