SAG actors are officially ON Strike

[Imzadi]

The deadline of negotiations have officially passed. Then it was extended for about 2 weeks as it SEEMED like they were making some headway.

Just an hour ago, SAG has officially and unanimously authorized a strike as "the Alliance of MotionPicture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros Discovery — remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues," one being especially regarding the use of AI and how it may/will put live actors out of jobs.

The Writers strike is STILL going on too.

They've been striking for about two and a half months now.

How this affects general YOU and one reason why you should care:

Well, get ready for possibly a LONG summer (and maybe Fall) of watching just reruns when all new content (already filmed) has ended.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Hope everyone is looking forward to five more seasons of 90 Day Fiance!

 

[momz]

hmmm. I think that entertainment is not the only industry that has been and will be affected by AI. Times, they are changing.

 

[BrianL]

It's weird that AI is one of the sticking points. I really don't think it is going to put creatives out of work. I've seen the art - it's bad (have you seen that Secret Invasion opening?). It's something they are playing with now, but I don't think it has any staying power, even if it vastly improves.

I do hope everyone can come to some understand and meet in the middle for a decent deal for all.

 

[Imzadi]

It's weird that AI is one of the sticking points. I really don't think it is going to put creatives out of work. I've seen the art - it's bad (have you seen that Secret Invasion opening?). It's something they are playing with now, but I don't think it has any staying power, even if it vastly improves.

I do hope everyone can come to some understand and meet in the middle for a decent deal for all.

I saw an example where someone purposely made a music video using the musical artist Drake, and put "him" into in a totally new music video, with new music, sounding and looking exactly like him, all done with AI. It went viral. His fans loved it.

Only it WASN'T Drake at all. HE didn't make the new music video. Didn't know about the music video. He never gave any approval or authorization to use his likeness, voice and sound. He also wasn't going to be paid for any of it either. He was naturally furious about all of it.

I *think* this may be what SAG is sticking on. There are currently no rules to RE-Using an actor's image and likeness and voice and sound for AI stuff. The technology is too new to even know what can and WILL be able to be done with it in the foreseeable future.

Same with the Writers strike. They want to be paid fairly for what they are writing. They haven't had any raises in a long time. And they too worry about AI regurgitating stuff they've already written and using it as horrible templates for NEW content while the original writers aren't being paid. (Or something like that. I haven't been fully keeping up on their strike either. Anyone who has real details and can explain it in layman's terms, please do explain it for us. )

It is lucky for BOTH unions get to negotiate at the beginning of this AI stuff. That AI wasn't invented until a year AFTER all the contracts & new rules & regulations were already inked and to be in place for several years and it didn't include AI at all, the way it is now.

 

[fla4fun]

It's weird that AI is one of the sticking points. I really don't think it is going to put creatives out of work. I've seen the art - it's bad (have you seen that Secret Invasion opening?). It's something they are playing with now, but I don't think it has any staying power, even if it vastly improves.

I do hope everyone can come to some understand and meet in the middle for a decent deal for all.

My understanding is that it was the risk of AI exploiting voices and images of the actors without their permission and with no compensation, not just AI in general, that is the problem. I heard there were similar concerns from a writing standpoint as part of the writers strike.

AI is rapidly changing the creative mediums and I think it is the right time to come up with some rules regarding what AI can use as “inspiration” for its output. There is a group of authors suing, claiming their novels and other writing was used by AI without their permission and without compensation. Once AI gets a hold of your material, it’s gone.

I wish it could have been settled without a strike, as the majority of the writers and actors aren’t the big stars making huge paychecks. They are hard working people like most of us, wanting to protect their hard work from being used for free. They may have a long fight ahead of them and I feel for them.

 

[BrianL]

My understanding is that it was the risk of AI exploiting voices and images of the actors without their permission and with no compensation, not just AI in general, that is the problem. I heard there were similar concerns from a writing standpoint as part of the writers strike.

AI is rapidly changing the creative mediums and I think it is the right time to come up with some rules regarding what AI can use as “inspiration” for its output. There is a group of authors suing, claiming their novels and other writing was used by AI without their permission and without compensation. Once AI gets a hold of your material, it’s gone.

I wish it could have been settled without a strike, as the majority of the writers and actors aren’t the big stars making huge paychecks. They are hard working people like most of us, wanting to protect their hard work from being used for free. They may have a long fight ahead of them and I feel for them.

I mean, I understand that it CAN do that and right now it's the hot thing to do, but I think in the long run that will be a fad and that it will never turn out truly quality work. Audiences will tire of it.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

This is very napster/limewire/apple music-esque....until actors can find out how to monetize what AI is doing with their likenesses, they don't want to support it in any way. As always, they have to protect their image. It's similar to all the deep fakes. How do we, the watcher, discern what's real and what's not. No matter how bad they might be right now, they'll improve over time.

I'm sure there are other issues being negotiated too but at this point, there's probably attorney's on both ends cashing in on these negotiations.

 

[jo-jo]

Perhaps dumb question, are the people at Disney shows part of that group?

 

[Imzadi]

I mean, I understand that it CAN do that and right now it's the hot thing to do, but I think in the long run that will be a fad and that it will never turn out truly quality work. Audiences will tire of it.

There is bad writing and acting NOW. But the writers and actors have to be paid fairly for their parts in the project. A person pressing a few keystrokes takes out the necessity to have live writers and performers and pay anyone anything. The already rich and powerful movie studios want to keep whatever profits they make on their side without needing to pay out to anyone.

