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Since the beginning of the writers’ strike more than 130 days ago and the beginning of the actors’ strike 60 days ago, many people who work in the entertainment business are currently experiencing financial hardship. Steven Spielberg and his wife, the actress Kate Capshaw, are the most recent Hollywood luminaries to donate a sizable sum to the charitable organisations providing financial aid to individuals who are unemployed owing to the strikes.
According to Deadline, $1.5 million has been donated by Steven Spielberg and Capshaw. Contrary to popular belief, hardly everyone who works in Hollywood is wealthy. The great majority of writers, performers, and crew members who are unable to work due to strikes live paycheck to paycheck. 86% of SAG-AFTRA members, who must earn at least $26,470 annually to be eligible for their health insurance plan, are reported to make less than that amount.
George and Amal Clooney, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Hugh Jackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep are some of the celebrities who have so far contributed to the Entertainment Community Fund and the SAG-AFTRA Emergency Financial Assistance Programme. Almost $10 million has already been disbursed between the two accounts.
SAG-AFTRA has more than 160,000 members, whereas the Writers Guild of America has over 11,000 members. Along with actors, SAG-AFTRA members also include announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, hosts of television programmes, puppeteers, musicians, singers, voiceover artists, and recording artists.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the writers’ and performers’ unions are at odds over a number of topics, including the meagre or nonexistent streaming residuals and the lack of AI protection. People are criticising the CEOs of Warner Bros., Netflix, Disney, and other companies for paying themselves enormous salaries and bonuses compared to what is given to the creatives who produce their riches.