Major writers' strike that could bring down Hollywood and cancel series and films

(Patria) - Hollywood writers have been on strike for two months, and they could soon be joined by actors, who will swap the red carpet for protests, the BBC reported.

The contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) expires at midnight local time on July 12, after an extension that delayed the possibility of a mega-strike for nearly two weeks.

They will join the Writers Guild of America, which went on strike on May 2 after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the umbrella group representing studios such as Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

It would be the first time unions representing both writers and actors have gone on strike at the same time since 1960, when future US President Ronald Reagan was president of the actors' union. A third union, the Directors Guild of America, has negotiated its contract and will not join the strike.

Dozens of productions have been halted since the writers went on strike, including Stranger Things, Billions and Marvel's Blade. If an actors' strike occurs, there could be further delays, and some shows could be cancelled entirely. For audiences, this likely means the next season of your favourite TV show will be delayed, and many could disappear forever.

Although some international productions will continue, it will be limited, as SAG-AFTRA represents more than 160,000 performers worldwide, including writers and actors. Like the writers already on strike, actors say streaming services have not shared the money, even though they have led to an explosion of entertainment content. The endless pursuit of new subscribers is an unsustainable business model, they say, and studio executives are taking home huge salaries while many actors and writers cannot make a decent living.

Actors and writers used to earn money from reruns on network TV. They would receive a cheque in the mail every time a film or show they worked on was rebroadcast, and that allowed actors to survive between projects in the business. But streaming services have turned Hollywood upside down, and now actors and writers get little or nothing when someone watches their work on a streaming service, which also traditionally pays less than network television.

Negotiations are being conducted in secret, so it is unclear what the sticking points might be and whether a deal is inevitable. Members voted overwhelmingly to strike if a deal cannot be reached. Many A-list actors have signed a letter to their union supporting a strike if they cannot get a "transformative" new contract from the studios. The letter was signed by Meryl Streep, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lawrence and Quinta Brunson, along with 1,000 other signatories.

Both writers and actors are striking not only for better pay, but also for restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in productions, which they say poses an "existential" threat.

Actors say AI could create a doomsday scenario in which deep fakes and deceased actors could become the stars of tomorrow through computer-generated faces and voices. For many in the industry, it is a grim thought - computer-generated filmmaking without the involvement of a camera crew, actor or writer.