The response to the AMPTP’s description of the offer as “last, best and final” prompted actors like Ginger Gonzaga to clap back on social media saying “last, best and final offer...or WHAT? - you just don’t make TV shows and movies again?”
Similar sentiments were echoed on the picket line Monday morning with performers pushing back on the idea that the AMPTP’s offer signals the end of their negotiating with the guild.
Megalyn Echikunwoke: “It’s really just rhetoric.”
That was actor, writer and director Megalyn Echikunwoke.
Megalyn Echikunwoke: We’re not going to back down. So, you know, they can say that all they want, but we’re still here and we’re not going anywhere. And we’ve already sacrificed and lost so much.
The strike, which has lasted almost four months, has had substantial impact on box office numbers. This past weekend brought in just 64.6 million dollars which is down 49% from the week before. Big titles that would have taken over theaters like “Dune: Part Two” were absent from the lineup after the strike delayed its release.
The stakes of this specific strike have proven significant enough to bring even long retired workers to the picket line.
Bob Zeschin, for example, has been a member of the Writers’ Guild and on the picket line twice since 1988. Back then, he says, those strikes were about new technologies taking only certain aspects of actors’ careers. But today, with artificial intelligence...
Bob Zeschin: This strike is about being completely replaced by them, especially for the actors. And this one is life or death. It really is. And that’s why I’m here.
Saturday’s offer includes protections against A.I. which has become a major concern for performers as technology advances. According to Variety, the newer contract also includes a success bonus for streaming shows and increases in minimum rates.
Members like actor James Remar expressed their frustration at having to picket at all.
James Remar: But I’m not happy about it. I’d rather be working. We all would. None of us want to be standing out on the sidewalk, beating the pavement.
However, Remar remains hopeful that executives will eventually become receptive to the union’s requests.
Remar: The ideal outcome would be that the studios have an enlightened moment. And like Scrooge in Christmas, Carol, they wake up, they realize that they have so much money that they could give us everything that we’re asking for and it wouldn’t hurt them one bit.”
For Annenberg Media, I’m Gaby Medina.