Hollywood shuts down as actors go on strike

LOS ANGELES (AFP): The Hollywood actors’ union began to strike at midnight Thursday, after negotiations to reach a new contract with production studios ended without an agreement.

Actors will join writers in the first industry-wide walkout for 63 years, effectively bringing the giant movie and television business to a halt.

At 0701 GMT, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), representing around 160,000 movie and television actors, tweeted a black picture alongside the message: “12:01 a.m. PT That’s a wrap!” SAG-AFTRA had issued a strike order after last-ditch talks with studios over dwindling pay and the threat posed by artificial intelligence ended without a deal.

“This is a moment of history, a moment of truth – if we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher told a press conference, following the union board’s unanimous vote to strike.

“We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business.” Writers have already spent 11 weeks protesting outside the headquarters of the likes of Disney and Netflix, after their demands for better pay and guarantees over the use artificial intelligence were not met.

Movie studios have already begun reshuffling their calendars, and if the strikes drag on, major film releases could be postponed too.

A strike prevents actors from promoting some of the year’s biggest releases, at the peak of the industry’s summer blockbuster season.