There’s a strike going on in Hollywood. The protesting scriptwriters were joined by actors associated with the SAG-AFTRA trade union, who are fighting, among others, for for regulating the use of AI technology in the film industry and for living wages. The strike began after the union was unable to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and broadcasters such as Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros. Particularly sensitive is the issue of royalties for movies and series available on streaming platforms. The stakes revealed by the individual actors are starvation.
How much money do actors get from streaming platforms?
The trade union SAG-AFTRA brings together around 160,000 workers. actors and extras, only a small handful of which are first-class stars of cinema and television. As the organizers of the strike point out, the rest of the workers in the industry live on starvation wages from order to order. And if someone thinks that a role in a popular series or movie guarantees them fair royalties, they are deeply mistaken. actresses and actors from the hit Netflix production “Orange Is the New Black”, which was filmed from 2013 to 2019.
Kimiko Glenn played Brook Soso in Orange Is the New Black. In December 2020, she showed a letter from SAG-AFTRA on a social media recording informing her of the amount of royalties due to her for showing episodes of the series with her participation abroad. Next to the titles of individual episodes appeared such dizzying sums as two or four cents. In total, the actress received $ 27.3 for this title, she reports.
In one of the comments, actor Matt McGorry, who played one of the guards, admitted that he also got that much and added: “I had to stick to another job because it paid better than that mega-television blockbuster I was in.” Beth Dover, who played the manager of the company taking over the prison, chimed in: “I actually paid extra when I was in Seasons 3 and 4 because they hired me locally and I had to buy my own plane tickets to get to the film set etc. But I was so excited that I had the chance to star in a show I loved, so I took the hit.”
Sean Gunn, whom viewers recently saw in cinemas in “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”, revealed that he received almost no royalties from Netflix for starring in one of the most popular series on the platform, i.e. “Lovely Trouble”. “This series brought huge profits to Netflix. It was one of their biggest hits for a very long time, almost a decade. People watch it all the time, and I don’t see any royalties from it,” reports The Hollywood Reporter.
In turn, Brock Powell – a dubbing actor who starred in popular animations, computer games and anime – revealed on Twitter that Disney paid him $ 58.49 for the series, which was produced at the beginning of the pandemic. There are 48 episodes here. Powell even points out that he was deducted from the royalties already paid for a cent per episode. Animation actors, writers and artists deserve a fair return and better treatment.
Actress Heather Matarazzo (whom viewers may remember from playing the main character’s best friend in The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway) showed on TikTok a list of the amount of royalties she receives for participating in individual episodes and films screened in the streaing – we are talking about influences in six or nine cents.
In turn, Luke Cook known, among others, of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” responded to one critic who said that the actors on strike are “millionaires who want to be even more millionaires.” As he says in the video, “I’m an actor and I’m not a millionaire.” He mentions that he drives a 2010 car and points out that, like 95% of other unionized actors, he is unable to make a living from acting. He also notes that although in 2022 he starred in the popular series “Dollface” and even hit a large billboard in Hollywood, he did not get any money for it. The pay per episode wasn’t great either, considering she had two kids, a house to support, agents and insurance to pay for. He got 7.5 thousand. dollars, while members of the main cast took 100,000 each. (but there are definitely fewer such people). Tax and 10% were deducted from his salary. margin for manager and agents.
Kamil McFadden, who performed i.a. in the Disney series “KC Undercover” and several other productions, he showed that his total royalties totaled $2.77. Kellee Stewart showed that five different payouts totaled 13 cents.
Desmond Chaim showed a striking difference – for his episode in the series “Bones” he was paid $2,000. When the production was televised, royalties totaled about $6,000. When we talk about royalties from roles in productions shown on streaming platforms, we are talking about receipts that are a small fraction of those sums.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
