What Happens To Hollywood If The Actors Go On Strike
30.06.2023 - 00:25
/ deadline.com
Hollywood is at a crossroads and the 160,000 actors that make up SAG-AFTRA are seemingly in the driver’s seat.
Will there be an actors strike, on top of the writers strike, which is in its ninth week? What happens if there are two strikes? Will SAG-AFTRA extend its negotiations with the studios and then strike? Or will they extend and strike a deal? Will an actors strike compound the pain across the entertainment industry that is already reeling from the writers strike?
Deadline revealed Wednesday that SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are considering extending negotiations until next week (July 7) or later. This would also make sense given that most of Hollywood will be out of town for a long weekend.
In addition to these questions, there are dozens of rumors flying around on the picket lines and Beverly Hills lunch spots. There’s talk that SAG isn’t as close to a deal as that video by Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland suggested, and some are also saying that the DGA has been trying to encourage SAG-AFTRA leadership to take a deal, rather than strike.
The other big talking point is if the actors do join the writers on the picket line, which top executive or executives will step up to find a compromise? During previous strikes, it has required a Lew Wasserman (in 1960 and 1981) or, in the case of the 2007-08 shutdown a group including Peter Chernin, Bob Iger, Barry Meyer, Michael Lynton and Les Moonves, to help strike a deal.
“In the past there’s always been some luminary from Hollywood that would [step up],” said one source. “[This year], I haven’t heard of anyone.”
One thing is clear: If SAG-AFTRA calls a strike, either at midnight PT on Friday or sometime next week, there