SAG strikes as studios and actors fail to agree on contract

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union representing working actors, is on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The strike will begin at midnight on July 14 after the two parties failed to agree on a new deal before the previous deal expired earlier this week. The SAG strike is contributing to the ongoing labor unrest in Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) continues to strike after negotiations with AMPTP over its own members’ contract ended in May.

The SAG-AFTRA strike means that actors who are members of SAG-AFTRA will not work with studios on their projects, including but not limited to television, films, podcasts and radio. That means whatever is in production has to be halted until the two parties can agree on a new deal – there’s nothing to shoot without an actor. Actors will also no longer attend promotional events ranging from press conferences to movie premieres Name is.

AMPTP condemned the industrial action in a statement, saying, “A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot function without the artists who bring our television shows and films to life.” The union regrettably chosen a path that will result in financial hardship for untold thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

Strikes by the major actors’ guilds are rare, especially recently. In 1986, SAG went on strike over contract updates, which lasted only 14 hours. The 1980 SAG had a larger impact, spanning three months and three days. The last time the SAG and WGA went on strike simultaneously was in 1960.

While it’s impossible to know the full results of the SAG-AFTRA strike, delays in movies and TV shows are almost certain to be on the horizon. Some projects have already experienced delays due to the WGA strike, but these have mostly been limited to films and series that were not yet in production and were still being written. With the actors not working, no ongoing series can continue without a ratified contract.

These delays are also likely to have a cascading effect, delaying films that are further back in the calendar as actors will largely return to what they were working on when the strike ends, rather than turning to new projects.

Despite the strike, representatives from SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP will continue to negotiate over the coming days, weeks and months in hopes of agreeing on a new contract.

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