Why Actors Are Striking For The First Time In 40 Years

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Hollywood actors have joined writers on strike and shut down the TV and film industry.

Streaming has broken the industry. Successful actors are working second jobs. Some received $0 in residuals from Netflix shows with millions of viewers. And many have no health insurance.

That’s why SAG-AFTRA actors have joined writers on strike for the first time since 1960.

#labor #actorsstrike #sagaftra #sagaftrastrike #hollywoodstrike #strike

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24 thoughts on “Why Actors Are Striking For The First Time In 40 Years”

  9. Im a truck driver and drove everywhere thoughout the pandemic keeping food and supplies on the shelf for everyone never stopping the whole time. Living in my truck and fallimg behind all the while unabel to afford health insururance and strugling still to this day and now that the panic is gone everyone is back to flipping us off and blowing thiere horns and showing no respect once again. Cry me a river, i dont give a shit.

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  10. Maybe this is a chance for a much needed reform on the american healthcare system.. I mean, if some big shot writers and actors can't do it I don't know who else could

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  12. Maybe this is a dumb question but isn't the union to blame a little for making actors pay dues toward their health coverage when they're not working? I mean, these folks gotta make $26K/yr to get health insurance and most can't make it and then the union continues to make them pay dues? Another thing here, playing devil's advocate, anyone who works gig-economy jobs have to think like a business owner because they have jobs that aren't designed to be full-time W-2 jobs. Celeb actors open businesses, invest their money, open non-profits to get tax incentives. They don't solely rely on their acting. Same with musicians. So if you're gonna fight for actors and writers, also fight for everyone else in gig economy who gotta go through that and worse, gotta pay their full health insurance costs out of pocket. Fun fact: in Brazil, where television was still big until a few years ago, the actors were payroll employees of the networks and were guaranteed work for years and years. Some got up to 25 year contracts with the networks so they're in back to back work. This made these actors household names in the country while having consistent income. Now that has changed also because of streaming. The royalties from streaming (residuals) are just crap. Same for music. You get paid less than 1 cent per stream of your song.

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  14. Americans are suffering more than ever before without it being their own fault more than ever. People are suffering, going homeless, and dying more than ever – NOT their own fault….

    And our most famous celebrities are using their massive platform NOW!? FOR FIRST TIME IN 40 YEARS – TO BRING AWARENESS TO THIS ONE ISSUE IN THEIR OWN INDUSTRY. I'm all for strikes and writers and whatnot – but that aspect of it makes me f*cking sick

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  16. The top ten actors make WAY more money than the top ten Hollywood CEOS – wise up. Theres no money for lower level actors because about ten actors and actresses get 95 % of it. Its America, winner take all – the rest get a few drops of trickle down. Its what Americans wanted because they though they were going to be winners too – wrong. In this country the 99% have been determined to give the 1 % everything. Now they are bitter.

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  20. The bottom line – Writers and actors should be treated like any other corporate business….That is, when you are hired for a role, you negotiate your pay for that role, and that is it….

    As an example, – If an employee writes a service manual while working for a company, that manual belongs to the company. (100% of the time)
    If that employee quits or is fired, the company still owns that manual, and can continue to use it for as long as they want. They can also sell it to another company, which might put it online and charge a fee for others to look at it.

    In those two cases, it would be ludicrous for the employee to think they should be getting a residual payment for the manual, when they are no longer with the company. It would be even crazier for the employee to think they should be paid by the new owners.

    Actors should be the same – negotiate a fair salary for the role, and perhaps work in residuals that stay in place as long as the actor is under contract with that series, but if and when the series ends, or is sold to a streaming service, that actors claim to financial gain for it should end. The studio puts up the 100's of millions of dollars for the project, and as such, they own it and should be able to do whatever they want to with it.

    Now on the topic of AI – this really should not be allowed. If it is used, then a compensation target that is in line with live jobs should be mandatory every time the likeness/audio voice is used. In other words, if a studio uses AI to put together a film that pulls old video of a star and makes it into a new movie, then the star should be compensated just as if he did the performance live. (every time it is used, since AI is not a studio, and it is not able to sign a contract in advance.)

    So, in summary, here is the best strike outcomes that should be settled on.

    1. Negotiate for a higher baseline salary. (This would allow the elimination of residuals)
    2. Forbid the use of AI unless the pay is the same as the in-person performance. (for every occasion it is used)
    3. Eliminate residuals unless the actor is still on a production set, doing the same show. Once the show is cancelled the residuals should stop.
    4. Allow actors to merchandise their roles/characters and themselves, even if they are no longer on the set or with the studio. If they fund it, they keep 100% of sales. If the studio funded the merchandising, then they should split 50%-50% for as long as merchandise is sold.

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  22. So now the hidden is being revealed! Actors that have glamorized, and romanticized the Hollywierd lifestyle are getting a taste of what all industry employees have/are suffering through Cooperation Greedy Capitalism. Welcome to our world!😌

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  23. The truth is corporations have been robbing us of our livelihoods for years. YOU ALL DIDN'T CARE.. YOU VOTED BIDEN INTO OFFICE AND HE CLOSED A PIPELINE. WHERE WAS YOUR OUTRAGE. NOW UOU WANT US TO RALLY AROUND YOU WHEN THEY HAVE FINALLY COME FROM YOU. NO THANKS. YOU ALL HAVE BEEN ON THE WRONG SIDE FOR DECADES. WE NO LONGER CARE. GO PONTIFICATE ELSEWHERE.

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