Meryl Streep is ready
Will there be another Hollywood strike?
Meryl Streep supports her colleagues.
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Another strike is looming in Hollywood. Top stars like Meryl Streep have now made that clear in a letter.
Hollywood top stars Meryl Streep (74), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (62) and Jennifer Lawrence (32) and hundreds of other high-profile actors are apparently ready to go on strike. According to the US industry portal “The Hollywood Reporter”, they signed a letter in which they informed the SAG-AFTRA leadership. It is an American trade union that represents, among other things, film and television workers. The letter’s signatories, including Rami Malek, 42, Brendan Fraser, 54, Neil Patrick Harris, 50, and Ben Stiller, 57, are calling for sweeping change.
Ready for a strike
In the message sent to union leaders, the stars explained that “for so many, going on strike brings incredible hardship and nobody wants that”. But they are ready for it. The group called 2023 an “unprecedented turning point in our industry” and explained what seemed like a good result in other years just isn’t enough anymore.
The letter raised concerns that “SAG-AFTRA members may be willing to make sacrifices that the leadership is not making,” the report said. It continued: “We feel that our wages, our jobs, our creative freedom and the power of our union have been eroded over the past decade.” This development must be reversed.
The message came just days after union president Fran Drescher, 65, told union members that talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had been “extremely productive” so far. The union and the AMPTP, an association of television and film production companies, are currently in full swing negotiations as the previous contract expires on June 30.
That’s what the signers of the letter are asking for
Among other things, the signatories of the letter call for a realignment of minimum wage rates and health care as well as comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence in the industry. The letter ended, the report said: “This is not a moment where we meet in half and it is no exaggeration to say that history’s eyes are on us all. We ask that you please accept all changes that we need and the protection that we deserve, while making history.”
American screenwriters have been on strike since May 2nd. The representatives of the major studios and streaming services have not responded to the demands of the Writers Guild of America. The authors’ union fights for better pay and better framework conditions for the work of its members. Numerous series and film productions are affected by the strike.