Hollywood's All-Out War: Actors and Studios Remain at Impasse

As SAG-AFTRA joins the Writers Guild of America in a strike against the studios, labor experts at Variety discuss the implications for the entertainment industry. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a contentious issue in the negotiations, with concerns about the studios' proposal to use digital replicas of actors' likenesses. SAG-AFTRA has been studying the concept of "digital doubles" for some time and may be closer to reaching an agreement on AI with the studios compared to the Writers Guild. The lack of industry-wide focus on AI earlier is attributed to the entertainment sector's preoccupation with mergers and acquisitions. Other topics discussed include residuals and the potential impact of production freezes on scripted content.