The WGA went on strike back in May. Now, Hollywood actors will be joining writers on the picket lines, marking the first time both unions are on strike at the same time since the 1960s.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Apple TV+ and the other Hollywood studios, has failed to reach an agreement with the Screen Actors Guild. SAG said it is negotiating for better compensation on streaming shows and protections against the use of AI in TV shows and movies.
SAG and AMPTP were negotiating for about a month but failed to come to an agreement. SAG said the studios would not budge on key issues, like streaming residuals and policies around the use of generative AI.
As we first wrote when the writers’ strike kicked off, the direct impact for Apple is the effect on the Apple TV+ content production pipeline.
The writers’ strike had already caused many projects to halt production. But as a result of the actors’ strike, production on all Hollywood scripted TV shows and movies will now cease.
For the duration of the strike, all actors will withhold their labor, both on set and promotional duties. This naturally impacts the development of any scripted Apple TV+ project that had not already finished filming, as well as limiting Apple’s ability to promote its shows for the upcoming awards season.
It’s unclear how long the strikes will last. So far, it doesn’t seem like the studios have been willing to budge on their position much at all. The guilds and the studios remain far apart on most of the issues under negotiation. The AMPTP has not even been talking to the WGA since May.
To mitigate the disruption of content for subscribers to watch, some industry analysts expect streamers to rely more heavily on international series (using acting talent outside of the SAG membership) or nonscripted reality series content. This is easier for a service like Netflix to handle, which is well-established overseas. Apple is more vulnerable, and there are already signs that TV+ has slowed its rollout of new originals in anticipation of the strike.
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