Photo Credit: Universal Pictures 2h6l1y
Cillian Murphy in and as Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan film was strong at Leicester Square, the possibility of a strike caused the crew to push the premiere event up by an hour, only the previous night. As the actors' union was unable to come to an equitable deal with movie studios — for proper residual payments — the strike was called upon with a 98 percent vote approval margin, causing Oppenheimer's cast to leave from the venue in order to adhere to the of the union.
“I think right now we are just sorting of… I hope everyone makes a fair deal and we are here to celebrate this movie,” star SAG-AFTRA and the studios. SAG-AFTRA is a union representing about 160,000 film and TV actors and media professionals primarily in the United States, whose leadership claims that its deal with movie studios for appropriate pay is not fair. “It's the difference between having healthcare and not for a lot of actors, and we gotta do what's right by them,” Damon said.
The last time the entertainment industry faced a double strike was in 1960, with both writers and actors voicing their concerns for appropriate payments, arising from the dawn of television. At the time, they together won residuals for repeated TV reruns and broadcast for movies and shows, in addition to welfare. Residuals payments are helpful for artists when they are in between projects. Now, in 2023, with streaming services taking the lead, companies like ChatGPT to write full-blown movie scripts — directly affecting the jobs and livelihood of writers.
AMPTP, the organisation bargaining on behalf of major studios claimed in a statement that it presented SAG-AFTRA with a deal that promised ‘historic pay and residual increases' alongside higher caps on pension and healthcare contributions, and even a ‘groundbreaking AI proposal.' Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's COO responded to the offer claiming that AMPTP had been devaluing the work of actors. As for the artificial intelligence proposal, it was revealed that production studios wanted to pay background performers for one day of work in exchange for the rights to their digital likeness for eternity, without compensation or further consent. The bizarre situation mirrors Black Mirror's ‘Joan is Awful' episode from season 6, where studios acquired rights to scan and use actors' digital likenesses forever.
The strikes have caused movies and TV series productions to get delayed or halted until further notice when new bargaining agreements are met. However, a report from Ryan J. Condal is strictly involved in a non-writing capacity.
Oppenheimer releases July 21 in theatres worldwide, while the second season of House of the Dragon is expected to release in 2024.
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