As of midnight on July 14th 2023, SAG-AFTRA, Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has declared a strike. The action has been called after negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down.
Actors are calling for greater compensation in the age of streaming, with current residuals being deemed unsuitable. Further acknowledgement is called for now that AI rendering of actors has become more and more common, yet actors receive little to no compensation for their likeness.
Now the over 160,000 members of the SAG-AFTRA society have ceased all commitments and are beginning the picketing process. SAG members will now join The Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since May, and protest for fairer treatment.
So, what does this mean? Basically, it means Hollywood will grind to a halt unless a deal can quickly be reached. Furthermore, what does this mean for genre cinema and what projects are affected?
Worryingly, quite a few projects will stall in either pre-production or cease mid-filming, and that includes much horror-based content.
Beetlejuice 2, recently wrapping up filming in England, will likely hit a wall as the team move to Vermont to conclude location shooting.
Chucky, currently filming season 3 of their hit series in Ontario, may be forced into hiatus whilst the strike paralyzes Hollywood.
Projects set to shoot soon will also be put on ice if the action lasts. We’ve previously reported that Marvel’s Blade reboot was shut down due to the WGA strike, meaning it will likely be on hold considerably longer now.
Similarly, Stranger Things 5 will be in limbo, as will any further negotiations on Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us, and Netflix’s Wednesday. Word has also reached us that See No Evil, a project Blumhouse has been hyping endlessly will likely be postponed, as will filming on Radio Silence’s Untitled Monster Movie at Universal.
Depending on the duration of the strike action, the knock-on effect could be very long reaching. It is entirely possible delays in current projects will drastically increase the wait for highly anticipated future projects. This could mean the likes of Scream VII, The Conjuring: Last Rites and FX’s Alien TV series will face a considerable push back in their respective studios’ schedules.
However, as painful as it is to have to wait as fans, we must remember that every employee must be given a fair deal and shown their worth. So, though the current action is frustrating, it is necessary, and we stand with those in the fight.
