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July 21, 2023

Lights Out in Tinseltown: Examining the SAG/AFTRA Conflict

Lights Out in Tinseltown: Examining the SAG/AFTRA Conflict

The SAG/AFTRA strike is on. What does it mean for actors? What does it mean for our society?
-------------------------------------Closing Music by Carly OzardContact Ray at Green Room on Air: greenroomonair@gmail.com
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Green Room On Air with Ray Renati

The SAG/AFTRA strike is on. What does it mean for actors? What does it mean for our society?

-------------------------------------
Closing Music by Carly Ozard
Contact Ray at Green Room on Air: greenroomonair@gmail.com

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes)
Visit Green Room On Air website: http://greenroomonair.com
Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raysgreenroom/

Transcript
1 00:00:00,50.000000000001 --> 00:00:00,840 Hello, my friends. 2 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:14,470 I just wanna mention at the top of the show that if you're listening to this podcast, which you are, please hit the follow button on whichever platform you're using, whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any of the other choices out there. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,500 And if you can find a minute, leave me a review. 4 00:00:17,650 --> 00:00:19,900 It really helps for me to get more listeners. 5 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:21,880 All right, now I'm with the show. 6 00:00:27,730 --> 00:00:30,760 Welcome back to another episode of Green Room on Air. 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:36,340 I'm your host, Ray Renati, and today we're diving deep into the high stakes drama unfolding in Tinseltown. 8 00:00:36,970 --> 00:00:37,930 That's right, folks. 9 00:00:38,020 --> 00:00:42,970 The actors strike us in a full swing, bringing Hollywood to a grinding halt. 10 00:00:43,945 --> 00:00:55,645 Get ready as we break down the conflict between the esteemed Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio artists known as SAG aftra. 11 00:00:56,215 --> 00:00:57,595 I know that was a mouthful. 12 00:00:57,895 --> 00:01:07,435 And the Powerful Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Lights, camera strike. 13 00:01:08,335 --> 00:01:09,295 All right, let's get started. 14 00:01:12,655 --> 00:01:15,205 Well, SAG AFTRA is on strike. 15 00:01:15,745 --> 00:01:33,745 The Screen Actors Guild slash American Federation of Television and radio artists are striking against the producers, the big studios, the Alliance of Motion, picture and television producers, my friends. 16 00:01:34,615 --> 00:01:39,595 These corporate entities, these production companies are greedy. 17 00:01:41,005 --> 00:01:45,445 Most actors and Hollywood writers don't make a lot of money. 18 00:01:45,925 --> 00:01:47,275 They're middle class. 19 00:01:47,455 --> 00:01:50,995 They have small rows and small roles in the TV shows. 20 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:57,025 You see, the movies you see, they have to audition all the time. 21 00:01:57,325 --> 00:02:02,515 Most of it's down in Los Angeles area, some of it New York. 22 00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:06,460 And then some of it's sprinkled throughout the rest of the country. 23 00:02:06,490 --> 00:02:08,740 There's more in Atlanta now than there used to be. 24 00:02:09,580 --> 00:02:13,900 Almost nothing in the San Francisco Bay area anymore, but that's another issue. 25 00:02:15,850 --> 00:02:30,640 These CEOs and these companies make hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and they're trying to, to scam the writers and the actors out of what they deserve. 26 00:02:33,145 --> 00:02:43,735 They don't want to pay a fair amount for streaming shows that repeat on Netflix, Disney, et cetera. 27 00:02:43,885 --> 00:02:44,815 They don't wanna do that. 28 00:02:44,875 --> 00:02:46,465 They say they do, but they don't. 29 00:02:47,465 --> 00:02:52,235 It's a, it's a travesty and it's just another example of corporate greed in this country. 30 00:02:52,775 --> 00:02:57,335 And they're gonna do everything they can to win and they probably will. 31 00:02:58,235 --> 00:02:58,925 I hope not. 32 00:03:00,665 --> 00:03:01,325 I really do. 33 00:03:01,325 --> 00:03:02,765 I really do hope not. 34 00:03:03,085 --> 00:03:04,075 It's just not fair. 35 00:03:06,145 --> 00:03:17,185 You know, about 25 years ago there was a SAG strike after was not part of SAG at that time, and that strike resulted one of the results of that strike. 36 00:03:17,185 --> 00:03:21,325 And a lot of people don't care because it's just the San Francisco Bay area and who cares. 37 00:03:21,325 --> 00:03:40,740 But back then, There was a decent amount of Screen Actors Guild work in San Francisco, and one of the the windfalls, if you will, of that strike was the producers in LA just decided, Hey, we're not gonna do anything in the Bay Area anymore. 38 00:03:40,740 --> 00:03:42,990 It's too expensive, it's too difficult. 39 00:03:42,990 --> 00:03:46,470 We'll just use all LA actors and we'll shoot everything down here. 40 00:03:46,620 --> 00:03:49,830 CGI was becoming more prevalent so they could. 