Dragged Back to Minimum Scale: Why Veteran Actors are Mad About Streaming ‘Discounts’ and Having to Fight for Their Contractual Rights
variety.comCynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are wrestling over complicated contract proposals in a business turned inside-out by the transition from linear to streaming.
But some of what’s on the table isn’t so complicated. Some of the discord between labor and management that led SAG-AFTRA to go on strike on July 13 is rooted in money and the hard reality of making minimum rates in Hollywood.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has vowed publicly that securing a hefty increase in minimum pay rates across the board is a deal-breaker issue for the union.
Talk to any established working actor and it becomes clear why. Most of them say they’ve been dragged back to working for scale in a marketplace that has paid high-wattage stars record fees but put the squeeze on everyone else down the call sheet.
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