LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 11 – Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
The WGA has been on strike since May and will now join SAG-AFTRA effective July 14, 2023. This will have a huge impact on Netflix’s upcoming slate but more importantly those working on shows. , movies and the broader economy.
By the envelope, Hollywood has officially shut down now. Any unaffected film and television production will now be shut down «immediately.»
Two of the biggest unions are now on strike after negotiations with AMPTP (the collective group of broadcasters, distributors and studios, including Netflix) collapsed. The Directors Guild reached an agreement in June.
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For those unfamiliar, SAG-AFTRA is the union for more than 160,000 actors, while the WGA represents more than 20,000 writers. Without those two groups, the production of shows and movies in the pre-production and production stage cannot go forward.
Fran Drescher announced that SAG-AFTRA will begin its strike at midnight tonight, with actors on the picket line starting Friday.
Key issues at stake (with both the writers and the Actors Guild) include:
- The use of Artificial Intelligence
- Viewer Data Sharing
- residuals and pay
In response to the new SAG-AFTRA strike, the AMTP stated that they “submitted an agreement offering historic salary and residual increases, substantially higher limits on pension and health contributions, hearing protections, shorter serial option periods and an innovative AI proposal that protects actors’ digital images for SAG-AFTRA members,» adding that a strike is «certainly not the outcome we hoped for.»
The WGA also responded to the SAG-AFTRA strike in a tweet saying:
“We support SAGAFTRA when they start their strike. The last time our unions struck at the same time, they both won historic provisions on waste and pension and health funds; this fight is no less transformative.”
What Netflix shows and movies are affected by the strikes?
Any shows or movies in early development, active development, and pre-production have been on hold since May. With the double hit (the first in 60 years), any shows planned to start or in production will be paused indefinitely.
One way or another, much of Netflix’s upcoming slate has been affected by the strikes thus far and will be affected even more. Titles that have closed so far include
- Strange things
- cobra kai
- Big Mouth
- Emily in Paris
- that 90s show
- Unstable
International productions can still continue, but any actor who is part of the guild will not be able to participate.
Post-production can continue on shows and movies with titles that continue to be released (our opinion is that Netflix has enough content to survive until mid-2024), but the necessary reshoots cannot be done.
In addition, we will also not see actors participating in the press of any show or movie that has been completed and is released on Netflix. That includes any Emmy campaigns after the nominations announced yesterday.