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Filipino-American talents join Hollywood actors' strike

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_PqoiGWxIM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>The big Hollywood premiere of “Haunted Mansion” coming out this month starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, and Jamie Lee Curtis was set to be held at Disneyland on Saturday. But two days before the stars walked the red carpet, a call for the actor’s guild strike went out which cancelled the actor’s participation in all promotions. The months-long negotiations between the actors’ union and movie studios have collapsed. The Screen Actors’ Guild Union or SAG-AFTRA, has been asking for fair pay and better working conditions for actors, many of whom earn barely enough to make a living. The age of streaming — and Hollywood’s inability or unwillingness to adapt to the new business model — has made it possible for studios to hide their true earnings in a way that results in extremely low compensation and severely reduced royalty payments for many talents. Actors have also said no to the use of artificial intelligence that movie and TV companies plan to utilize to scan images of talents and have the ability to use them forever, without consent or compensation. SAG-AFTRA, led by its president, actress Fran Drescher, accused the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers of greed and heartlessness amid the reported million-dollar salaries of studio heads and CEOs. Starting Thursday midnight (Los Angeles time), all union members cannot do any on-camera work nor do voiceover and even rehearsals or camera tests. They are also not allowed to do any interviews or make personal appearances, conventions, film festivals, and any type of promotions. This is the first strike undertaken by actors since 2000. They are joining the writers who have been on picket lines for 11 weeks now. It’s also the first time since 1960 that a simultaneous strike involving two of Hollywood’s most important workers are happening. <div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/07/14/23/hollywood-set-for-first-shutdown-strike-since-1960&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1689479118259000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vZ_4U4uWgzZSxz1EmNh9B" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/07/14/23/hollywood-set-for-first-shutdown-strike-since-1960" target="_blank">Hollywood set for first shutdown strike since 1960</a></div>Filipino actors have been picketing with writers in solidarity and will be marching with their fellow actors. “Writers and actors are absolutely literate to the challenges of this ever-changing industry and all the unions are asking for is only one word, and that is fairness. The strike is the last resort. And I&#x27;m glad that we are standing together on this issue,&quot; said Mark Labella, actor and “FilAm Creative” leader.Coincidentally, a Filipino play called “Monkeys” is playing in Hollywood over the weekend.The play tells some details from the oftentimes untold real-life start of the California Labor Movement in the 1930s which was led by Filipino farm workers. <div><a data-ved="2ahUKEwjOrqWF74-AAxUFplYBHUCjCSMQFnoECBMQAQ" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/07/08/23/filipino-play-monkeys-wins-hollywood-award" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md" jscontroller="M9mgyc" jsname="qOiK6e" ping="/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/07/08/23/filipino-play-monkeys-wins-hollywood-award&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjOrqWF74-AAxUFplYBHUCjCSMQFnoECBMQAQ">Filipino play &#x27;Monkeys&#x27; wins Hollywood award</a></div>Theater is not included in the strike and is one of the few places where actors can work during this period. Meanwhile, non-union members were also cautioned that working during the strike will cause them to not be admitted to the union should they want to join in the future. In the weeks leading to the strike, Hollywood actors rushed to complete their promotions and interviews for finished projects. That includes the latest “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie, which will come out in August but held their junket last June. Currently, finished films are following their regular release dates. But the effects of the strike may be felt in the coming months when the production pipeline dries up.

Filipino-American actors join the fight for fair wages and better working conditions in Hollywood.