SAG-AFTRA is on strike, and it can be very confusing to non-union actors and voice actors, and those who aren’t actors.

Today I’m gonna break down the major issues around the strike, why this is a watershed moment in the history of acting (and no, I’m not overblowing it), and why non-union actors should not only pay attention, but should absolutely support the strike and advocate for us all.

Remember that episode of friends, when Joey lost his health insurance?

A union actor, a SAG-AFTRA member has to make $26,470 take home pay in one year to qualify for union health insurance.

“Well, that’s not even a full-time wage,” you say. “Surely that’s a cinch, right?”

Of the 160,000 union actors, 12.7% or about 20,000 actors made $26,470 last year to qualify. You could put them all in the same hockey arena.

So, 87% of actors don’t clear $26,470 a year.

Now this strike specifically targets scripted television and film productions. This includes all major broadcast, cable, and streaming platform productions, both live-action and animated.

News broadcasts, reality television, and non-scripted programming are not subject to the strike. Certain independent productions with interim agreements are allowed to continue. Radio work is also not being struck, along with certain types of voice-over work not tied to scripted television, film, or video game productions.

The strike is against the AMPTP - the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Who are they? They include…

1. Walt Disney Studios, including its streaming service Disney+, reported profits of $15.2 billion.

2. WarnerMedia reported a profit of $8.9 billion in 2022.

3. Netflix posted profits of $6.4 billion in 2022.

4. Universal Pictures reported profits of $5.2 billion.

5. Amazon Studios, doesn’t’ disclose its profit margins but Amazon's revenue for 2022 was $386 billion, and Prime Video is a significant contributor.

So, the central issue in the strike is, guess what? Fair compensation, particularly for work in streaming media and reruns. As streaming services have risen in popularity, residuals—based on a model where shows first aired on television and then were sold into syndication—have not kept up. Actors are not being compensated fairly for that work now streamed on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+.

The world has changed in the last 5 years and more and more shows and movies have moved to streaming services, and the problem is, the streaming services aren’t being transparent about how often content is replayed, and actors are making significantly less money than on network TV.

Actor Kellee Stewart, who’s been on the series Blackish and All American said “The residuals that I get when it’s on network television versus what I would get on Netflix are night and day. There’s not just a difference between traditional residual television and streaming; they’re not even in the same conversation,” she told CNN.

On Twitter, she shared a screengrab of five residual payments totaling 13 cents from replays on streaming services.

So yes, this is about money, but it’s more about corporate greed. There are literally billions in profits to go around and the corporations who are making those billions REFUSE to pay even living wages to the talent that make the content possible.

This is pure abuse

This issue isn’t about the 1400 A-list movie stars. This is about the other 165,000, 87% of which don’t make a living wage.

If you think this is about Hollywood elites being greedy, you’re wrong. Take this example from voice actor, Brock Powell:

“THIS is my grand total for 48 episode airings for a show produced during the early pandemic. We kept the industry going when no other productions could. Animation actors, writers and artists deserve a fair share & better treatment.

$53.49.”

That won’t even pay his YouTube TV bill for the month.

The other huge issue is AI and digital doubling. AMPTP wants the ability to scan a background performer’s image, pay them for a half a day’s labor (less than $100), and then use an individual’s likeness for any purpose forever without their consent. They also want to be able to make changes to principal performers’ dialogue, and even create new scenes, without informed consent.

Justine Bateman, the former actor from Family Ties and Jason Bateman’s sister says this will give the studios the ability to produce entire new seasons of shows without compensating the actors.

This is why NAVA, the National Association of Voice Actors advocates so strongly for the three Cs: compensation, consent, and control of our voices.

“So,” you say, “who cares? I’m a non-union actor or voice actor. This doesn’t affect me.”

You are more wrong than all the black in space.

These two core issues of the strike, fair compensation and control over our images and likenesses, which includes voice, affect us all. The GVAA non-union voice actor’s rate guide is a direct derivative of the SAG-AFTRA rate guide. What happens on-screen directly affects what happens in voiceover. What happens on-screen directly affects what happens in voiceover.

We are at a seminal point in history where if actors, all actors – union, non-union, on-screen, voice actors - if all of us don’t stand in unison, don’t stand tall, don’t stand strong, then we will seal the fate of our business forever.

In practical terms, if you’re a non-union actor and you ever plan to join SAG-AFTRA, you cannot do struck work. Here’s the official notice from the union:

NOTICE TO NON-MEMBERS: Any non-member seeking future membership in SAG-AFTRA who performs covered services for a struck company during the strike will not be admitted into membership in SAG-AFTRA.

And that’s forever, kids.

I am a non-union actor. I have no present plans to join SAG-AFTRA, but I have no idea if that will always be the case.

But regardless, I support the strike 1000 percent because we are all actors and the studios are trying to literally eliminate us from the process. We all need to have control over our images and voices. And we all have a right to consent as to how, when and where our images and voices are being used. And we all need to be compensated fairly and make a living wage for our work.

If this current abuse by producers is happening on literally the world’s biggest stages, then the rest of us don’t stand a chance.

Here’s the link to the official strike website from SAG-AFTRA, with a ton of resources for union members, non-union members, indie producers, talent agents, and more.

What don’t you get about the strike? Leave a comment and I’ll see if I can clear things up for you.

If you found value from this post then please consider sharing it with other voice actors I publish new videos on YouTube and this blog for voice actors every Thursday and I’d love you to join the conversation here on the blog, at vopro.app, and in the greater voice acting community.

We’ll see ya again here soon. Thanks for reading.