The industrial action by members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Sag-Aftra union has disrupted the film and television industries for the past month, bringing global production to a standstill and delaying the release of a number of high-profile movies.
The focus of the dispute has been on residuals - the payments performers receive for repeat showings of films and TV shows - as well as issues over actors' likenesses being reproduced by artificial intelligence.
It is the first time in 60 years that Hollywood actors have joined their screenwriting colleagues on the picket line, with Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix and Jamie Lee Curtis among the famous names backing the action.
Many Equity members in Britain also belong to Sag-Aftra and a lot of British films are co-productions, meaning UK workers have also been affected by the strike.
Ian Heard, a 39-year-old location scout based in Sussex, said he expected to barely earn anything for the rest of the year. "Covid blew all my savings... You've got to pay your tax bill, pay your mortgage, and then you've got higher food prices, you've got higher energy bills, everything is higher and there's not really anywhere you can cut ... Everyone's going to suffer."
Heard said crew workers were not represented in the strikes by actors or writers, making it hard for some to support the action. "Crew know that when everything is back to normal, their conditions won't improve."
This story is from the August 14, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the August 14, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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