Hollywood in the Streaming Age: Why Residuals Just Aren’t Cutting It Anymore
By Fiona Ray.
Hollywood in the Streaming Age: Why Residuals Just Aren’t Cutting It Anymore by Fiona Ray.
What is SAG-AFTRA?
SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists) is the labor union that advocates for actors, singers, dancers, radio personalities, and other media professionals. The negotiate with the AMPTP, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who represents the major motion picture studios including Amazon, Apple, Disney, Netflix, etc.
Payment of Actors: Pre-Streaming
Actors generally have three income streams: (1) minimum day and week rates; (2) profit participation; and (3) residuals. Residuals are payments to actors as compensation for cable reruns, syndication, DVD release, and licensing to streaming media.
Before the advent of streaming, actors were paid several times throughout the lifetime of a film or television program. This system allowed actors to make ends meet between jobs, since most do not work consistently throughout the year.
Streaming and It’s Effect on the Payment of Actors.
Programs licensed to streaming usually receive one large payment at the beginning of the license term. As a result, actors receive fewer residuals payments for each of their projects.
The 2023 SAG-AFTRA Strike.
On July 13, 2023, SAG-AFTRA members initiated a strike, calling for better pay, better working conditions and contract provisions to protect members from being replaced by artificial intelligence.
A Good First Step.
After nearly 4 months of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP came to an agreement which included a new viewership-based streaming bonus. This bonus applies to high budget programs that are viewed by at least 20% of a platform’s subscribers within 90 days of each year and pays an amount equal to 100% of the initial revenue based residuals.
Why Actors Deserve to Be Paid More.
Actors are important contributors to an industry that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars every year. They should get a fair share of the success of their creative work. Also, acting is an art which demands an investment of actors’ personhood and identities. They must invest their image, voice, personality, movement, and sometimes their soul to their work.
Why Actors Deserve to Be Paid More.
This extra investment in their work means actors should be compensated for their time on set, as well as in proportion to the project’s success down the line.
A Solution.
California and other states should pass a law requiring streaming services to disclose viewership data to the public and establish a statutory audit right for actors. The legal system must take the fair payment of creatives in the film and television industry seriously. Data and audits will help ensure that as technology inevitably advances, actors will not be unfairly paid.
Sources:
SLIDE 2:
https://www.sagaftra.org/about
SLIDE 3:
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/streaming-residuals-explained-77222/
SLIDE 4:
https://theactorsplace.org/how-do-actors-get-paid/
SLIDE 5:
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/streaming-residuals-explained-77222/
SLIDE 6:
https://www.today.com/popculture/hollywood-actors-sag-strike-2023-explained-rcna94122
SLIDE 7:
https://www.sagaftrastrike.org
SLIDE 8:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2020/03/12/the-film-industry-made-a-record-breaking-100-billion-last-year/