18/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Shooting of the Brad Pitt F1 movie has ground to a halt as a result of strike action.
Just days after the two APXGP cars of Brad Pitt and Damson Idris lined up on the grid at Silverstone as live action filming for the much-anticipated movie got underway, all production has ground to a halt as a result of strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
"All filming is shut down for now," reports NBC News. "Brad had really enjoyed himself, but he is definitely a very loyal member of the union," they added, referring to the SAG-AFTRA.
The WGA strike, the largest interruption to American television and film production since the pandemic in 2020, began in early May, while SAG-AFTRA went on strike last week.
At the heart of the WGA strike is residuals from streaming media, with the union claiming that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) - which represents over 350 American television and film production companies - has cut writers' incomes.
At the same time, writers are calling for artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT to only be used as a research tool and not as a replacement.
Other issues include "mandatory staffing" and "duration of employment" terms to be added to contracts - a move which would require all shows to be staffed with a minimum number of writers for a minimum amount of time, "whether needed or not", and a demand that each member of a writing team receives their own pension and own health care funds.
On July 12, Deadline Hollywood reported that the AMPTP and the major Hollywood studios did not plan to return to negotiations with the WGA until late October at the earliest.
Studio executives who (anonymously) spoke with Deadline stated that by October, many writers would be financially strained, which they believed would allow them to be in a better position to dictate the terms of any new deal. However, representatives for the AMPTP distanced themselves from the anonymous sources, claiming they remained committed to signing a deal as soon as possible.
SAG-AFTRA have gone on strike over an ongoing labour dispute with the AMPTP, it is the first time that actors have initiated a labour dispute in the U.S. since the 1980 actors strike and the first time that actors and writers have walked out simultaneously since 1960.
The disputes have contributed to the biggest interruption to the American television and film industries since the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
As with the striking WGA writers, actors have expressed concerns about the use of artificial intelligence, claiming that it could be used to replicate their likeness without compensation, indeed the (June) 2023 production of The Flash controversially having used CGI deep-faking to depict dead actors.
On July 13, with no agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP, the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend a strike to the union's national board. The national board held a vote officially approving the strike which officially began the following day.
Following filming at Silverstone, live action work on the F1 movie was to continue at a number of this year's remaining races, however this is now on hold until the strikes are settled.
Other productions affected include: Jaws 19, Beetlejuice 2, Gladiator 2, Rocky 24, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two, Wicked and Deadpool 3, while TV/Streaming productions include: Alien, American Horror Stories (season 3), The Day of the Jackal and Interview with the Vampire (season 2).