WGA and SAG-AFTRA pickets have been canceled in Los Angeles on Monday, August 21 due to Hurricane Hilary.
01.08.2023 - 18:29 / deadline.com
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher again took aim at the heads of the film and television conglomerates, calling them “greed-driven and disrespectful” and their corporate culture “maniacal” in remarks Tuesday at a rally outside New York City Hall.
A self-described “New Yorker, born and raised,” Drescher spoke ahead of a New York City Council hearing for resolutions backing the striking actors and writers and calling on the studios to return to negotiations with both of their unions.
On the the 19th day of the SAG-AFTRA strike and 92nd of the Writers Guild strike, Drescher reminisced about growing up in Flushing, Queens, and dreaming of a career in acting.
“But I never imagined that the show business that was so romanticized in the old movies of the 1930s and ‘40s in 2023 would actually be led by such greed-driven and disrespectful people [toward] the performing artists,” Drescher said. Watch her speech below.
She repeated an oft-quoted statistic that 86 percent of SAG-AFTRA’s more than 160,000 members don’t meet the income threshold — $26,500 a year — to qualify for union-paid healthcare coverage.
“They are working people who simply want to pay their rent and put food on the table,” Drescher said. “My members want the same things for their children that these uber-wealthy CEOs want for theirs.
“We will not stepped on or squeezed out of our livelihood so that they can look good for their shareholders,” she added, asking aloud why the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is “stonewalling” the unions.
“Are they hoping to break us?” Our resolve is strong. They will have to yield to our deal,” she said to cheers and applause from union leaders, City Council members and dozens of rank-and-file SAG-AFTRA
WGA and SAG-AFTRA pickets have been canceled in Los Angeles on Monday, August 21 due to Hurricane Hilary.
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Joe Otterson TV Reporter SAG-AFTRA national president Fran Drescher stopped off at multiple picket lines in New York on Thursday to rally the members of the guild as their strike continues. “I just want to say I am so grateful for your enthusiasm and your commitment to this strike,” Drescher told the pickets outside HBO’s New York offices. “It means everything.
The New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor passed a resolution today in support of a fair contract for striking actors and writers.
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Bryan Cranston was one of many high-profile actors to hit the picket line in New York City on Tuesday, speaking at the SAG-AFTRA’s Rock the City for a Fair Contract rally.
Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer There’s an old joke used in show business when events and gatherings lack major celebrity attendance: “Somebody punch me in the face so I can see some stars.” But it’s no joke when it comes to the picket lines of the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes, according to some of the protesters on the ground and select industry players who spoke to Variety. There’s been a “palpable” lack of headliners, said one prominent SAG-AFTRA member, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “If our stars were all out there in force advocating for us, we’d know it,” they added. Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Rami Malek all signed a June letter telling union leadership they were prepared to strike, but none of them have surfaced holding signs or chanting at studio gates. Leonardo DiCaprio posted an Instagram story saying he stood “in solidarity with my guild,” but has yet to stand for any in-person protest. On day one of the actor’s strike in mid-July, one protester straddled a median at the drive-on gate at Netflix headquarters holding a sign that read, “Where the fuck is Ben Affleck?” So far, no one’s seen him on the front lines.
thousands of actors and entertainers striking in Hollywood and around the country with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for the first time in over six decades.Ahead of the strike, Radcliffe opened up about his newfound journey into fatherhood.“He’s very cute,” he told Extra of his son “We’ve moved into a less screaming phase and he’s now giving us little smiles and giggling.”“It’s been a crazy few months, as anyone who’s been through parenthood would attest. But it’s also the literal best thing that’s ever happened, so it’s great.
Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney have been confused for each other for quite a while now, and the two actors are using it to their advantage while on the picket line for the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Hollywood is mourning the loss of Tony Bennett. The singer who successfully led a decades-long career and captivated audiences with "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," died Friday.The star was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday. Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press, saying he passed away in his hometown of New York.
Fran Drescher became the "it girl" in Hollywood from the beginning of her career. From dancing with John Travolta in her first film, to creating and starring in her own, award-winning television sitcom, and then pivoting into becoming one of the most powerful people in the industry – Drescher kept her eye on the prize: success. The New York-native had big dreams as a kid, and wanted to be a writer, hairdresser, actor or politician.
As the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the American Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) fight for better wages and contracts, they’re also requesting better picketing conditions.
Hilary Duff is showing fans what dreams are made of while participating in the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor SAG-AFTRA held an informational meeting for about 500 people over Zoom on Monday afternoon. Among those who signed on were actors Lupita Nyong’o, Vanessa Kirby, Melissa McCarthy, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucy Liu, Laverne Cox, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Jon Huertas and Josh Pence, according to a source. CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Faith France and Ryan Abboushi also attended, as did UTA’s Kristen Saig and Kris Heller of APA Agency. Publicists included Mara Buxbaum, Jill Fritzo, Luke Windsor, Brianna Smith and Cheryl Maisel. The meeting was led by SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The guild shared a one-sheet of talking points for participants. Among the bulleted items on revenue sharing, health care and retirement, online casting platforms and artificial intelligence, the memo states, “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”
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