Monica Rubalcava and Guillermo Azábal | Los Angeles (USA), (EFE) ” as “a fight of normal employees against megacorporations”.
“Most of the actors are not famous or rich. The majority are workers trying to pay their mortgage,” added the director of the national executive of the Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA) in an interview with EFE, which was also attended by the newspaper El País, minutes after the make the strike official.
The interpreters of the United States began a historic suspension of activities this Thursday – the first to take place at the same time as the strikes of the Writers Guild (WGA) in 63 years – that aims to paralyze the entertainment industry globally.
An extreme that, according to Crabtree-Ireland from the union headquarters in Los Angeles, was the last scenario to which they aspired and to which they were led because the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) never proposed a new collective agreement to be “respectful” to its members.
“We do not want a strike, we want a contract, but one that our members can sign,” the negotiator appointed by SAG-AFTRA delved into almost perfect Spanish to get out of this crossroads.
Some statements that contrast with the statement released by AMPTP shortly after the strike was announced and in which the organization – which represents conglomerates such as Disney and platforms such as Netflix – called the supposed improvements they put on the table “historic”.
Regulating the use of AI
Some measures that should deal with the two main demands of Hollywood actors: the regulation of the use of artificial intelligence in the industry and an increase in what are known as residual rights, the economic compensation that professionals receive each time their jobs are they broadcast again.
“Some of the proposals that they made to us are acceptable, but not those that had to do with artificial intelligence,” he acknowledged after being asked about the “innovative proposal” that, according to AMPTP, had been presented to them in terms of AI.
In addition, the executive denied the majority of what was offered regarding the residual rights and categorically assured that the studies only sought to “appear” to the public “fair proposals” that never existed.
“If there had been a legitimate offer, we would have said yes,” said Crabtree-Ireland, who dared to reveal the figures that were in contention until the last moment of the negotiations.
According to the version of the SAG-AFTRA executive, the Producers Alliance presented an offer that, at most, reached a 5% increase in the general salary of the actors and that was far from the 11% that they request. .
“Open” to resume dialogue “at any time”
Although it is true that, although the negotiations for the new collective agreement of the US actors ran aground at midnight on Thursday, from SAG-AFTRA they stressed that they have “the doors open” to resume the dialogue “at any time” .
“Today, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and any day. We are ready to negotiate with the studios, they have told us that they do not want to return to the table but the only method to reach an agreement is to talk,” said Crabtree-Ireland, trying to put restraint in a few hectic hours in which he did not stop receiving calls.
The collapse of the US audiovisual industry could result in losses of billions of dollars for professionals in all sectors related to film and television.
Specialists in the entertainment business have already estimated this economic impact at around 30 million dollars a day, a figure with which the chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA did not disagree in his statements to EFE.
However, he emphasized that this union, as is happening with the writers’ union, has its own emergency fund to cover “the needs of those actors affected by the stoppage.”
Starting this Friday, thousands of actors will join the pickets that Hollywood scriptwriters are already maintaining outside the studio headquarters in Los Angeles, in a context in which they consider themselves “victims” fighting for “entrenched rights.” during decades”.