UK film industry ‘like Covid again’ as productions halted by US SAG strike
UK-based actors and crew members have said the TV and film industry “feels like Covid again” as Hollywood actors join screenwriters in historic strike action.
Members of the US actors’ union, Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), representing 160,000 actors and performers, are walking out after talks with streaming firms broke down.
This is the first dual work stoppage in 63 years and is expected to shut down Hollywood Studios as well as productions based in the UK and globally.
The walkout could last months and major productions, including Avatar and Gladiator sequels, could be impacted.
A 26-year-old runner from London said she fears losing £3,000 worth of income over the coming months if the TV show she is working on is halted.
The crew member, who wished to remain anonymous, said the crew has already been given an alternative schedule with just one week of shooting rather than two months.
She is working on an American production involving actors with SAG memberships, and with other actors striking in solidarity, the majority of the show cannot be shot until the dispute is resolved.
The runner’s fate remains “unconfirmed”, but she has heard that the production company plans to shoot for one week and pay the crew for an additional week before releasing them.
This means she would be paid £1,350 rather than £5,400 and be out of work for the next two months.
“That’s quite a significant drop,” she told i, adding that the situation is “scary” but she hopes to find work as a freelancer on other productions in the interim.
She said: “It’s pretty nerve-racking in one way. But I think the strike is really important, and I think they need to resolve it.
“It’s not fair the way it currently stands. I also hope that through resolving this with writers and actors, it will trickle down to crew as well.”
What productions will be impacted?
The actors’ strike is expected to cause havoc across film and TV, with some productions paused and others unable to commence.
Some major blockbusters currently in production include Ghostbusters 4, Mufasa: The Lion King and Avatar 3 and Avatar 4.
The sequel to the comedy-horror film Beetlejuice had just kicked off filming in Vermont this week, while Paddington in Peru was due to begin shooting later this month.
Overseas productions like Paramount’s Gladiator sequel, which is shooting in Morocco and Malta, are likely to be affected.
Deadpool 3 and Wicked have weeks left of filming, with one industry source telling i they should be able to make it to the end.
The source added that Venom 3 is currently filming but gave all of their crew a week’s notice last week.
Cast and crew working on How To Train Your Dragon could be put on a two-week hiatus before filming has even started, he added.
In terms of TV, Warner Bros Discovery previously said HBO’s House of the Dragon would not be severely disrupted by the writers’ strikes because scripts were complete and the series was filming in the UK.
The Game of Thrones TV spin-off could be delayed, as could the second series of The Sandman.
In the US, summer projects that could be affected include the Night Court reboot, Family Guy and The Simpsons.
Work on big shows like Stranger Things, The Last of Us, and Yellowjackets has already been paused by the writers’ strikes.
Actors and writers have launched separate disputes to fight for higher pay and residuals safeguards against artificial intelligence (AI).
Writers are demanding assurances that their work will not be replaced by AI and actors are calling for protection against unauthorised use of their images through AI.
A London-based film technician, who also wished to remain anonymous, told i he finds it “hard to have sympathy” for the striking actors as it has left his 70-man crew without work “for the foreseeable future”.
“There are major repercussions here that are going to affect a lot more lives than the actual strike will sort out,” he said.
He said the film and TV industry has fallen into “uncertainty” with new projects getting put on hold over the last few months with the writers’ strike.
He continued: “Yesterday, it came to a head where productions that are actually filming have sent notices to their crew members to give them a week’s notice.
“Productions are looking to shut down and mothball the site until an agreement has been reached.”
He said some productions may shut down for good if they do not have time to shoot in their studio space before a new film or TV show comes in.
“People in the industry are saying it feels like Covid again,” he told i.
Harvey Davies, 22, a freelance digital image technician, said the strikes have already impacted him “massively” as all the summer filming by major streamers has been “pushed to the new year”.
“The long-form stuff is what pays bills,” he said, explaining that he is paid handsomely for four-month stints on features, but he has been left to “scrape by”, looking for daily work on other shows.
Last summer was busy, meaning he was able to make enough money to keep going for the time being.
“I’ll be fine for a year, worst case scenario. And after that – new job, probably,” he said.
A 42-year-old actor, based in London, said the industry has already been “slowing down” due to the writers’ strikes, with the actors’ industrial action only adding to that.
She said: “What’s really clear now is that there has been a huge slowing down within the industry.
“Many things haven’t gone into production and there are loads of things that aren’t being greenlit.
“In terms of actors, I feel very lucky that I’m working because lots of my peers aren’t. Just in terms of the number of auditions that are going around, I think that has hugely decreased.
“I think that has been a direct reaction to the writer strikes in America and and certainly now that the actors are also on strike, it’s going to slow everything down even more.”
However, she expressed “solidarity” with her US counterparts. She said: “I think if it wasn’t for the UK regulations and laws under Equity [the union representing actors in the UK], I’m pretty sure actors and artists in this country would be on strike as well.
“Everybody stands in solidarity and it will be very, very interesting to see the outcome because I think it will impact us all.”
Equity said it stands in “unwavering solidarity” with SAG-AFTRA but said “anti-trade union laws” in the UK mean Equity cannot join the action.
