On the picket lines with Hollywood’s actors and writers, from LA to New York

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – It’s “Summer Girl Strike.”

So read the sit-down sign as the sidewalks of Hollywood and midtown Manhattan swarmed with actors on the first day of their strike, a protest along with writers who’ve been in it since May.

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Together, the two unions brought the entertainment industry to a standstill. On both coasts, though, a booming mood was in the air as picket lines were revitalized with support from some of the 65,000 representatives who make up SAG-AFTRA (98% of the members voted to approve the strike back in June). This is Hollywood’s biggest labor battle in six decades, and the first double strike since 1960, reigniting fervor against the Alliance of Film and Television Producers just as a historic heat wave hit Southern California.

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Outside the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, crowds of protesters chanted: “Raise fist, curtains, L.A. is a union city.” Food trucks surrounding the organizers’ tents served churros, boba tea, and cold lemonade to protesters baking in the 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 degrees Celsius) midday heat.

But the oppressive sun did not lighten the mood. Protesters splashed water with each other and danced to reggaeton music while bystanders in cars cheered in support with signs such as: “Hoon if your boss is overpaid.”

Parents in the picket line hoisted their babies over their shoulders and shoved their toddlers in strollers, shouted to each other with signs reflecting defiant lyrics from Olivia Rodrigo’s new single “Vampire” and were belting out “Big Strike Energy.”

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“The jig is up,” said Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA who was once the titular star of “The Nanny,” at SAG’s press conference Thursday. “The entire business model has been changed by digital live broadcasting and artificial intelligence. If we don’t stand tall now, we will all be in trouble.”

Comedian and writer Adam Conover, a SAG and WGA member who serves on the latter’s negotiating committee, has noted the support of SAG members. “

“If you’re picking up momentum like we had the 70-day strike, you’re going to win,” Conover said. “You know, the corporate strategy with the writers union when we go on strike is to starve us and wait, not even talk to us for months because they expect us to bleed support. However, look at this — our picket lines are as full as ever and we now have another union in Strike with us.”

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The SAG and WGA last saw simultaneous strikes over six decades ago.

“What we won back in 1960 were our health and pension plans, and having residuals,” Conover said. Now, the executives are faced with the fact that not only are they not getting new scripts, but they can’t film anything until they go back and make a fair deal, not with one syndicate but with both syndicates.

Zora Pekangaga, also a member of both unions, called Friday’s sit-in “an invigoration,” and a testament to how the problems faced by writers have spread “throughout the entire industry.”

While the industry’s business model has undergone significant contract changes since the last strike, representatives say their pricing and contracts have not evolved to accommodate inflation and other changes.

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said actor Ron Song, who appeared on Amazon Freebie’s “Jury Duty,” which is nominated this week for four Emmy Awards.

Former stars and acquaintances alike gathered at the demonstrations. Some have not seen each other since the coronavirus pandemic began more than three years ago.

The first full day of the double strike was marked by high energy – joy and loneliness mixed with anger and frustration.

For actor Stacy Travis, who has been actively involved with SAG-AFTRA for years, the decision to strike was not taken lightly.

“It’s an extraordinary feeling and it feels sad,” she said of the moment. “It’s very difficult for everyone, so we’ve always taken it incredibly seriously. So it’s only when we’re propped up against a wall and we don’t have options that we find ourselves here.”

“It’s all for me,” actor Peter Carellini said of the reason for the strike. “It’s AI. It’s a relic. It’s the fact that Bob Chapek, Bob Iger, and David Zaslav reap endless bonuses while writers and actors go to the Emmys with negative bank accounts.”

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