41 00:03:50,415 --> 00:03:54,165 Just fake it and make it look like San Francisco if they had to. 42 00:03:55,395 --> 00:04:06,795 And in addition to that, they used Vancouver Vancouver or Canada to shoot instead of San Francisco because the weather's similar and it looks similar and it's way cheaper to shoot in Canada. 43 00:04:07,875 --> 00:04:15,435 And those are the types of things that the, the, the big companies do to screw over the actors who are mostly just workers. 44 00:04:15,825 --> 00:04:17,535 Yes, you have your celebrities, but. 45 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:26,520 The vast majority of the, God, what is it? How many people are a member of screen actors? Girl, I think it's like 160,000 people. 46 00:04:26,525 --> 00:04:57,670 They're, they're just people trying to, you know, a lot of them have to have other jobs and then when they do work, if they don't get residuals and they're not protected against artificial intelligence stuff in the future, your pay is just gonna go downhill and they need to be protected And The big companies have claimed that they made great offers to, to sag aftra, but I'm not privy to the details as most people aren't, but I don't believe they did. 47 00:04:59,110 --> 00:05:04,630 I mean, many of you may have seen Fran Drescher on tv, on I think C N N, and she was really upset. 48 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,740 I trust her over whoever runs Disney right now, I don't even wanna know. 49 00:05:11,660 --> 00:05:16,610 I am a member of sag, although last year I went financial core and I wish I hadn't done that. 50 00:05:16,610 --> 00:05:18,440 It means I'm a scab basically. 51 00:05:20,180 --> 00:05:23,150 And that's just because there was just no work in San Francisco. 52 00:05:23,810 --> 00:05:28,040 So I figured I'd go non-union, but I only did one job, one non-union job. 53 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:29,360 It was a Google commercial. 54 00:05:29,660 --> 00:05:30,920 And here's a perfect example. 55 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:32,750 Here's Google, right? I go to la. 56 00:05:32,780 --> 00:05:34,280 It's a non-union commercial. 57 00:05:34,490 --> 00:05:38,390 They can keep it non-union because it wasn't on any of the network television stations. 58 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,010 But the quality was top-notch. 59 00:05:43,430 --> 00:05:49,820 It ran on all kinds of trade shows and on the internet and everything, and I didn't get anything extra for it when it ran. 60 00:05:49,825 --> 00:05:57,290 I only got what they paid me when I showed up that day, which was okay, but certain, not, certainly not enough to make a living on. 61 00:05:59,150 --> 00:06:07,280 So I'm trying to get back in good standing with the union now, although it might not be easy because they don't like it when people do what I did, and I understand that. 62 00:06:08,630 --> 00:06:09,530 But I'm gonna try. 63 00:06:11,420 --> 00:06:11,900 Yeah. 64 00:06:12,710 --> 00:06:32,200 Now is this a big deal in the world in terms of world peace and climate change and all that? No, it ain't, I mean, the stuff going on with the politics in the United States and Ukraine and climate change and all the problems we're having with terrible heat throughout the country and. 65 00:06:34,975 --> 00:06:35,665 Incredible. 66 00:06:35,665 --> 00:06:44,705 Donald Trump, the perfect, perfect man who's made perfect phone calls and all that shit is way more important than this. 67 00:06:44,705 --> 00:06:51,095 But, you know, this is an entertainment podcast, so I need to talk about entertainment stuff. 68 00:06:51,425 --> 00:06:56,345 But you know, it is kind of a big deal because it's gonna set a president for all kinds of unions in the future. 69 00:06:56,795 --> 00:06:59,765 It's going to affect not just people in SAG aftra. 70 00:07:00,710 --> 00:07:15,680 But all the other industries that are dependent upon actors and writers to be working and they can't do it because if they, if they back down, we lose, everyone loses, it hurts. 71 00:07:15,730 --> 00:07:17,920 It has a ripple effect through the entire economy. 72 00:07:19,180 --> 00:07:26,545 So support your local actor and writer if you can. 73 00:07:26,545 --> 00:07:34,555 You know, even if they're not in the union, they're affected by what, what decisions the union makes. 74 00:07:36,355 --> 00:07:37,635 And it's important. 75 00:07:39,555 --> 00:07:44,895 So I hope that gives you a little bit of a perspective on what's happening in the world. 76 00:07:46,245 --> 00:07:46,935 Of Hollywood. 77 00:07:49,485 --> 00:07:50,805 Well, that's it for today, folks. 78 00:07:50,805 --> 00:07:53,655 I hope you enjoyed the, the, the short show. 79 00:07:54,075 --> 00:08:00,035 I have a good lineup of interviews coming and you'll be enjoying those very soon. 80 00:08:01,505 --> 00:08:04,305 Send me an email at rayrenati@gmail.com 81 00:08:04,325 --> 00:08:06,395 or greenroomonair@ gmail.com. 82 00:08:06,395 --> 00:08:12,065 Don't forget to follow this podcast on whatever platform you're listening and give it a, a rating. 83 00:08:12,965 --> 00:08:13,865 Really appreciate it. 84 00:08:13,865 --> 00:08:19,805 It will help me a lot to get more listeners, and until next time, I will see you on the boards. 85 00:08:20,525 --> 00:08:21,395 Bye-bye everybody.