Hollywood actors and actresses have joined the strike called by the SAG-AFTRA Union after unsuccessful negotiations with the Producers Alliance to sign a new collective agreement that includes the main claims of the interpreters. Their fight also has many points in common with that of the scriptwriters who have already been on hiatus for more than 12 weeks, generating a considerable delay in ongoing productions. Even so, There are some series that are going to manage to avoid the strike and we will tell you why.
HBO fictions ‘The house of the dragon’, which is shooting its second seasonto; ‘Industry‘, with the third installment underway; and the prequel ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ they will be able to continue with their shooting plan because the three are recorded in the United Kingdom and are governed by the agreement of the British union Equity. Despite the fact that Equity has shown in a joint statement its “unwavering solidarity with SAG-AFTRA”, British law requires actors and actresses working under an Equity UK collective agreement to “report to work”. Although it is not prevented, of course, that they show their support, they could be left unprotected before a dismissal or a lawsuit for breach of contract if they join the strike.
The second season of ‘The house of the dragon’ maintains its premiere scheduled for 2024 in principleby first waging the scriptwriters’ strike because their scripts were finished before the break, as explained by himself George R. R. Martin; and then the actors’ strike because it was filmed outside the United States.
Two other series that, as we have said, are in a similar situation are industry, about a group of bright wannabe sharks in London’s competitive financial sector and therefore also filming in the UK; and the prequel to the movie ‘Dune’ That roll in Bucharest. Emily Watson, Olivia Williams and Travis Fimmel are some of the cast members who will continue working while their colleagues in the United States fight to improve the rights of the sector.
And to these three series is added a different case, such as the series on the life of Jesus ‘The chosen one’ that has become the first production to obtain an exemption by the union SAG-AFTRA to continue with the two weeks of filming that remained. The request of the creator Dallas Jenkins has been answered and from the official account of the series on Twitter they reported that they were returning to recording work since Monday: “Great news! We just received the news from SAG that we have been granted an exemption. We will continue filming on Monday”.
This type of permissions are provided for standalone projectss that do not have a contract with any company in the Alliance of Film and Television Producers. Thus, although the first three seasons of ‘The Chosen’ have been sold to CW, Netflix, Prime Video or Peacock, this is not the case for the fourth that is currently being filmed. Furthermore, the exemption contemplates that the independent production company be linked retroactively with the conditions to be achieved after the strike.
