Dispute may leave screens dark for months yet, but its outcome will determine shape of the film industry
Actor, director and cinematographer Mark Gray holds a sign reading"No A.I." as writers and actors staged a solidarity march through Hollywood to Paramount Studios on September 13, 2023 amid a halt in movie and TV production as the dual labor shortages continue. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May and the SAG-AFTRA actors' union joined the writers on the picket lines in July.
The second issue is the threat to livelihoods posed by technological innovation. Writers and actors alike are alarmed at the prospect of being replaced by artificial intelligence, which could generate everything from script rewrites to voiceovers. Recent experiments have shown how convincing these new generative models can be.
The disputes are a symptom of an industry in flux. The rise of Netflix and other platforms brought a glut of productions. It could be argued the investment was successful: last year, for the first time, Americans spent less than 50 per cent of their viewing time watching traditional broadcast TV. But the streamers have now entered a period of consolidation as subscriptions slow and revenues slacken.
The strikes are estimated to have already cost the Californian economy several billion dollars, with their impact felt in New York, London and other major filming locations. As yet, actors have had no talks with employers, while writers swiftly rejected the first offer from producers’ representatives. News emerged this week of tentative attempts to open channels of communications between the opposing sides. But many believe the shutdown could drag on into 2024.
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