Striking actors have been warned against dressing up as characters from film or television shows this Halloween.
The SAG-AFTRA union has advised its members that any such costumes would promote content made by the studios that the actors are in dispute with.
“Choose costumes inspired by generalised characters and figures (ghost, zombie, spider, etc),” read a statement from SAG-AFTRA to its 160,000 members. It added that they should not “post photos of costumes inspired by struck content on social media.”
“Let’s use our collective power to send a loud and clear message to our struck employers that we will not promote their content without a fair contract!”
It is expected that costumes based on characters from Barbie and Wednesday will be among this year’s most popular Halloween costumes. Last year, highlights included Lizzo dressing as Marge Simpson and Diddy going as Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight.
SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, began its strike on July 14 over an ongoing labour dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Talks between the two parties restarted on October 2, but broke down again on October 11, with studios saying that negotiations were “no longer moving us in a positive direction.”
The two sides have so far failed to come to an agreement over a deal, with SAG-AFTRA demanding increased pay, a share of streaming revenues and protection against actors’ images and voices being replicated by artificial intelligence. Most production of American films and television at major studios has been on hold since the strike began.
The Writers Guild of America, an American union that represents scriptwriters, had also been engaged in industrial action in recent months, but that dispute ended on September 27.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a Zoom meeting was held on October 17 between union leaders and a group of leading Hollywood stars, including George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson and Robert De Niro. The actors suggested that higher earners could pay more in union fees, which they estimated would generate $50 million (£41 million) a year.
In response to the suggestion, SAG-AFTRA said, “This generous concept is worthy of consideration, but it is in no way related to and would have no bearing on this present contract or even as a subject of collective bargaining.”