Striking actors brought their fight for a new contract to the California state Capitol in Sacramento as SAG-AFTRA’s strike continued with no resolution in sight.
At the rally, Sonoma-based actor Anthony Abate carried a sign that had a recent residuals check he earned from a TV show taped to it. It totaled one cent.
“Worth less than the paper it’s printed on,” he said.
Beneath the check was a list of the 10 highest-earning film executives. Abate pointed to the top of the list.
“David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., almost $500 million. So that’s why we’re here; the discrepancy between $500 million and one penny. We’re not asking for an arm and a leg here. What we’d like is a living wage. We’d like health care for us and our families,” Abate said.
Striking actors also want protections from the use of artificial intelligence to replicate their likenesses.
“Artificial intelligence has never had a childhood trauma, never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. What do they have to draw on to replace us and what we bring to the screen,” said Kathryn Howell, president of SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California Local.
Sacramento elected officials including Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Assembly member Kevin McCarty and City Council member Karina Talamantes attended the rally in support and called on studio executives to return to the bargaining table.
“The state is a full participant in helping this vital industry grow,” Steinberg said, pointing to more than $1.6 billion in film tax credits over five years recently approved by state lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom.
He said the money should come with a standard “that the working men and women have the ability to support themselves and their families. That’s what this fight is about.”
While Sacramento is hundreds of miles from Hollywood, the city sees its share of film permits, including the recently-wrapped movie titled ‘Sacramento’ starring Michael Cera and Kristen Stewart.
In 2022, film productions spent $2.7 million in Sacramento and hired for more than 700 jobs, according to Sacramento Film Commissioner Jennifer West. She said in an email the industry is on track to meet or exceed those numbers in 2023.
Several Democratic state lawmakers and other elected officials have attended Hollywood pickets in a show of solidarity. While he said he supports “the working people,” Steinberg later clarified that he was not “picking a side” in the labor dispute, noting he has mediated other conflicts including a recent strike by UC graduate students.
“I believe there should be a settlement and principled compromise,” he said. “I talk to the industry as well.”
Newsom has offered to broker deals between disputing writers, actors and film executives, according to the Associated Press.
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