Will Smith extends solidarity with actors, writers on strike; dubs it as ‘pivotal moment’ in their professional career

“Coach invited me to an acting class the other day and I met a group of our talented next generation of actors and they amazed and inspired me! I’m grateful to coach for continuing to support these talented hopefuls in this art-form that I love and have been lucky enough to work in for three decades of my life! Thanks COACH,” he added.

Moved by Smith’s words, acting coach and film director Aaron Speiser commented: “This means so much to me Will. I’ve learned just as much from you as you have from me. Come back anytime. 🙏🏼 Coach”

 

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Roughly 65,000 SAG-AFTRA actors and 11,500 Writers Guild of America (WGA) screenwriters are on strike, calling for better pay, structure with residual payments and protection from the use of artificial intelligence (AI), news agency Associated Press reported recently.

Meanwhile, major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms are considering terminating some of their first-look, overall deals with writers as soon as August 1, as per a report by Variety which cites sources with knowledge of various term agreements and talks inside the companies.

The deals would be torn up under contractual force majeure clauses, as SAG-AFTRA and the WGA continue to strike, the report said.

Vendors for television’s Emmys Awards have been told that the ceremony will not air as scheduled on September 18, Variety reported on Thursday, just over two weeks after nominees were announced, because of the strikes.

Speaking to the media in Los Angeles earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA’s President Fran Drescher slammed the Hollywood executives for their greed, saying, “I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us! How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them!”

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which bargains on behalf of Hollywood companies, a trade association that negotiates on behalf of studios, television networks and streaming platforms, claimed “it had worked to reach a reasonable deal at a difficult time for an industry upended by the streaming revolution, which the pandemic sped up” but the actors’ union “has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry”, The New York Times reported.