Perhaps in the next year, we may end up seeing a spike in new reality TV shows. Production of movies and TV shows could be halted early sometime around next year as well?
One could ask: What is going on?
To answer that question, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), one of Hollywood’s main unions that represents over a hundred-thousand actors and actresses are asking to authorize a strike. Yes, SAG is looking to have a Hollywood strike.
Early this year, popular television shows such as “Heroes,” “Alias,” etc, had to cut their seasons short. This was due to the inevitable Writers Guild of America strike that had taken place late 2007.
The popular TV show Heroes ended up ending its second season after episode eleven. For those that anticipated the coming of season 3, volume 3 of Heroes called “Villains” was supposed to be part of season 2.
It was all result of the WGA strike.
Now, the SAG may end up going on strike. So far, it has already ended its talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Talks ended with no progress. This is due to studios wanting the right to create productions for new types of media. The main type of new media would be the use if the Internet. Studios want to use non-SAG actors and not have to pay residual income (royalties, etc).
However, residuals do contribute to half the income made for such actors. This is what Doug Allen, an official with SAG, explains.
“They’re asking us to bless a system we believe would be the beginning of the end of residuals and that’s a very scary thought for working actors, Allen explains.
While the AMPTP wants to make productions for online media, SAG wants union coverage.
Should SAG end up striking, we could possibly see a halt in production for films and TV shows come next year. Overall, this will be déjà vu in regards to the WGA strike that took place many months ago.
The WGA strike lasted for about one-hundred days.
If SAG strikes, it is unknown how many days that one will last.