SAG-AFTRA Hits Picket Line At Warner Bros. Demanding “Baseline Of Respect” From Major Video Game Companies
deadline.comAbout 300 people walked the picket line on Thursday at Warner Bros. studio lot in Los Angeles in support of SAG-AFTRA‘s strike against the major video game companies.
While primarily actors walked back and forth across Gate 5 — the closest to WB Games Inc., the subsection of the company that is being struck — there was also fervent support from the WGA and IATSE.
It was a scene reminiscent of last year, when SAG-AFTRA walked the line on the other side of the lot. And just like last year, artificial intelligence is at the forefront of the conversation, which is not lost on National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who told Deadline he was “disappointed and…frankly, a little bit angry.” RELATED: Voice Actors Say Major Video Game Companies’ “Woefully Insufficient” AI Proposals Led To Strike, Weigh In On Necessary Provisions For Deal “I don’t understand how any company could look at what happened last year and think that we aren’t serious about making sure that all of our members are protected with basic AI protections, including informed consent and fair compensation, and this negotiation has really boiled down to that,” he said.
Unlike the film and TV contract strike, the work stoppage on the Interactive Media Agreement hinges only on the AI protections, according to Crabtree-Ireland and Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee Chair Sarah Elmaleh, who say they’ve reached an agreement with the companies on every other provision.
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