On the picket lines with Hollywood's actors and writers, from LA to New York
CTV
This is Hollywood's biggest labour fight in six decades, and the first dual strike since 1960, reigniting the fervor against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers just as a historic heat wave hits Southern California.
It's a "Strike Girl Summer."
So read a picket sign as the sidewalks of Hollywood and midtown Manhattan teemed with actors on Day 1 of their strike, protesting alongside the writers who have been at it since May.
Together, the two guilds have ground the entertainment industry to a halt. On both coasts, though, there was a buoyant mood in the air as picket lines were reinvigorated by the support of some of the 65,000 actors who comprise SAG-AFTRA (98% of members voted to approve a strike back in June). This is Hollywood's biggest labour fight in six decades, and the first dual strike since 1960, reigniting the fervor against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers just as a historic heat wave hits Southern California.
Outside the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, throngs of protesters chanted: "Fists up, curtains down, LA is a union town." Food trucks flanking organizers' tents served churros, boba tea and cold lemonade to protesters baking in the midday heat that reached 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 Celsius).
But the oppressive sun didn't dampen the mood. Demonstrators spritzed each other with water and danced to reggaeton music as passersby in cars honked in support of signs like: "Honk if your boss is overpaid."
Parents on the picket line hoisted their children over their shoulders and pushed toddlers in strollers, high-fiving one another with signs that reflected defiant lyrics from Olivia Rodrigo's new single, "Vampire," and were packing "Big Strike Energy."
"The jig is up," said Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA and once the titular star of "The Nanny" at SAG's press conference Thursday. "The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, A.I. If we don't stand tall right now, we're all going to be in trouble."
