Actors have been on strike for higher wages. The actors don’t think they should be paid what they were being paid, and believe that if they are going to put in a lot of work they should be correctly compensated for it. This happened in another case,”The Stranger Things kids went from making $20,000 per episode to $250,000 after demanding to be paid what they’re worth.” This is affecting lots of actors and writers, some of those people being from the guild of america. this helps show how people are unifying to help with the issue.The actors want their pay increased by 11% and will not contribute to any company until they are heard. The companies only agreed to 5% which left many actors frustrated. They ended up getting what they wanted, but it took some time.They agreed upon a deal where, “Those minimum wages will increase by another 4% in 2024 and then by another 3.5% in 2025.” (“Hollywood Actors to Vote on Strike Deal after 86% Union Board Approval.” Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, )
The Actors during strike are losing money but overall the people who hired these actors are the ones with no income during these times. They lost a reported 6.5 billion dollars, and lost 45,000 jobs. They are at a loss if they don’t have someone to tell what to do and someone with the talent of acting. The 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike is another strike that was going on from May 2nd to September 27th, 2023. This is similar to the SAG-AFTRA strike because it went on for approximately 118 days, while the writers guild of america strike went on for 148 days. They also went on at the same time for a short period. Delouya, Samantha said “The union’s 160,000 members join the 11,000 Writers Guild of America members who have been striking since May”(Why Celebrities Are Striking)
The public is engaged. When the actors are protesting while making no money, it starts a chain reaction for the whole industry, affecting both writers, actors, producers, and viewers.“The workers have been on strike since July, when they joined screenwriters on their strike.”(Barco, Mandalit del. “Actors and Studios Make a Deal to End Hollywood Strikes.” NPR, NPR, 9 Nov. 2023). In the two interviews that Jackson Ottani conducted. He heard pretty relevant and similar things. The first interview I did was with Jon Carlos, who said “I feel like they should get paid more, because I feel like actors are under-appreciated for the roles they take”. He also said the public could help by advocating for the strike by writing an article or listening to others stories. The second interview that took place was with Dylan Healy. He approached it by comparing it to his life and what he would do. “From the perspective of an employee, I empathize with workers who want to fight for higher wages and benefits”. He’s taking a more targeted approach on the topic, because he has had jobs and knows what he would do to try to help.
Tv shows like (Stranger things, saturday night live, handmaid’s tale and the last of us, were affected by this strike, and had many people worried that they would not be returning. Although they were gone for some time, they have been put back to be continued, after the actors won over the strike.
