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SAG-AFTRA actor union members demonstrate outside Netflix studios, in Los Angeles, on Oct. 24, 2023.
Deal struck for digital Hollywood
Actors were concerned that studios could simply scan their bodies and use their digital images in perpetuity without compensation. The problem would most likely affect background actors, or extras, but firms have already sprouted up to let bigger-name stars control and capitalize on their likenesses.
The deal: In a tweet last Wednesday, the union boasted that it secured “compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI.” On Friday, after the union voted to accept the deal, details emerged about the specifics of the agreement. The union agreed to allow “digital replicas” of its members as long as they consent and are properly compensated. In other words, AI is A-OK in Hollywood – as long as everyone is getting paid appropriately.
To be determined: It remains to be seen whether studios will still pursue the use of digital replicas, or if the added cost will douse their interest.People celebrate after the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to bring an end to the 118-day actors' strike, at a brewery in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 8, 2023.
Aaaand … scene! The actors strike is over
After 118 days, the longest actors’ walkout in Hollywood history ended Wednesday night, as the SAG-AFTRA union reached a tentative agreement with studios.
The deal, which reflects the pressures of Hollywood’s rapidly changing financial and technological landscape, gets actors better compensation from the streaming services that dominate the industry now, more generous healthcare funding, and better protections against studios using artificial intelligence to create actors’ likenesses without consent or compensation.
For now, the agreement means Hollywood can get back up and running on all cylinders. The actors strike — coupled with the 148-day writers strike that ended last month — had crippled the $140 billion American film and TV industry, putting nearly 200 shows on ice and reportedly costing the economy of California some $5 billion.
Experts say the pressures of the streaming landscape and new technologies like AI mean that in the long run, there could be far fewer jobs for writers and actors in Hollywood. But that’s the storyline for the NEXT season of your favorite shows. For now, we're just happy that world leaders won't have to cross the picket lines themselves anymore — Kim Jong-un's remake of "Titanic" was truly one of the worst things we've ever seen ...
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