In New York the actors hit the pickets, artificial intelligence and residuals take first place

Four simultaneous protests occurred in New York City on Friday, the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike, with the Writers Guild, IATSE, local members of the Democratic Socialists of America and other members of other unions joining the pickets and similar protests that occurred in Los Angeles Angeles.

Amidst peaks, hot sun, and splashes of rain, protesters gathered in front of the offices of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery near Union Square, Amazon and HBO in Hudson Yards, Paramount in Times Square, and NBCUniversal at 30 Rock.

Among the hundreds who attended the New York pickets on Friday were Ted Lassois Jason Sudeikis, Survival of the Biggests Peppermint and Sagan Chen, Number3rs David Krumholtz, Down for lifeis Kevin Corrigan, Severancand stars Zach Cherry and Jen Tullock, as well as Run aways actors Ariela Barer and Clarissa Thibeaux.

On Netflix/WBD only, protesters witnessed a brief but early police presence as officers herded enthusiastic actors from parts of the sidewalk and into barricades, before the joke aired on a curated playlist featuring Sister Sledge We Are Family , Beyonce Break My Soul and Lizzos About Damn Time which continued even though protesters had to wear ponchos due to the rain.

Key issues for the actors at Friday’s pickets included fair pay, including streamers’ residuals, as well as the use of artificial intelligence, which became a big part of the WGA negotiations and then gained renewed attention Thursday as part of the SAG -AFTRA negotiations.

The issues they won’t even discuss are the bigger issues, and if we don’t fix them now, if we don’t address streaming now, if we don’t address AI now, there will be no coming back. We can’t make this mistake, he said Thelma and Luisa AND Monarch actress Susan Sarandon, speaking outside the Netflix protest.

What we’re doing isn’t even asking for what some might call a fair contract, but something that, at the very least, would allow people to continue trying to be in the art world professionally,” he said. IncredibleSt starring Merritt Wever.

Pay was a hot topic for workers at all levels of the industry. Speaking from Times Square, where actors and writers circulated in a barricaded area and received support from tourists and even the neighborhood’s naked cowboy, Chris Henry Coffey, a SAG-AFTRA member who makes many guest star appearances for networks and streamers, he said he came to the picket line because it seemed contracts were going backwards, even as his career advanced.

One problem, in her experience, is that the idea of ​​having a budget or a basic salary seems to no longer exist. I just want to support a new contract. It’s offensive to me to be living on a worse salary in 2023 than when I started as an actor in 2000, Coffey said.

Similarly, Gary Farris, who has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2008 and has worked primarily as a background actor, says he believes the wages for that position, among many others, have not increased appropriately.

They were the workhorses of the industry, Farris said. We work like dogs and you know, they pay us pretty well, but it hasn’t satisfied inflation at all.

Outside of Netflix, Wever cited the discrepancy in her experiences with the linear and streaming models as a major negotiation issue for her, while Chen, who had to leave the line early to attend a second job that they hired to support themselves, pointed out to the residuals a point of contention in terms of streamers as a big one.

What my union did for me decades ago was build into our contracts ways that working actors could continue to make a living, and those aren’t into our current contracts with streamers, Wever said.

Kelly Klein, a member of SAG-AFTRA, said she attended the picket line at Hudson Yards concerned about the use of artificial intelligence and also to talk about contract changes in recent years that have resulted in tiny residuals, particularly from streamers .

I get residual checks for cents, Klein said. One time my ATM branch didn’t even accept it. I had to go to the cashier to deposit it, because the machine didn’t recognize it as money.

According to Ariela Barer, who had their own Marvel show Leak removed from Disney+ earlier this year, the double loss of residuals and own work is difficult.

Background actors were also in the spotlight as part of the negotiations, as Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, said on Thursday the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had presented them with an AI proposal that would see the background actors receive a day’s pay to get a digital scan. The studios would have been able to use that image from then on, he says.

The AMPTP has since refuted this claim, saying that the claim made today by actors union leadership that digital reruns of background actors can be used in perpetuity without consent or compensation is false. Rather, the studies state that a digital replica of a background actor is only permitted as part of a film in which that actor is employed, and such use requires the actors’ consent and contracting for use.

However, the argument was prevalent on lines Friday, as background actors like Jonathan Kaine, who was picketing outside the HBO and Amazon offices in New York, spoke of the need for more protections around background actors and fears that the work could be completely wiped out by artificial intelligence, plus the challenges of paid work that he says is making it increasingly difficult to make a living in New York City.

Our similarity is our lifeblood in this specific case. And to give it away, not knowing how little it will be used in the future is madness, in my opinion, Kaine said.

Being able to own my perspective and story is incredibly important. The fact that they think they can take my face and manipulate it for their own goals is motivated by capitalism and go back to their vacation home, Survival of the Biggests Chen added from outside Netflix.

Although this was the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike, its members have been a familiar presence online since the WGA went on strike on May 2nd. Square said the show of support from unions including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and others was encouraging. So WGA wanted to return the favor.

They have been with us all the time. But as a union this is their first day on strike. And we just want to let them know they’re not alone in this, Coker said.

The two unions have many similar issues, Coker said, adding that the AI ​​topic impacts not only entertainment unions, but unions across industries as well.

The fact that they think they can take my face and manipulate it for their own ends is motivated by capitalism and return to their vacation home, Chen added. All I want to do is be out here and be someone that some random kid in the Midwest watching TV is going to be like, Oh, so I can.

For Like blowing up an oil pipeline writer Barer, AI contract protections aim to ensure the continuation of working-class actors and artists. I want our likeness to be protected, to have free will over our image, our body and where we are doing. What is said in media and art forever matters, Barer said.

With WGA and SAG-AFTRA now both on strike, Coker said he hoped the two unions would be able to make some headway with the AMPTP, as having no writers and actors on set essentially stalls projects. I do not know if [it will resolve] at the same time, but we will be able to solve some problems. So if it works for us, it will work for them and vice versa, he said.

Lauren Patten, Tony Award-winning actor for Jagged little pill and a SAG-AFTRA member, supported WGA during the pickets and said she believed solidarity between unions was at an all-time high. The two biggest issues of concern to Patten in the contract negotiations are streaming-related pay structures and AI protections.

I think we’re at an inflection point as a country and that’s being reflected as this huge industry tries to face the respect due to all of our work, Patten said.

As for what she will do during the SAG-AFTRA break, Patten noted that she can continue to work in theater, which is under an Actors Equity deal, but that most performers are already multidisciplinary and she had to find other ways to make money.

We are, as actors, people who can handle not having a job, it’s a big part of our lives, Patten said. And as for what to do during the strike, I think we will have a lot of solidarity, a lot of determination and we will be able to practice other ways of doing our art and we will be resilient.

Hiram Delgado, a member of SAG who also appeared on Broadway in take me out, he said he also planned to return to the theater during the strike and had been able to save money during the pandemic, as he was preparing for another Broadway shutdown or something similar to this strike. Most of his income has come from film and television work, but given the discussions around AI and the current state of contracts, he’s willing to hang on for the long term.

I hope it goes on for as long as it takes so we get the respect we deserve, and I don’t know when that will be, Delgado said.

For many walking the line, the studios’ respect for the actors is in question following recent comments from Disney’s Bob Iger that the actors’ and writers’ demands were unrealistic. According to Barer, who had their own Marvel show Leak removed from Disney+ earlier this year without warning, the moves and sentiments of some studios are devastating.

It’s not nice to read those comments, it’s not nice to read that your work is not appreciated, they said. I think what we were asking is incredibly realistic and incredibly important. We demand basic respect for our work.