The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) officially joins the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on the picket lines, marking the first time since 1960. This effectively means that a significant portion of Hollywood is now on strike, causing the world’s most influential film industry to come to a standstill.
The ongoing discussion surrounding the use of AI and its potential impact on the livelihoods of writers and actors has been a central focus since the WGA initiated the strike two months ago. The extent to which studio executives, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), sought to exploit this technology is astonishing.
Straight out of a Black Mirror episode
During a recent press conference following SAG’s call for a strike, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director and chief negotiator, painted a grim picture of the situation. Referring to the AMPTP’s groundbreaking AI proposal, Crabtree-Ireland explained that the proposal suggests that background performers should be scanned, paid for one day’s work, and have their image and likeness owned by the company. Furthermore, the studio would have the right to use these scans perpetually without consent or compensation.
This proposal forces human background actors to relinquish their physical appearance, allowing studios to recreate them digitally at their discretion. It presents a dystopian view of the future of the film industry.
“Sneaky,” tweeted entertainment writer Matt Zoller Seitz. “So if an extra becomes a star, they can just make a movie starring the creepy AI copy from years ago?”
The actors have already been scanned.
To the Guild, preventing studios from carrying out such practices is crucial. In a letter written by the union’s general counsel Jeffrey Bennett in June, SAG-AFTRA emphasizes that the right to digitally replicate a performer’s voice or likeness for significant manipulation or creating new digital performances must be subject to negotiation. The union rejects the unilateral imposition of contract terms that grant these rights.
Meanwhile, the AMPTP has denied these reports but has not provided direct comments on the proposal by studio executives.
Disney, Netflix, and Marvel have already used AI-generated artists
Before the strike announcement, Disney CEO Bob Iger mentioned that the industry had successfully negotiated a favorable deal with the Directors Guild and expressed a desire to do the same with the writers and actors.
However, insiders have revealed that studios have already utilized technology to replace background actors with digital avatars in upcoming movies, such as “Captain America: Brave New World” and Netflix’s “The Residence.” Some actors claim they were not allowed to opt out of being scanned, as it was required to be hired.
This situation is a worrisome indication of what may lie ahead. It is not just the jobs of writers and editors that are under threat, but also the livelihoods of actors.
