On May 2, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. On July 14, the actors union SAG-AFTRA joined them, effectively shutting down Hollywood. As of September 24 a tentative agreement between the writers and studios has been reached. This means that while the strike is still in place, picketing has been called off. The actors have not reached any agreements, and writers are being urged to support actors on their picket lines while the strike is still in place. The strike comes as a result of conflicts between writers and studio producers, primarily over wages. Writers have raised concerns about AI’s role in the industry, and about policies that streaming platforms are using to exploit writers.
The actors are striking for similar pay concerns. In the past, actors have been paid when reruns of episodes appeared on tv. Now, in the age of streaming services, money from reruns has diminished considerably and wages have not been adjusted to compensate. Strikes like this have happened before; the last writers strike was in 2008, but did not include the actors union. The strike lasted a little over three months, but Hollywood did not shut down the way it has now. The end date of the actors’ strike is so far unknown, and the fact that two unions are striking together complicates things. Eliot Rocket, a director of photography in film, explains that “even if the writers resolve their situation, it will take also resolving the actors situation for anything to start back up again.”
Writers and actors are not the only people being affected by this strike. Many others in the film industry are out of a job simply because production on projects has ground to a halt. Rocket says he has been “completely out of work since the strike,” and “everyone that works in scripted entertainment, predominantly television and movies … is just twiddling their thumbs right now.” Despite the drawback of losing work, many people in the industry are in support of the strike, and don’t want it to be resolved until the actors and writers get what they’re asking for. “[This strike is] a really important one, for two main reasons,” says Steve Bodow, an executive producer who spent 17 years at the “Daily Show.” “The structure of the industry has changed tremendously since the previous writers strike, and the way the writers get paid has changed. It used to be easier to make a full, complete, decent living,” explains Bodow. “The second one is AI, which is a sort of new entrant into the whole mess. Think how much AI has developed since last November, just when Chat GPT came out… it’s become clear that it’s very important to get some kind of governance over the way it operates with writers’ scripts.”
For most people, the main downside of this strike has been the loss or postponing of programs they like. The most visibly and immediately affected shows were the late night talk shows, which stopped airing right after the strike began, and are still only showing reruns. “The Daily Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” and others like them are not expected to be up and running until the strike has been resolved. Shows from every streaming platform are experiencing delays, including upcoming seasons of “Stranger Things,” “Outer Banks,” “The Sandman,” “Abbot Elementary,” “Shadow and Bone,” and “Euphoria.” Even before the actors went on strike, many shows with fully written scripts were still put on hold, because, as the Duffer brothers wrote on Twitter, “writing does not stop when filming begins.” Now that the actors are also on strike, as Rocket would say, “nothing’s [going to] get shot without actors.” The actors’ strike affects not just filming, but also casting for upcoming seasons, as is the case with the second season of “The Last of Us.” Actors also can’t promote shows, and there is debate over whether fully filmed seasons, such as the third season of “Bridgerton,” will have delayed releases because of it.
In terms of movies, Marvel’s “Blade” and “Thunderbolts” have both been paused because of the strike, and every planned Marvel and Avatar movie now has a later release date. Sony’s “It Ends with Us” has also been shut down for the duration of the strike. Compared to shows, movies have been less affected by the strikes, and because movies often take longer than TV shows to make and market, it will likely take a while to feel the effects.
Some shows have been able to continue filming, especially those filming internationally, such as “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.” Because it’s filming in the UK, the show decided to move forward with production despite executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay being absent from set. The “Game of Thrones” prequel, “House of the Dragon,” has also continued production throughout the strike. The script was already finished when the strike began, and the UK actors are part of their own union. It is set to premiere sometime next year. Reality and variety shows also remain unaffected due to their lack of reliance on scripts, and because they, along with soap operas such as “General Hospital,” work under a different contract called the Network Television Code. This contract is still allowed, and not the same as work performed for the companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is off limits. In the end, the ways the strike might affect media during and after its conclusion are not entirely certain, but one can be sure it will not be a small impact.
