Right now, history is in the making, as for the first time since 1960, the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are both on strike. Both groups are refusing to work on any further film and television projects until the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) agrees to new deals that address WGA and SGA concerns about the future of the industry.
To learn more about the issues that concern real working actors and writers, Consequence visited the front gates of Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles on Monday, July 17th, as the first full week of SGA picketing began. In this video, filmed and edited by Maura Fallon, those on the picket line offered up their insights into why both guilds are now on the picket line, including concerns about AI, residual payments, and the overall economic uncertainty which has so many concerned about what comes next.
Thank you so much to Blanca Blanco, Cindy Chu, Sierra Cymone, Simbiat Hall, Ashli Haynes, Margarita Kabakova, Eric Marq, Danny Pudi, Christopher Richardson, Kendall Sherwood, John Savage, and Kirsten Vangsness for speaking with us — we weren’t able to use all of your insights, but very much appreciated your time.
For more information on the strikes, visit our explainer guides. This may not be our last report from the picket line, because according to most people, this may last a while.