SAG-AFTRA is getting ready to host its biggest rally yet. Now over a week into its strike, the union announced late Monday night it’s hosting a sizable event in New York City’s Time Square early Tuesday morning. The group is getting some big names to appear at the event in hopes of drawing as many eyes to the work stoppage as possible. According to one report, actors set to be in attendance include Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Lauren Ambrose, Christine Baranski, Matt Bomer, Tituss Burgess, Liza Colรณn-Zayas, Gregory Diaz, Jennifer Ehle, Nancy Giles, Danai Gurrira, Jill Hennessy, Marin Hinkle, Stephen Lang, Arian Moayed, Wendell Pierce, Corey Stoll and Merritt Wever amongst others.
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The guild is calling the event “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” and is categorizing it as a mass rally. “SAG-AFTRA is fighting to ensure its members receive their fair share of streaming revenues, increased compensation to keep pace with inflation, and an agreement that will give actors informed consent and fair pay when A.I. creates digital replicas of their performance, voice, and likeness,” the guild said in a statement obtained by Deadline.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major sticking point in negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP. During a SAG-AFTRA press conference last week, union executive Duncan Crabtree-Ireland revealed the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made a proposal to SAG-AFTRAย that would have film and television extras’ likenesses be used in perpetuity.
“This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday: they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” Crabtree-Ireland revealed. “So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”
Crabtree-Ireland is also set to be at Tuesday’s event alongside SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, New York President Ezra Knight, and Executive Director New York Local, Labor Policy and International Affairs Rebecca Damon.
