Strike in Hollywood: French cinema is worried about the consequences

guest BFM businessThe president of the French National Federation of Cinemas, Richard Patrie, spoke about the increase in movie theater attendance and the SAG-AFTRA strike currently rocking Hollywood.

When asked about the good results of the first half of 2023, especially thanks to Asterix: The Middle Empire, Super Mario Bros, the movie, The Three Musketeer: D’Artagnan and Alibi.com 2, the FNCF president said:

“Since the beginning of the year, we have symbolically passed the bar of 100 million viewers. For us, the figure of 200 million viewers is remarkable. We have a very diversified program with American films that are hits, very good French films, the French Palme d’Or at Cannes.“.

Last May, the CNC reported that movie theater attendance in April 2023 was up 37.8% from April 2022 and was 2.7% higher than the 2017-2019 average. This is the first time since cinemas opened on May 19, 2021, that cinema attendance has shown a higher result than before the health crisis.

In France, Super Mario Bros. received a total of 7.17 million viewers, Guillaume Canet’s Asterix was seen by 4.61 million viewers in cinemas, Philippe Lachaux’s comedy Alibi.com 2 recorded 4.27 million and The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, the second part of which will be released in December, 3 million viewers.

Those encouraging results should continue with last Wednesday’s release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which has already drawn 319,228 in France on its first day, and Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan, which was seen by 229,587 French viewers on its first day of operation.

A strike that worries many

The FNCF president then spoke about the actors’ and screenwriters’ strike currently underway in the United States. This historic double whammy”very upset“Sector according to him,”Because it’s likely to continue even if it’s only about American movies.“

With a lack of actors to promote their films, studios may indeed push back year-end blockbusters like Dune 2 and Aquaman 2, a major attendance lever, until 2024.

Then Richard Patrey says: “I think there will be consultations in our country as well, but so far no such strong actions have been announced in France.

As a reminder, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) joined the movement on July 13, which was started two and a half months ago by the WGA (Writers Guild of America).

The two unions have the same demands, namely a reassessment of rights and working conditions, an increase in the minimum wage and a framework for the use of artificial intelligence (American studios have indeed offered to scan actors’ faces for just one day’s payment so that they can then use their image).

The subject of artificial intelligence and its application concerns all sectors of the audiovisual sector: from writing to dubbing, filming and staging, regardless of country.

French artists support SAG-AFTRA strike

Adam’s Artists, a civil society administering the rights of French performers and musicians, also issued a press release expressing their full solidarity with the 160,000 actors and actresses on strike in the United States.

“This struggle, unprecedented since the 1960s, also concerns French artists. The issue of value sharing in streaming remains at the center of concerns and misunderstandings for actors and actresses.

Although the production and distribution sector is attracting unprecedented wealth, the issue of compensation for film and audiovisual artists remains unresolved today.

At the same time, artificial intelligence is starting to take hold, forcing us to tackle challenges on a scale we never knew existed. Already dubbing, a profession that pays thousands of artists, is under threat in the very short term. But in addition to this, the profession of the actors and actresses themselves on the screen can be called into question.

The exponential development of artificial intelligence deserves to address this issue as soon as possible. We ask Rima Abdul Malak, confirmed as the Minister of Culture, to gather representatives of artists to discuss the actions to be taken.”

Thus, Adam challenges the Minister of Culture to organize a reflection on artificial intelligence and its excesses.