Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin says studios refuse to discuss AI regulations

We’re starting off our first full week with both Hollywood writers and actors on strike. The Writers Guild of America has already been on strike for upwards of 75 days after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which includes big studios like Netflix, Paramount and Universal. Now, after more than four weeks of failed negotiations, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) has joined them on the picket lines to demand, among other things, better pay, job security, and protections against AI displacing workers.

One unexpected side effect of the actors strike is that many of the charismatic famous people that viewers have watched on TV and movies for years are now spreading the word about what they’re fighting for on the picket lines. Some are more than happy to put their experience being on camera to good use to discuss exactly why Hollywood actors are on strike.

But don’t take my word for it: take Sean Astin’s. Astin is best known for roles like Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings films, Bob in Stranger Things, and Mikey in The Goonies. He was spotted picketing with his fellow actors over the weekend, where he told The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit that one of the major sticking points in negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP is the studios’ unwillingness to discuss AI regulations in any meaningful way. According to Astin, actors presented a thoroughly researched plan for how to tackle AI, but studios “came back with bubpkis.”

Sean Astin: AMPTP studios offered “bubpkis” on AI negotiations

“We’re proud of it! Our AI proposal that we sent over was a product of great effort on behalf of experts that are volunteers, are members,” Astin explained. “We all are struggling to figure out how we’re going to deal with this new technology. And we pushed it across in good faith, and they came back with bubpkis. They did not want to seriously talk about the fact that AI-generated characters or performances can displace actors, and stunt people, and background.”

Astin’s statement seems to back up what we heard from SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who made headlines last week when he revealed some of the dystopian details of the AMPTP’s AI proposal. “Actors now face an existential threat to their livelihoods with the rise of generative AI technology. We proposed contract changes that addressed these issues, but the AMPTP has been uninterested in our proposals,” he said.

The AMPTP unveiled points from their proposed deal which the actors guild turned down, among them a “groundbreaking AI proposal which protects performers’ digital likenesses, including a requirement for performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital.”

Crabtree-Ireland made headlines last week when he revealed some of the dystopian details of this proposal, which wasn’t even shown to the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee until the final day of talks:

"This groundbreaking AI proposal that they gave us yesterday, In that ‘groundbreaking AI proposal’ they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation. So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again."

One thing is for sure: AI is a huge and existential issue in for Hollywood workers. It’s been a talking point for both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA during their respective strikes. Since Crabtree-Ireland’s statements, many actors have come forward on Twitter with firsthand accounts of how some studios have already been utilizing these body scans to recreate peoples’ likenesses, both with and without consent. It makes sense that SAG-AFTRA would be seeking clearer regulations.

The historic double strike of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA is currently ongoing. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the story as it develops.

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