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Actors slam studio greed at Boston rally for SAG-AFTRA strike
On the 100th day of the WGA strike, local members of SAG-AFTRA were joined by Elizabeth Warren, Tom Bergeron, Chris Cooper, and more on Boston Common.
On the one-hundredth day of the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) ongoing strike, hundreds of local actors, writers, and labor supporters gathered on Boston Common Wednesday evening as part of a rally organized by SAG-AFTRA.
Labor leaders, local actors, and nationally recognized performers like TV host Tom Bergeron and Sen. Elizabeth Warren were among the many who spoke out against the “greed” of Hollywood studio executives, whose decision (as members of AMPTP) to walk away from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA negotiations earlier this year has shut down the film industry.
The studio honcho who drew the most mentions (and the loudest boos) during the one-hour rally was Disney CEO Bob Iger, who has gone on record calling worker demands for fair compensation “not realistic” and the decision to strike “disturbing.”
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“How much will Bob Iger make off the hard work of the striking actors, writers, and crew members this year? He’s slated to make $27 million this year alone,” Sen. Warren said. “Twenty-seven million, and 80 percent of SAG-AFTRA workers can’t afford healthcare. Enough is enough.”
Among the sticking points in negotiations for both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA is the AMPTP’s refusal to discuss potential contract language regulating the use of AI in film productions. The WGA hopes to place guardrails around the use of AI-generated writing, while SAG-AFTRA wants to create protections for actors’ likenesses being digitally scanned and potentially owned by studios in perpetuity.
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Megan Carroll, a Boston-area comedian and actress, told the crowd that she had already been digitally scanned by a studio. When she asked who else in the crowd had, dozens of hands went up.
“This is why we’re striking,” Carroll said. “We’re not a bunch of lazy actors. We’re a bunch of moms from the suburbs trying to make a living, trying to feed our kids.”
A number of famous faces with local ties, including Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”) and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tom Perrotta, watched the speeches from the crowd. Others, like veteran TV host Tom Bergeron (“Hollywood Squares,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos”) took the stage at Parkman Bandstand.
Bergeron, who grew up in Haverhill, railed against streaming studios for refusing to divulge viewership data to film workers that could help negotiate equitable residual payments.
To prove his point, Bergeron pulled out a residual check from an unnamed streaming company for a single penny.
“In the world of streaming, my career’s not even worth two cents,” Bergeron said. “And it came in an envelope with a 60-cent stamp. They could have Venmo’d me the damn penny.”
Streaming companies have long avoided paying actors and writers residuals, something that both WGA and SAG-AFTRA members say needs to change.
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Sharyn Rothstein, a member of WGA, spoke to the Boston crowd about her experience writing on the USA legal procedural “Suits,” which has become a full-blown Netflix sensation almost four years after it stopped airing new episodes.
The legal drama, which co-starred the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has been a permanent fixture in Netflix’s Top 10 since its debut on the service, with worldwide audiences watching more than 3 billion minutes of the show in the last four weeks, according to Nielsen data.
“Millions of people worldwide are watching the show, but we don’t know exactly how many are watching — and that is a problem,” Rothstein said. “What we do know is Netflix is making a massive amount of money on our show.
“You know what? We want Netflix to make money,” Rothstein continued. “All we’re asking for is our fair share.”
A recurring theme among the speakers — which included leadership from local chapters of labor unions like IATSE, AFL-CIO, and the Teamsters — was emphasizing how far removed the average film industry worker’s compensation is from the upper echelons of Hollywood.
Bill Mootos, a Boston-based actor who has been part of SAG-AFTRA’s New England chapter for 24 years, said that his union-negotiated wages and benefits were essential in helping him earn a working-class living.
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“This strike is not about Hollywood movie stars,” Mootos said. “Here in New England, we have over 3,000 actors who are members of SAG-AFTRA. Our union ensures that we have guaranteed minimum salaries. It helps those without high-powered agents earn a living wage.”
Now, for the first time in his career, Mootos said, studios are putting the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers like himself in jeopardy.
“We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and will not let corporate greed stand in the way of our livelihoods,” Mootos said. “We will stand together and fight that corporate greed.”
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