Tom Clifford
4 min readAug 1, 2023
SAG On Strike Announcement 7/23

What has Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (AMPTP) said about the SAG/AFTRA strike?

In a statement on July 13, the AMPTP said, according to ABC News, “We are deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations. This is the Union’s choice, not ours. According to SAG/AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and Fran Drescher union president, this strike is the result of big corporations that refuse to treat our members fairly.

“Are they willing to give actors true informed consent about the use of their own face, voice, body, likeness in the creation of artificial intelligence digital doubles of them? ‘No.’“Do actors get to have minimum wage increases that keep up with inflation? ‘No.’

“Do actors get to have a share of the streaming revenue that has been created because of their faces and their voices on these new platforms, these new businesses these companies are creating? ‘No. We don’t even want to talk about it.’

And it’s not okay, and we are standing up and we are saying ‘No’ to that…This is a united membership who are standing together and are saying ‘No’ to an unfair deal. Are saying ‘No’ to disrespect from these companies.”

In a union memo signed by Fran and Duncan, SAG-AFTRA members were ordered “to cease rendering all services and performing all work covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts” once the strike begins.

Amid the writers’ strike, many shows had already paused production and will continue to be on hold indefinitely amid the SAG/AFTRA strike. Deadpool 3 was one of the first major films to shut down production. Insiders anticipate that Beetlejuice 2, Gladiator 2 and Wicked could also be affected. There is a loophole for some shows filming overseas, however.

The folks at People Magazine have learned that the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, will be allowed to continue shooting its upcoming second season as an Equity contract production.

“Since the cast is mostly comprised of actors who work under Equity, the sister union to SAG-AFTRA in the U.K., they are not advised to participate in the current strike. The same rule could apply to HBO’s Industry and Max’s Dune spinoff series Dune: The Sisterhood, which also operate under Equity rules”(The Wrap/People).

What can’t actors do during the SAG/AFTRA strike?

According to the memo, that includes “principal on camera work,” such as acting, singing, dancing, performing stunts, piloting on-camera aircraft, puppeteer-ing and performance capture or motion capture work. In other words, any work on TV shows and movies comes to a halt, shutting down production completely.

Off-camera work that is forbidden includes re-recording dialogue, voice acting, narration and stunt coordination. Promoting new projects — including tours, personal appearances, and attendance at premieres and screenings, is also not allowed. Interviews are also off the table, as well as podcast appearances and promotion on social media. Actors cannot appear at any conventions, fan expos or festivals in order to promote “any project that was made under the TV/theatrical agreement.”

The SAG/AFTRA Foundation Emergency Financial Assistance and Disaster Relief Fund, confirmed Monday, that “Dwayne Johnson contributed a 7-figure to its charitable Emergency Financial Assistance Program”. It’s a historic and single largest donation since the foundation was created in 1985. Says: Courtney B.Vance, President of SAG/AFTRA’s Foundation,”It’s a call to arms for all of us”. Courtney had drafted a letter to 2,700 of the union’s highest-earning actors outlining the financial need that many would face in the work stoppage. In no time from sending Courtney’s letter, Johnson’s team reached out to the foundation to say Dwayne wanted to help. So, he and Vance hopped on a phone call.

Well, guess what came in the mail yesterday…Bill Shatner’s ‘Dear Tom’ reminder, outlining the benefits of the Hearing Life hearing aids.

Yep, We’d like to echo that. And, oh, one more thing…

K%$#H#!%$A!%$#N !

by:Tom Clifford, VoiceOver & Creative Services

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