Hollywood has been virtually shut down since May 2.
Every day, hundreds of actors, directors and others affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have been striking on the streets of L.A. These workers are rallying for their demands to be met by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
“The Screen Actors Guild represents every single actor that you’ve seen on TV and in the movies,” said Terry Wilkerson, the head strike captain at Warner Brothers. “Anybody who’s your favorite actor, they are in the Screen Actors Guild. We have all been basically unemployed for 6 months, the whole union of SAG-AFTRA. Our economy has lost $5 billion.”
As an actor, writer, producer and director, Wilkerson has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 1996. He has been on strike for approximately 185 days, and has never missed a day. His dedication, commitment and positivity are what ultimately got him nominated for his position as strike captain.
“I am considered to be the best strike captain in the nation throughout all of the United States,” he said.
With over 40 captains under his authority, Wilkerson’s job is to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
“My duty is to make sure that everyone is safe and happy on the line,” he said.
Willkerson strives to lead with love and tenacity in his fight against major studios and streaming services.
“Are we tired? Yes. Are we exhausted? Yes. Will we buckle or break? No. Because we’re fighting for future generations.”
SAG-AFTRA has been fighting AMPTP for fair pay. Companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Sony and Universal Studios are all affiliated with AMPTP.
“We are fighting against them, and when I say fighting I mean we are really fighting against them,” Wilkerson said. “They feel that our demands are too unreasonable. The studios have failed to meet our demands, which are very, very, very minimal.”
He and the union, initially established in 1933, are asking for residual profit-sharing rights. The strikers want to receive 52 cents per year for each subscriber who views their work through an entertainment company’s platform.
“Since most people may pay $19.99 a month, we are asking for 52 cents a year per subscriber and they won’t give it to us,” Wilkerson said. “These studios make billions and billions and billions of dollars off of our work, off of our blood, sweat and tears. In my opinion they’re very greedy, extremely greedy. If it isn’t for our writing and our acting, they have nothing.”
AMPTP has been unwilling to meet the union’s demands.
“A man by the name of Ted Serranos who runs Netflix walked out of our negotiations,” Wilkerson said. “He literally walked out of our negotiations because he was upset that our demands were too much.”
Astounded by AMPTP’s noncompliance, Wilkerson underscores the unfairness of the situation.
“How ridiculous is it that they are fighting us for this small amount of money. It is absolutely absurd. It’s ridiculous that Netflix, Amazon, Universal, none of these people want to pay us and without us they have nothing. They don’t act, they don’t write, they don’t make any of this content that we put out.”
Members of SAG-AFTRA are also battling against scanning via artificial intelligence. This is when companies scan an actor’s image using AI and proceed to use the image whenever they want, without necessarily paying the actor.
Wilkerson advocates for more regulations to be put in place.
“AI is a very important tool and a very dangerous tool at the same time,” he said. “What the unions are fighting for is to have complete control over the use of artificial intelligence. What the studios have been doing very sneakily is trying to scan our images, pay us one time, and use our faces indefinitely. “
The strike has had extensive consequences on SAG-AFTRA.
“Actors have lost their homes during this strike, lost their cars,” he said. “I know major actors and writers who were on major shows making a ton of money now waiting tables to make ends meet.”
While these negotiations are crucial to the landscape of the entertainment industry, Wilkerson says that they impact everyone in the greater L.A. area.
“Makeup artists, teamsters, set builders, dry cleaners, coffee shops, all of these people’s revenues have dropped to the floor,” he said. “This is the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA’s history. This is a very, very historic strike for not only our union but basically everything. We are leading the fight for all working class people.”
Wilkerson believes that SAG-AFTRA’s strike has inspired other working class people like auto workers and teachers to stand up for themselves and demand fair pay.
“There have probably been more strikes this year than ever because billionaires are not paying and not wanting to pay,” he said. “The bigger guys don’t want to pay the little guys that are actually doing all the work.”
Negotiations officially began on Wednesday, and are currently ongoing. According to Wilkerson, approximately 14 members of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations committee are working around the clock, trying to attain the best deal possible.
With blockbuster movies like “Wonka” and “Aquaman 2” set to be released in upcoming months, major film companies are at risk of losing money. Under the strike’s guidelines, actors cannot promote these films or do any work for the studios. Therefore, AMPTP is in a difficult situation and may feel more pressured to comply with the union’s demands.
“This is a very promising week for us,” Wilkerson said. “We are extremely, yet cautiously, optimistic. The fact that we are in our fourth day of negotiations and that we are negotiating through the weekend is very promising. Our hope is that this strike will be over by next week if AMPTP can agree to our terms.”
