Daily Digest: An Actress on 'Three Things' That Are 'Non-Negotiable'
'Better Things' star Rebecca Metz on the possible SAG-AFTRA strike
Almost a month into the writers strike, attention is turning to the other unions gearing up for their own negotiations with the AMPTP. The DGA and SAG-AFTRA’s current contracts are up June 30th, and the actors’ union heated things up on May 17th when its National Board voted unanimously to recommend that members authorize the board to call a strike if a fair deal isn’t reached by the end of next month.
Today, The Ankler contributor Nicole LaPorte catches up with Better Things actress Rebecca Metz, who, earlier this year, shared how hard it is for actors to make a living in modern-day Hollywood. (She also told her compelling story on The Ankler podcast.)
LaPorte: How did you feel when you heard about the board’s strike authorization?
Metz: At first, to be totally honest, I was not sure. I worried it was not the right decision. I thought that given that we haven’t gotten to the table yet — I think I was just scared, honestly. I’ve been on the picket lines, 10,000 percent in solidarity with the writers. But initially, voting on a strike authorization before we even got into the room… I wasn’t sure was the best move. But after… talking to people, I’m 100 percent convinced [it’s the right move].
LaPorte: Why?
Metz: The point made to me by several people was, basically, our negotiations have effectively already started. Because the writers have been so clear and so effective in talking about what they are asking for, and we’ve seen what the response is. And SAG has been clear about what we are going in to these talks needing. Obviously, we need to bring our compensation into line with the changes that have happened in the industry — our compensation, our benefits and just basic economic fairness — just like the writers. We’re the people that are making the work that’s making all these tens of billions of dollars in profits. We need to be able to afford to live and feed our families. Basic stuff like that. And then AI and all the issues around AI, obviously. And those three things are the exact same things that the writers are fighting for.
And we know what the answer to that from the studios is. I think every union is going to have a few things that are specific to their members, and for us that’s some rules around self-taping. But those other three things are non-negotiable in terms of making significant progress on them. So I think the feeling is, we know what the answer is to that already from the studios. So the strike authorization is about saying we’re with the writers on this. We can’t move on these things.
This is existential. It’s an existential question of whether our careers can continue to be careers or whether they’ll be gig work. So once that crystallized for me, it was like, obviously, we need to do this now.
LaPorte: Do you feel that an actors strike is inevitable?
Metz: I don’t want to say inevitable. I feel like there’s so much news every day, there’s so much happening every day. It’s not my place to say inevitable. But I think the thing that will prevent a strike is if the AMPTP gets real and starts negotiating. They’re different negotiations (with the WGA), but we’re all going in with kind of, across the board, a lot of the same needs. So we get movement on that or we don’t.
LaPorte: What’s the general vibe among actors in terms of the WGA strike? How many are out on the picket lines?
Metz: I’ve never seen — in various strikes over the last 20, 25 years — this much solidarity and activity. Immediately, all of my friends — actors, editors, designers —were like, ‘Let’s go out. Let’s go walk. I’m going back out tomorrow.’ There’s lots and lots of people picking and spirits are weirdly high. That show of solidarity is really meaningful to the membership.
LaPorte: Are actors taking notes on how to effectively picket?
Metz: They have amazing signs. One thing is, if you go up against the writers, they’re going to have better signs than you. My social feeds are all strike all the time. I actually think that helps motivate people to go out and picket because you see where all your friends are. It’s like, ‘Oh I want to go to stand with everybody.’ That’s really smart. A lot of it is just keeping people fired up. Hearing the cars honking and seeing people going in and out of the studio lots sticking their fist out the window, it means a lot.
Elsewhere on The Ankler…
From the cost of living in Los Angeles to a potential actors strike and the Netflix of it all, Richard Rushfield breaks down the various factors and players that could move the needle, and games out the various scenarios that could unfold. It’s all, as he calls it, The Rube Goldberg Nightmare of 2023. As CAA internally braces for an actors strike, the DGA, meanwhile, has “the playing field… frozen until this one resolves itself” says Rushfield, adding:
There is certainly no love lost between the leadership of the two unions and whispered accusations of betrayal and clownishness fly both ways. But they also both have to tread carefully with the bad blood, given the number of dual members. If the directors’ leadership comes back to its members with anything less than a very compelling offer, they risk a full-blown rebellion. However, if the studios want to divide and conquer — this is their chance, and if they make a very compelling offer, the likelihood that the directors would turn it down out of support from another union is slim.
Head to The Ankler for the full story, and more of Rushfield’s analysis of the strike stalemate.
Today in Strike News
Ahead of Netflix and Comcast’s rapidly approaching shareholders meetings, WGA West President Meredith Stiehm is pleading with stockholders to vote against pay bumps for top executives, saying it’s “inappropriate in light of the ongoing WGA writers’ strike.” (Deadline)
Scores of international buyers who were treated to a week of TV screenings in Los Angeles are making the strike a key issue in negotiations with the studios, which have deemed the situation “fluid.” (Deadline)
One outlier group that has seen an immediate impact from the strike: authors whose books had been optioned and are now not receiving any additional compensation in the wake of force-majeure clauses being invoked. (Wall Street Journal)
As the strike wears on, more and more restaurants, dry cleaners, and other small businesses near studios are being forced to cut labor. (KCRW)
With most of the sticking points in the negotiations relating to TV writing, screenwriters have expressed concern that their issues — namely streaming pay scales and one-step deals — have been overlooked. (The Wrap)
Many see Hollywood as all glitz and glamour, but if this strike is evident of anything, it’s that class struggle is as rampant in entertainment as anywhere. (Jacobin)
The ATX TV Festival, scheduled for June 1-4 in Austin, has canceled four of its panels over the strike and added five new ones, including a conversation about the issues of the strike which will feature Damon Lindelof and Beau Willimon. (Axios)
Though the WGA will not be picketing the newly unscripted Tony Awards, the guild has asked its nominated members not to attend the show. (The Hollywood Reporter)
It must make sense dramaturgically, then: Succession’s eldest boy, Jeremy Strong, has come out in support of the strike, saying “AI ain’t gonna write Succession, or Chinatown or The Godfather. It’s just not going to.” (Deadline)
Picket Sign of the Day
A word from Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger:
Shared by Hannah Waddingham ahead of tonight’s Ted Lasso season three finale.
Additional reporting by Matthew Frank.