On Tuesday, actor Bryan Cranston publicly condemned Hollywood’s use of Artificial Intelligence in the film and television industries, calling out Disney CEO Bob Iger by name. The “Breaking Bad” star’s remarks came during an appearance at the Times Square “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally hosted by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) as part of its ongoing strike.
As Valuetainment previously reported, Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actor Guild union members are protesting “exorbitant pay for entertainment moguls” after claiming they are “not receiving a fair share of the spoils of a streaming-dominated future,” according to The New York Times. SAG-AFTRA’s National Board officially called a strike against major film and TV companies on July 13 as prior contract talks with studios and streamers resulted in no new deal negotiations. Over 160,000 union members and actors joined the 11,500 screenwriters that had been on strike since May. One of the main concerns raised is the increased use of artificial intelligence in film production.
But with work on movies and tv shows at a complete standstill, network executives and higher-ups in entertainment production have been calling on union members to accept reasonable solutions. Among them is Disney CEO Bob Iger, who condemned the joint writer-actor strike for its “unrealistic” expectations.
“I understand any labor organizations’ desire to work on the behalf of its members to get the most compensation and to be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver,” Iger told CNBC earlier this month. “There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. And they are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous.”
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Cranston responded directly to Iger’s comments during Tuesday’s rally. “I find it very ironic that we are all gathered here today in unity in front of an entity that is run by Disney,” Cranston declared during his speech. “We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger: I know, sir, that you look through things in a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us and beyond that to listen to us when we tell you: We will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots.”
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston slammed the use of AI during a SAG-AFTRA rally: "We will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots." https://t.co/6e4gSI6jpw pic.twitter.com/uMWqnyj63t
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 26, 2023
The concerns surrounding Artificial Intelligence stem from new contract provisions that enable studios to make scans of actors’ faces, obtain samples of their voices, and use digital recreations of their likenesses in future projects—all while only compensating them for a single day of work. That, in addition to the issue of residual payments from streaming platforms, caused the biggest Hollywood crisis in more than six decades.
This is the first time SAG and WGA have gone on strike since 1960, and Hollywood is at risk of losing up to $4 billion as a result.
For more on how this strike is threatening to bankrupt the entertainment industry, check out this new explainer video from Patrick Bet-David:
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