5 Ways Strikes May Change Hollywood
One of the longest and most extensive labor strikes in the history of the American entertainment industry is coming to a seemingly amicable end. A 148-day strike was settled by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in September, and a 118-day overlapping strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) was suspended last week after negotiators. The Actors Guild has reached a new labor contract with major Hollywood studios, which tens of thousands of unionized actors are widely expected to approve in the coming weeks.
But the existential issues at the heart of the crisis and the way the various parties have compromised to end it, are only beginning to emerge. Actors and writers return to work in an industry transformed by increasingly ambiguous audiences, morally divisive technology, and a widespread rethink of how much entertainment is worth making — and how much you should pay for it.
Here are five highlights from the deals Hollywood actors and screenwriters have struck with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios and streaming companies in labor negotiations, including Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix, Apple, and Amazon. . (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post, and the newspaper’s interim CEO, Patty Stonecipher, is a member of Amazon’s board.)
