© Jefferson Graham via Imagn Content Services, LLC
The Hollywood Sign
(New York, NY) – SAG-AFTRA has voted to go on strike, effectively putting Hollywood film and television production on hold. Upward of 160,000 actors are represented by the union, which made the strike official Thursday afternoon. It marks the entertainment industry’s most significant shutdown in over four decades.
This also comes as the industry’s writer’s union is on strike and has been for weeks. Experts say new television series and movies will soon run out.
The professional group representing production studios and streamers like Netflix say they’re disappointed SAG-AFTRA walked away from the negotiating table, saying they offered pay increases and guarantees that actor’s digital likenesses won’t be used without compensation – as artificial intelligence continues to grow.
The union says it wants more compensation and more significant protections against AI replacing actors and human writers.