For the first time since 1961 – when Ronald Reagan was a union rep – actors and writers in the US have gone on strike. In the UK, Brian Cox, who played the terrifying media boss Logan Roy in the award-winning TV show Succession, led a rally in support of their actions.
Cox tells Michael Safi why streaming and AI could transform the job he loves and is threatening the careers of younger actors. He explains why he fears writers’ work is being devalued to the point where the standard of films and TV work will drop.
Lois Beckett, a senior reporter with Guardian US, reports that less well-known actors and writers say they can no longer make a living.
At the heart of the dispute is how streaming has made the old payment model redundant. In an era where everything is available all the time, actors say they have lost payments for repeats that used to make their jobs financially viable. They also fear AI could change the control they have over their likenesses being used on film.
Photograph: Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
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