‘Gotta Sell My House’: This Glamorous Star Fights Hollywood Strike, Takes Out Disney CEO

For almost a month, a historic double strike has been underway in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), the union of American professional actors, has joined the WGA (Writers Guild of America, the union of American screenwriters who protect their copyrights). Picket from May.

Two unions fighting studios and platforms represented by the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) are demanding a reassessment of rights and working conditions, an increase in fixed and residual wages (royalties), especially in streaming. Content, lightweight casting processes, and a framework for using artificial intelligence.

This double whammy is paralyzing the already fragile film and television industry, causing many production shutdowns and the postponement of several films and TV series. And until an agreement is reached between the parties, the strike will continue and may even last until 2024!

Fran Drescher (Nanny from Hell), SAG-AFTRA President, and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, emphasize going all the way and wanting to support the union’s most needy talent, namely 87% of its members. — which has 160,000 members — who fail to receive the required $26,000 in annual health insurance premiums.

Actors are destitute, forced to sell their house

The entire industry is suffering, for good reason, but the results, in the long run, can be catastrophic. To help its members, SAG-AFTRA has an emergency strike fund, which many celebrities have contributed to, such as one Dwayne Johnson, who wrote a huge check, or these dozen stars, thanks to which SAG-AFTRA was able to raise $15 million.

Even if SAG-AFTRA is prepared to continue the strike for a long time, the collateral damage is already too much. The actor also spoke in the media and explained that he has to sell his house because of the strike.

This is Billy Porter, a gay African-American singer and actor, glamor icon and activist of the LGBTQIA+ community, who is especially known on Broadway and starred in the TV series Pose (for which he received an Emmy Award) or in the movie Cinderella.

The latter revealed in a recent interview evening standardIn which he promoted his music projects, he had to save money because film and television plans to return to school were put on hold or canceled:

“I have to sell my house because we’re on strike. And I don’t know when we’ll be able to work again. An artist’s existence until you make really big bucks – which I don’t have” hasn’t won yet – lives check to check.

I was supposed to be in a new movie and a new TV show starting in September. None of this will happen. So to the person who said, ‘We’ll starve them to death until they sell the apartments,’ you’ve already killed me.”

This last killer sentence comes from the cold and cynical thoughts of a studio executive who spoke anonymously Deadline Comment on the strike: “The ultimate goal is to keep things going until union members start losing their apartments and their homes.”.

Hearing Bob Iger say our living wage demands are unrealistic? Making $78,000 a day?”

That statement stuck in the throats of many SAG-AFTRA and WGA members, as did Disney CEO Bob Iger’s speech. on CNBC Whoever found the strike “Very disturbing” :

“We talked about the disruptive forces in this industry and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID, which is ongoing but not fully fixed yet. This is the worst time in the world to add this delay.”

First of all, he explained that, in his opinion, the demands of the unions were not realistic. But Billy Porter counters that the main problem comes from streaming, for which there is no clear contract for residual wages for writers and actors:

“In the late 1950s, early 1960s, when they created a way for artists to be properly compensated through residuals, that allowed the 2% of active players – and there are 150,000 people in our union – who work regularly… Then came streaming. .

There’s no contract for that… and they don’t have to be transparent with the numbers – it’s not Nielsen ratings anymore. Streaming companies are notoriously opaque with their viewership numbers.

Business has developed. Therefore, the contract must be developed and changed, the deadline. Hearing Bob Iger say our living wage demands are unrealistic? Making $78,000 a day?”

Billy Porter’s clear and concise response to Bob Iger’s statements: “I have no words for this, but: damn you”. The actress and singer said she kept her cool when Bob Iger came out — unlike Ron Perlman, who posted a threatening video on Instagram — and chose to join the picket line to show her anger.

It is impossible to say how long this double strike of writers and actors will last. But the fight will be difficult. WGA writers had new discussions with the AMPTP studios on Friday, August 4 to find a new deal, to no avail. on his side SAG-AFTRA announces that AMPTP has ceased all communications. The road is still long.