Actors strike hits Australia, shutting down Queensland filming - SBS News

Key Points

• The Screen Actors Guild voted to approve a strike action involving the 160,000 actors belonging to the union.
• Actors have been battling studios for a deal that would deliver better pay and royalties from streaming.
• A movie being filmed in Australia has been put on hold for the duration of the strike.

The United States actors' strike has hit Australia, with Apples Never Fall starring Annette Bening and Sam Neill shutting down production.

The Matchbox Pictures film has been shooting in Queensland since March but on Friday was put on hold for the duration of the strike.

Matchbox Pictures, which is part of Universal International Studios, declined to comment on developments.

Apples Never Fall is based on the best-selling novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty and was slated to stream on the NBCUniversal service Peacock in the US.

It had been expected to inject more than $79 million into the Australian economy and create 260 jobs for local cast and crew.

Actor Sam Neill is among a film cast that has stopped production in Queensland. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said issues affecting US actors and writers are the same internationally.

"Streaming services are raking in billions of dollars in revenue and earnings as their audiences continue to grow but these profits are not being shared fairly with actors," the union's Erin Madeley said in a statement.

The use of artificial intelligence should also be subject to agreed rules, she added.

"Performers see their jobs as especially vulnerable to new technology, with generative AI able to replicate facial expressions, body movement and voice with alarming accuracy."

Unionised Hollywood screen writers have downed tools since May, and have been joined by actors including some of Hollywood's biggest stars following a breakdown in negotiations with studios.

It's the first dual work stoppage in 63 years, forcing Hollywood studios to halt many productions across the United States and abroad.

The twin strikes will add to the economic damage from the writers' walkout, delivering another blow to an industry struggling with changes to its business.

Hollywood actors will go on strike, joining film and television writers who have been on picket lines since May. Source: AAP / Michael Brochstein

Both SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) - Hollywood's largest union, representing 160,000 film and television actors - and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding increases in base pay and residuals (a form of collective royalty payment) in the streaming TV era plus assurances their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).

The actors' union announced at a Thursday press conference it would strike from midnight after its national board voted unanimously to authorise the walkout.

A deadline to reach a new contract expired on Wednesday.

The Screen Actors Guild is unhappy with negotiations

Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny TV show and the president of SAG-AFTRA, called the studios' responses to actors' concerns "insulting and disrespectful".

"I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us," Drescher said at the press conference at the SAG-AFTRA headquarters.

"I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty, that they're losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions to their CEOs. It is disgusting."

Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny TV show, is the president of SAG-AFTRA. Source: EPA / Etienne Laurent

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that negotiates on behalf of Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co and other production companies, said it was "deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations".

The group said it had offered "historic pay and residual increases" and "a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likenesses".

How does the strike affect film and TV productions?

The strike by roughly 11,500 writers has sent late-night television talk shows into endless re-runs, disrupted most production for the northern hemisphere autumn TV season and halted work on big-budget movies.

The walkout by SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors from bit-part players to Hollywood's biggest movie stars, will effectively shutter the studios' remaining US-based productions of film and scripted television.

It will also hamper many overseas shoots involving SAG-AFTRA talent, such as Paramount Pictures' sequel to Gladiator, which director Ridley Scott has been shooting in Morocco and Malta.

Some production work not involving SAG-AFTRA performers can proceed, such as location scouting or certain kinds of post-production editing.

Oppenheimer cast leave London premiere in support of the strike

Stars of the film Oppenheimer, including Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, walked out of the premiere in solidarity with the strike.

Director Christopher Nolan confirmed their departure before the beginning of the London premiere screening on Thursday night.

The cast, which also includes Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, had a plan to leave if a strike was called amid the fanfare.

The cast of Oppenheimer posed for photos minutes before the strike was called. Source: AAP / Doug Peters

"Once the strike is officially called, (we're walking). That's why we moved this (red carpet) up because we know the second it's called, we're going home," Damon told entertainment magazine Variety shortly before the union declared a strike.

"There's money being made and it needs to be allocated in a way that takes care of people who are on the margins."

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2023-07-14 07:18:45Z
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