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The first official day of the SAG-AFTRA strike has begun and members are immediately targeting one of the most egregious offenders in terms of labor rights in the industry – Warner Bros. Discovery. A video from outside Warner Bros. Studios on Friday showed striking workers from both SAG and the already-on-strike WGA gathered en masse to picket for fair wages and conditions. The turnout to march in front of the gates and across the roads in front of the buildings was staggering with lines stretching up and down the sidewalks and pro-union signs everywhere.
“EXT. WARNERS – DAY. Zaslav made a huge mistake,” television writer David Slack wrote on Twitter, referring to Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav. The CEO has hardly made any friends in the industry since spearheading last year’s merger and reaching the top of the ladder. Shelving Batgirl back in August 2022 angered many for throwing away the hard work of everyone involved for nothing. He also pioneered the recent movement of removing content from streaming platforms in an effort to save on residuals and take tax write-downs, a move seen as blatantly anti-creative and anti-consumer that only continues to grow in popularity. It doesn’t help that he’s defended all of those actions with zero remorse for the creatives who got the short end of the stick. So loathed is Zaslav among the writers within the industry that even his attempts to deliver an ill-advised commencement speech were thwarted by “pay your writers” chants.
Writers have also recognized Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery as key forces pushing back against their demands for livable wages and working conditions. Even once the WGA strike began, HBO ordered showrunners back to work to perform non-writing duties in a desperate bid to keep productions running. As SAG-AFTRA begins its strike, Warner Bros. is still one of the studios finding ways to continue working despite limitations. Thanks to many of House of the Dragon‘s cast being under the protection of the local union Equity U.K. rather than SAG, filming for Season 2 is proceeding apace.
Studios Are Starting to Feel the Sting of a Dual Hollywood Strike
With both actors and writers walking out now, it’s getting even harder for studios to keep things running smoothly, however. In the wake of SAG’s strike, Deadpool 3 has ceased production for the time being as has Venom 3 and the second part of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. That’s without mentioning everything the WGA strike already sidelined. Studios are still finding ways to put pressure on writers and actors, however. FX’s Alien series, like House of the Dragon, will be filming with non-SAG members amidst the strike. Many studios are also making the hard switch to reality content to wait out striking workers in the meantime.
SAG-AFTRA began striking yesterday in order to obtain a fair deal with studios with better pay and contributions to pension and health care as well as regulation of self-taped auditions among other things. The same goes for the WGA who seek fair pay for an increasing workload and greater job security as each job gets shorter and more intensive. While there may be a focus on Hollywood A-listers, the vast majority of workers covered by these unions are simply not making enough as is for what they do, whether as a staff writer or background actor. Both sides are also seeking protection from A.I. which has become an increasing concern in recent years as studios look to find ways to create content without having to pay actual people.
Read our full write-ups on what the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes mean and what these groups are fighting for if you want to learn more. Check out the video of the protest outside Warner Bros. Studios below.
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