Protesters flock to Los Gatos headquarters during film and TV strike

On Thursday afternoon, a Hollywood strike took place in Los Gatos, with more than 100 actors, writers and allies picketing in front of Netflix headquarters.

The Northern California chapter of SAG-AFTRA, which organized the strike, is protesting the impact of streaming models on actors’ earnings, uncertainty over the role of artificial intelligence in television and film, and more.

“Now more people than ever before are watching more shows for longer, and our residual gains are diminishing.

It will be the first time the group will picket outside Netflix’s Los Gatos headquarters at 101 Albright Way, following several protests outside the streaming giant’s Los Angeles and New York offices over the past week. Many residents who drove by also honked their horns and shouted their support for the group, joining the chorus.

Film and television writers and actors made national headlines last week in the first double strike in over 60 years by both the SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, and the Writers Guild of America, which represents writers. WGA representatives joined the strike Thursday afternoon in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA.

The group said the streaming model for TV shows and movies funnels money into executives and defrauds actors and writers of their fair share.

Netflix could not be reached for comment.

Actor Anthony Abate brought a surviving check for $0.01 from a television show he appeared in 2009 to the protest.

“When we released it in theaters and reruns on television, we got a residue, but now we get nothing,” Abate said.

AI is another concern for actors. Studios, production companies, and streaming services now have technology that captures portraits of actors and programs them into background scenes, paying actors for a day of filming instead of the usual weeks or months of work.

“We are here in the tech capital of the world, and it has reached Los Angeles, and what was once a beautiful industry of great stories that were essentially about the human condition is now seen as these products, numbers and data,” said actor Cedric Cabrera.

Trade union leaders and their allies at the South Bay Labor Council went on strike Thursday afternoon in solidarity with the writers. SBLC Executive Director Gene Cohen said the council exists to help fight for equal pay for all workers and SAG-AFTRA.

“There is rioting in America right now, and workers in every industry are speaking out,” Cohen said. “This strike reflects the broader struggle of American workers to ensure healthy families and a thriving economy for all.”

Locally elected officials also rushed to assist the strikers.

“This is a historic strike. We are uniting SAG-AFTRA because enough is enough and greed is real,” said MP Ash Karla. “It’s great to have technology here in the heart of Silicon Valley, but the same technology that… creates the worst inequalities.”

Netflix, the streaming giant with a library of thousands of TV shows and movies, recently cracked down on subscriptions shared by people from different households. After the switch, its subscription base grew by nearly 6 million as the number of paying users, according to CNN reports.