Nearly six weeks into the SAG-AFTRA’s actors strike, about 1,000 union members gathered for a rally in Atlanta Tuesday night.
About a dozen speakers, including Liz Schuler, the president of the AFL-CIO, provided verbal succor and a recommended standard answer when people ask how long the strike might last: “As long as it takes!”
The biggest name on the dais at the Teamsters Local Union 728 hall came near the end: veteran actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who now lives in Atlanta after a multi-year stint on the Fox medical drama “The Resident.”
“We are upset, we’re mad,” said Warner, wearing a white SAG-AFTRA strike T-shirt and a Los Angeles Dodgers cap. “We feel unseen, unheard, undervalued... I have to address what is for many of us is the elephant in the room. Welcome to what it feels like being Black.”
The “Cosby Show” vet said he hopes this “moment of connection, moment of understanding, this strength and solidarity lasts post-strike. Right now, we’re all on the same team. We’re all fighting for the same cause, to be seen, to be heard, to be respected, to be protected. We all want to feel valued. It looks like we have a long road ahead of us with this strike... At some point, you are going to want to lose your (expletive.)”
In a post-rally interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Warner said he is spending extra time with his family and performing music as a bass player. (He also has a spoken word poetry album out that received a Grammy nomination dubbed “Hiding in Plain View.”) He is part of a jazz tribute band called We Got The Jazz, which plays versions of original songs sampled by legendary hip-hop act A Tribe Called Quest.
“It’s an opportunity for me to redirect my energy,” Warner said. “Music and my wife and daughter keep me from losing my (expletive.)”
Warner said when the union asked him to speak at the rally, he realized he had to speak from the heart: “It was my truth, so I had to put it out there.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@a
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@a
SAG-AFTRA, which began striking July 13 after talks with producers broke down, has not negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) since then. The actors strike is happening at the same time as a strike started in early May by the Writers Guild of America. The WGA and AMPTP are currently in talks to resolve their issues, which in many ways replicate those of the actors.
Both are concerned about low residual payments when shows end up on streaming services, as well as the rise of artificial intelligence.
Warner acknowledged in his speech that “strike fatigue” is indeed setting in. “Please remind yourself that we are standing up for our value,” he said. “We are standing up for our future generations. The AMPTP is right about one thing. We are not certain what AI will look like in five years. There was a time when we didn’t know what streaming was. As a result, this time around, we want to put certain safeguards in place.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Elaine Hendrix, who has more than 140 credits to her name over 30 years in the business, including playing Alexis Carrington for 57 episodes of the CW’s “Dynasty,” showed up with a poster saying “UNION.” She stood on the desk of the dais and replicated a scene from Sally Field’s Oscar-winning performance in the 1979 film “Norma Rae.”
She grew up in Atlanta and spent many years working in Hollywood, but given the opportunities in Georgia, she has been able to live in her home state again.
“What we do is not a hobby,” Hendrix declared. “It’s not some weekend side gig. It’s not a frivolous luxury. We decided to do this as artists. Let me explicitly say to the collective ‘you.’ You matter. What you do matters. You are the mirror to humanity. We are storytellers. The world needs us more than ever.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Catherine Dyer, whose credits include “Stranger Things,” “The Morning Show” and “The Blind Side,” said she built her career as an Atlanta-based actress. “I have felt geographic discrimination countless times,” she said. “This is an industry where we have to constantly prove our worth. Many assume I’m a millionaire because I was on a show with a Demogorgon.”
Not even close. She worked five episodes and was paid “scale,” a minimum wage set by the union contract. When she asked to be bumped up from lesser co-star role to a guest star, which would have allowed her to earn more money, she said the higher-ups said no. “Take it or leave it or risk being written off the show,” she was told. “Be grateful you’re working.”
Dyer said actors “are always seen as disposable, replaceable and a nuisance” by larger production companies. “Let’s keep being a nuisance!”
Credit: RODNE
Credit: RODNE
Pilot Bunch, a 16-year-old Atlanta actor, gave a fiery speech focused on the importance of film and TV. “We will not be exploited,” he said. “We will not be taken advantage of. We will not be replaced!”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
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