Stars Might Skip TIFF Due To The Actors' Strike & Here's What It Means For Your Movies & TV

Why are actors on strike?

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, went on strike last week, joining the WGA writers' strike that's been going on for over two months. Some movie and TV productions had already shut down without their writers, but the actor strike has stopped everything else and essentially brought the U.S. film and TV industry to its knees.

So what is the strike about?

The writers and actors are arguing with big studios like Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros. over all sorts of details, but most of it is really about two big issues: artificial intelligence and streaming profits. (And money. It's always about money!)

In terms of AI, writers don't want to see ChatGPT writing movie scripts for free when a human could be paid for it, and actors don't want to see their faces, voices or work recreated on the cheap with technology.

And if that sounds like sci-fi stuff, it's not; Disney has already deepfaked Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in its Star Wars TV series, and they used AI to create the opening credits of Marvel's Secret Invasion.

The other fight over streaming profits has been a long time coming, as writers and actors don't get paid the same for streaming shows as they do for series that airs on broadcast TV. Actors on a long-running show like Friends, for instance, still gets paid a little bit every time an episode airs, but that's not the same deal for actors in shows like Stranger Things or Wednesday.

Meanwhile, big studios say they're not exactly raking it in these days with movie ticket sales falling, a slow recovery from the pandemic and streaming costs going up.

"There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic," Disney CEO Bob Iger said last week, in a CNBC interview that actors ripped afterward. "They are adding to a set of challenges that this business is already facing that is quite frankly very disruptive and dangerous," he said.

There's a deal to be made somewhere in the middle of all this, but it could take quite a while to get there. And in the meantime, you can expect to see a lot of famous faces holding signs on the roadside in Los Angeles.

What are the rules for the actors' strike?

SAG-AFTRA rules during a strike are pretty wide-ranging. Not only do they need to they demand that an actor stop performing on camera, but they prohibit many other things as well, including promotional interviews and fan conventions.

Here's what an actor cannot do until the strike is resolved:

• On-camera work (acting, singing, dancing, stunts and puppeteering)
• Off-camera work (voice acting, narrating, singing, ADR, looping)
• Publicity interviews
• Conventions
• press tours
• Social media promotion for movies or TV
• Audition
• Serve as a background actor or stand-in
• Rehearse

What can actors do while on strike?

Fire up your Cameo app because actors can still shout you out on your birthday and do various smaller gigs during the strike, according to the SAG-AFTRA rules. They can also do independent podcasts (like Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert or Will Arnett and Jason Bateman's Smartless) and they're free to appear in commercials.

What's more, actors are still allowed to do certain TV shows like variety shows and soap operas.

Here are some of the big things that actors are allowed to do during the strike:

• Commercials on TV, radio and digital media
• Cameo-style videos
• Soap operas, variety shows, talk shows and game shows
• Sound recordings
• Music videos
• Video games
• Corporate appearances
• News broadcasts
• Audiobooks
• Podcasts

Which movies are affected by the actors' strike?

Just about every major Hollywood production is affected by the strike, and that includes some major sequels that have been forced to hit pause before or in the middle of production.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have reportedly stopped shooting Deadpool 3 in the U.K., while Beetlejuice 2 with Jenna Ortega and Michael Keaton is also on hold, according to Variety. Other movies that have been paused include Gladiator 2, Venom 3, Mortal Kombat 2, a planned Minecraft movie with Jason Momoa and Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two.

The same goes for most U.S. TV shows including those shot in Canada and elsewhere, although there are some exceptions. Variety reports that House Of The Dragon is still shooting because most of the cast is based in the U.K. Canadian productions can also continue if they don't include SAG cast members.

When will the actors' strike end?

It's unclear at this point when the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strikes will end.