Jenna Ortega‘s new film is one of very few set to continue production through the Hollywood actors’ strike.
- READ MORE: Why are actors striking in Hollywood?
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) began a strike last week. The union, which represents 160,000 actors and performers, are seeking an increase in base pay and residuals in the age of streaming, along with safeguards against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in the industry.
This means that many projects in Hollywood have currently paused production, and will continue to do so until the strike ends.
However, Ortega’s new film Death Of A Unicorn – an A24 production – has been given permission to restart production.
The film stars Ortega and Paul Rudd as a father and daughter duo who run over a unicorn, and will see work continue due to SAG-AFTRA giving approval to the continued production of films from studios or companies not represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The actors’ strike coincides with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which began on May 2 and halted production on a number of projects. It marks the first time that actors and writers in Hollywood have gone on strike simultaneously in over 60 years.
Last week (July 13), Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. left the London premiere of Oppenheimer as the actors’ strike began. The event was brought forward by an hour so the cast could walk the red carpet.
In response to the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who represent major Hollywood studios like Netflix and Disney, said that a “strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life”.
“The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry,” it added.
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