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The joint strike of Hollywood actors and screenwriters has entered its second week with no quick end in sight, and union leaders and striking stars, including a group of comedians, have tried to boost morale as the novelty of the picket lines wears off.
“The momentum is still building,” said comedian, writer and actor Marc Maron outside Netflix headquarters on Friday.
“I have some of my comedian buddies — we’re like, Let’s go, let’s make sure we’re there and show up in our union. There’s a lot of people here and look, eventually they have to bargain, right?” Maron starred in the Netflix series “GLOW,” whose headquarters in an increasingly stylish section of Hollywood was a bustling hub during the strike, with music blaring and food trucks serving ice cream, shaved ice, and churros.
Fellow comedians and comedians abounded on the picket line, including “Saturday Night Live” and “Portlandia” alum Fred Armisen, “Hacks” star Hannah Einbender, Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Chelsea Peretti, “What We Do in the Shadows” vampire Mark Proksch, and longtime comedy team Eric Wehrheim, and said they weren’t from the fast-paced comedy team Eric Wermis, who said they were not optimistic.
“I think it’s going to be a long struggle, a long battle,” Heidecker said. “We have to stay here until we get what we need.” But they were confident of finding the sustenance to get through it.
“There’s an Arby’s here and Eric hasn’t eaten an Arby’s in a year,” Heidecker said.
“It’s been 364 days since I’ve had a hunk of roast beef and we’re doing it today,” Wareheim said.
It was difficult for the sitters to conserve power on the more sprawling campuses of companies like Warner Bros Studios and Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, as the Southern California heat wave hit hard all week.
But as the strike begins to stretch, regular appearances by star writers and actors have jolted picket lines in both Los Angeles and New York, providing high-profile voices on issues that are central to both writers and actors — paying better wages and maintaining established practices like residual payments, as well as protection against the use of artificial intelligence.
Roughly 65,000 actors—the vast majority of whom earn less than $27,000 a year from their work on screen—along with 11,500 screenwriters, are on strike.
On Friday, the actors rallied in London in solidarity with their Screen Actors Guild of American Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) brethren.
Stars including Brian Cox, Andy Serkis, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and Imelda Staunton gathered together with other performers and the production crew at Leicester Square for the show, which was organized by the British Actors Guild Equity.
They chanted “One fight, one fight, we support the SAG-AFTRA fight” and “The Luvvies, united, will never be defeated”, using a British slang term for the actors.
“I think we’re at the thin end of a terrible wedge,” said Cox, who played media mogul Logan Roy in “Succession,” as artificial intelligence shakes the very foundations of the actors’ work.
“Wages are one thing,” he said, “but the worst aspect is the whole idea of AI and what AI can do for us.” “Artificial intelligence is the really serious thing. And this is the thing where we are most vulnerable.” The British Actors Guild is not on strike, although many members are also part of the American union.
Cox said it was important for the actors to show solidarity with the prominent screenwriters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
“We’re just like pieces of furniture without a book,” he said.
“I’m probably one of the most scanned actors on the planet,” said Serkis, who has become a specialist in playing digitally created characters since he first played Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” saga two decades ago. “I know that my image can be used, or my library of moves can be used, or my voice can be used,” he said, adding that “it is wrong that they can be easily accessed and used without rewarding the artist.” In the US, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago were among the major cities that went on strike on Wednesday and Thursday, showing that film production isn’t just happening in New York and Los Angeles.
There’s no indication when negotiations with studios and broadcasters, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), will resume. The group said it offered writers and actors large pay increases and tried to meet other demands.
“Mission: Impossible” star Pegg urged studios and streaming services: “Please get back to the table, please be realistic, please put a little socialism in your heart and think about the people who make money for you.”
Many in the US picket lines have seized on comments from their company bosses such as Disney CEO Bob Iger, who called union demands “unrealistic” last week.
During Wednesday’s earnings event, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he grew up in a unionized family and knew the strike was painful for workers and their families.
“We are fully committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible. One that is equitable and that enables unions, the industry and everyone in it to move forward into the future,” he said.
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