Actors have now taken to the streets, walking shoulder to shoulder on picket lines with members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) after failing to secure an equitable contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). We are one week into the SAG-AFTRA strike, and, as actors and writers fight for their future, a union representing Broadway crew members reached a tentative agreement Thursday with the Broadway League and Disney Theatrical Productions, averting their own potential strike. As entertainment unions press pause on upcoming films and streaming shows — excluding some non-AMPTP indie productions that can continue to film because they’ve satisfied SAG-AFTRA conditions — Broadway shows will go on.
The Actors’ Equity Association represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors across the country and oversees all theatrical work in the United States, which means stage work is not part of the SAG-AFTRA strike. But overlap exists. In fact, many actors are members of both unions: think Josh Groban in Sweeney Todd, Ben Platt in Parade, and Daniel Radcliffe in the upcoming Merrily We Roll Along. To Kate Shindle, president of the Actors’ Equity Association, it’s important to support sibling unions.
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