ON Thursday morning, Hollywood’s largest union–Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), announced a strike will begin at midnight after its National Board unanimously authorized the walkout.
Actors and writers blockaded the front gates of Warner Bros, Paramount, Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Sony, 20th Century Fox, and Sunset Gower Studio sites in Los Angeles on Friday.
This means that actors will not appear in films nor promote movies during the walkout.
It comes after talks with studios broke down, joining the months-long strike by the writers guild of America who have been on the picket lines since May.
The strike action is driven in part by an uncomfortable transition to the era of digital streaming, as well as by broader technological changes such as the use and integration of artificial intelligence (AI).
The joint force of Hollywood writers and actors marks the first dual work stoppage in 63 years, prompting productions across the United States to be halted.
Sequels Avatar, dead pool, and Gladiator franchises are likely to be affected, as well as upcoming seasons of shows stranger things, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.
To note, SAG-AFTRA represents some 160,000 film and television actors which includes big names like Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, George Clooney, and many others.
The union’s president Fran Drescher made a fiery speech calling Hollywood studios ‘disgusting’ for claiming they’re losing money while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs.
