SAG-AFTRA Steps Up Strike Preparation Efforts as Contract Talks Intensify

#NYC, #SAG LA Vice President @itsMichelleHurd says actors are literally working "Paycheck to paycheck" #ActorsStrike. pic.twitter.com/AWVTc4nQZOHurd said the strike was a labor issue and not a matter for “whiny elitist actors, you know, screaming for more money for their yachts.”“We are working class people, we’re all journeymen actors,” Hurd said. “Think about all the actors that you see on TV, that you don’t know their names, but you are comforted every time you see them.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis held a packed union meeting at their Beverly Hills home. Desi Arnaz poured his heart out in an open letter to the industry while Lew Wasserman worked the numbers quietly behind the scenes. And it was none other than future Oval Office occupant Ronald Reagan who led the Screen Actors Guild through the war in 1960, the last time that Hollywood experienced such a season of labor strife with actors and the Writers Guild of America on strike at the same time. And it was already a tumultuous time for the industry. In 1959, Congress and the Justice Department were deep into their investigation of “payola” corruption involving music labels and radio station owners. Congress also held hearings that year on the notorious TV quiz show scandals (see 1994’s “Quiz Show” for a primer).

SAG-AFTRA is expanding its strike activities outside Los Angeles and New York this week, with picket lines and rallies in Orlando, Atlanta and Hawaii.

There’s an old adage in television that advises if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Robert Downey Jr. is opening up about what is arguably his biggest role to date – playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Christopher Nolan sees the insistence by striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA members that studios and streamers limit the use of artificial intelligence stems directly from the explosion of streaming over the past decade-plus.

#SAGAFTRA Picket Line Interview: #MCU Legend & #SAG, #WGA & #DGA member @ClarkGregg says "I feel like we're kind of fighting to keep the soul in the art form" pic.twitter.com/7SWpjbvqGbGregg wasn’t the only actor on the picket line concerned about AI. Christopher Clawson, another SAG member who also happens to have a master’s degree in innovation and technology from the University of San Diego, hopes to see the unions “come up with a very specific language that will protect performers.”“The thing that scares me is that the studio’s know more about what these capabilities are, than the union,” Clawson said. “Because they’re the ones who get pitched this stuff, you know? They’re the ones with the deep pockets.

EXCLUSIVE: Hayley Atwell predicted that she’d be on strike now.

Thousands of actors have been walking the picket lines across LA and New York today and it’s clear that the SAG-AFTRA strike against the studios is going to continue to wreak havoc on scripted television.

Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis and other top actors joined picket lines alongside screenwriters on the first full day of a walkout that has become Hollywood's biggest labour fight in decades.

It’s Day 1 of the SAG-AFTRA strike and Day 75 of the WGA strike.

William Earl During a press conference Thursday, SAG-AFTRA leadership announced that the union was going on strike, and picketing started up Friday. In New York, the four locations were announced as HBO / Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery / Netflix HQ, Paramount and NBC Universal. In Los Angeles, 8 sites were announced, including Warner Bros., Amazon / Culver Studios, Fox, Paramount, Netflix, Sunset / Gower, Disney and Sony. Corporate greed was at the center of messaging on day one of joint picketing from SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. When the bus carrying SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and the rest negotiating committee arrived outside of Netflix offices, they were mobbed by media and fellow protesters as they inched their way down the sidewalk along Sunset Boulevard.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor “Fall festivals are fucked.” That was one studio executive’s blunt assessment about the impact of an actors’ strike on the rapidly approaching Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals. Showcasing Oscar contenders at these annual events is going to be much more difficult now that SAG-AFTRA has joined the WGA on the picket lines. “You can’t premiere movies anywhere without your stars,” the executive said. “No stars, no movie.” And SAG-AFTRA has made it clear that its members are not to do any promotional activity around their movies until a new contract deal is reached and ratified. So that means that the red carpets that make these festivals massive media events will be significantly less celebrity-studded. So why would studios shell out hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, to launch a movie at one of these gatherings?

AMPTP from the June 30 deadline through July 12, the actors guild formally called for a strike during a press conference on July 13 led by SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree. With Hollywood already largely shut down this summer by the writers strike, which has been ongoing since May 2, the actors strike will complicate things even further. First and foremost, all production will now be forced to shut down completely. Prior to this, some projects had managed to stay up and running by working off of already completed scripts and simply not having any writers on set — including big-budget productions like the second season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.” Amazon just recently wrapped filming on Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in the U.K., making it one of the priciest shows to come in under the wire. Variety has confirmed that “House of the Dragon” will remain in production, however.

Jordan Moreau Henry Czerny received a mission from filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie and chose to accept it. That mission? Return as former IMF chief Eugene Kittridge in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” 27 years after he first appeared in the original “Mission: Impossible” in 1996. At the “Dead Reckoning” premiere in New York, Czerny said when he first got the call about returning to the “Mission: Impossible” world, he didn’t believe it. “I think it’s a joke at first because my reps called me and said they want to bring Kittridge back and I’m in the middle of doing my errands in Los Angeles and fighting traffic or shredding old tax documents,” he told Variety. “I think, ‘Okay, what’s going on really?’ They say, ‘Chris McQuarrie wants to talk to you about bringing Kittridge back,’ and I take it seriously. Two days later, I’m on a call with Chris McQuarrie.”

The Big Apple is back on Bravo with the return of The Real Housewives of New York City. Following a complete overhaul of the cast, Season 14 introduces a whole new set of women to The Real Housewives franchise, a whole new intro and fresh taglines.

Olivia Rodrigo has spoken about going to watch Depeche Mode and The Cure with her father.During a new interview with Vogue, the 20-year-old singer opened up about how her dad was “introducing [her] to all the bands he went to see when he was my age”.The publication was speaking to Rodrigo as she browsed the shelves of A-1 Records in New York’s East Village. After pulling out an album by The Cure, she said: “I’m going to see them in two weeks with my dad.”It was then noted that Rodrigo and her father had been to watch Depeche Mode together a few weeks prior.The synth-pop duo – comprising Dave Gahan and Martin Gore – are currently out on their ‘Memento Mori’ world tour in support of their 15th album of the same name.

The Eagles are gearing up to close a chapter in their career.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Jess Search, a titan of the documentary world and co-founder of the U.K.-headquartered Doc Society, is stepping away after 18 years following a brain tumor diagnosis. The executive revealed her condition in a newsletter post sent to members on Thursday. “Today I am sharing that I’m currently under the care of a neurosurgeon because like 300,000 others every year around the world, I’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumour,” Search wrote. “I’m stepping back from Doc Society — after 18 years of nonstop creative collaboration, dedicated craft, joyous partying and fierce camaraderie.”