SAG-AFTRA is on strike right now. Everyone that follows entertainment news knows that. But not everyone really understands why there is a need for the strike. There is this belief that actors are privileged, that they’re all rich, and that they shouldn’t really be striking against other rich people (the studios). In a sense, it’s seen as a fight of rich people against rich people, when it’s very much not. Sure, some actors earn a lot of money. Most actors, however, don’t.
And that’s without even going into the WGA. Or the fact that all both unions are asking for is to be compensated fairly for the work they’re doing. But in an effort to showcase what both unions are fighting for, I’m going to try to share some of the videos that performers are sharing about what they, themselves, are getting paid in residuals from some of the shows they’ve been involved in — shows that, in many cases, have been huge hits.
Case in point, Kimiko Glen and Orange is the New Black. You’d think, considering how much she appeared on the show, she’s getting a lot of residuals. You’d think she’s set for life. Except the streaming model has made it so actors cannot make a living off residuals anymore, and not just that — they have no actual clue how many people are even watching the shows they were involved in, and what they’re being compensated for.
This is why there’s a strike. And it’s why we should all be supporting.