So even if the content is bad and the box office receipts are a lot less, they are also not having to pay out as much for all that bad content. It's STILL a win for them.

 

[Imzadi]

I mean, I understand that it CAN do that and right now it's the hot thing to do, but I think in the long run that will be a fad and that it will never turn out truly quality work. Audiences will tire of it.

Also, we actually don't know if the AI stuff will remain bad. A new Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg of AI may come along and truly make the AI industry into stunning technology. IF the actors and writers don't protect what they can now for that possibility, they will really be screwed if and when the technology advances.

 

[fla4fun]

Perhaps dumb question, are the people at Disney shows part of that group?

Are you referring to live performers in the theme parks, or Disney film and television shows? I believe live performers are unionized, but in a different union to the Screen Actors Guild. I could be mistaken though.

 

[BrianL]

There is bad writing and acting NOW. But the writers and actors have to be paid fairly for their parts in the project. A person pressing a few keystrokes takes out the necessity to have live writers and performers and pay anyone anything. The already rich and powerful movie studios want to keep whatever profits they make on their side without needing to pay out to anyone.

So even if the content is bad and the box office receipts are a lot less, they are also not having to pay out as much for all that bad content. It's STILL a win for them.

I mean, I'm not arguing with you. The writers and actors have to make a deal that protects their interests. I just hate that something as lame as AI is one of the major issues in this strike. It should really be a no brainer - "Of course we won't use AI - because it's ridiculous!"

 

[jo-jo]

Are you referring to live performers in the theme parks, or Disney film and television shows? I believe live performers are unionized, but in a different union to the Screen Actors Guild. I could be mistaken though.

Yes, I wasn’t very clear. I mean the people at WDW that do shows like frozen or Nemo.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Perhaps dumb question, are the people at Disney shows part of that group?

Don't worry-I was wondering the same thing. I was also wondering if the actors on Broadway may be members of this union. I doubt it since there's no "Screen" involved, but you never know.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

This is a mess, and absolutely terrible timing. If they know what is good for them, they will be getting back to the negotiating table ASAP. Box office is already fickle due to Covid / Streaming / Piracy. The writers and actors are playing with fire here!

 

[_19disnA]

Aren't mostly reruns normally shown during the Summer since more people are on vacation or doing others things then watching TV? Being on strike won't impact that. Perhaps the new episodes will premiere later then normal sometime in the Fall. Shows only produce a set number of episodes and then they are reruns until the new season starts.

AI still seems like a catch-call phrase mostly whipped up by IT companies to sound like the next 'big thing' and drive up their stock price. Every article I read about AI has a different interpretation of what it is.

During most union negotiations boths sides will release statements that contain a lot of posturing and huffing/puffing or implying the world is ending over some minor disagreement. I don't get wrapped up in that and then suddenly you will find they have reached an agreement.

 

[fla4fun]

I mean, I'm not arguing with you. The writers and actors have to make a deal that protects their interests. I just hate that something as lame as AI is one of the major issues in this strike. It should really be a no brainer - "Of course we won't use AI - because it's ridiculous!"

The first thing I thought of when I first heard about the strike was the ABBA show in London. Now, granted, this has been produced with the full cooperation of the band and they were paid. I was thinking about the quality of the show. It is top notch and extremely realistic. Technology is only going to improve from there. It is not impossible to believe that a full movie could be made using similar methods.

Studios have already used forms of AI in crowd scenes in films, saving them a fortune hiring extras, although this is hardly a recent thing. Back when Gone With The Wind was filmed, for example, for wide shots of the wounded they placed one extra between two mannequins to reduce costs. James Cameron did it with Titanic, using AI to create people walking on the ship in flyover shots. It is a proven entity.

Personally, I don’t think the studios will ever agree not to use AI in films or television. They will do whatever it takes to increase profits. I think the people on strike are fully aware of this, and want some kind of assurance that if their voice, their likeness, or their words are used without consent and compensation that they have some form of contractual recourse. If they don’t do it now, before the tech improves to the point that a whole movie is possible, it may be too late.

 

[DLgal]

Studios are already pushing out their reality TV/gameshow heavy fall lineups.

I have 2 friends in the industry. At this point, they have enough content for an entire fall season.

 

[Imzadi]

I mean, I'm not arguing with you. The writers and actors have to make a deal that protects their interests. I just hate that something as lame as AI is one of the major issues in this strike. It should really be a no brainer - "Of course we won't use AI - because it's ridiculous!"

It's lame now. But, it won't stay at this level. . .

I am reminded an old movie from the 1960's called Torn Curtain in which Paul Newman played a brilliant physicist who pretended to defect to Germany during WWII. He was actually trying to get the equation to be the first one to make an atomic bomb. The U.S. had heard rumors that Germany may have already come up with the equation, so he went over to try to steal it.

Some fellow physicist said to Newman that once the equation is finally figured out, some person will HAVE to make the bomb and HAVE to push the button to see if the bomb really works and to what degree. (Forget the war part of it.) It's human nature. They will just have to. Once the knowledge to do it is in existence, they can't just leave it on paper untested. They have to know if they created a new technology and what it does.

Likewise, with cloning, once scientists were able to clone a sheep, almost all countries around the world ethically created laws against cloning a human. We hadn't gotten there yet, but we knew the cloning scientists would eventually TRY if they can. Again, it's just human nature to explore and go there. Right now, we have people cloning their dead pets, as creepy as it is, because they CAN.

AI is finally here. The AI scientists who live, eat and breathe this technology will just HAVE to see how far they can take it. They aren't going to leave it at a lame level.