Thousand's of actors and actresses are picketing in Hollywood, demanding better wages for their contributions in the film and television industry.
New Orleans native and American actor Billy Slaughter said the strike is all about creatives advocating for the salaries they deserve, especially in a time where streaming services and artificial intelligence are challenging the industry.
"It's us, it's the working man and woman verses the absolute, top, one percent—the people that are calling us and our side unrealistic, unreasonable are making tens and hundreds of millions, annually," Slaughter said.
Slaughter, known for his roles in more than 100 feature films and television series said broadcast television is changing, taking a toll on the talent, their names, images and likeness.
"As long as the strike is underway, we cannot work," Slaughter said. "It's not that we don't want to, projects can't go into production...those that were in production, the plug was pulled...So, everyone who works in the industry—not only actors or creatives, it's electricians and tutors, these people are all out of work."
Acadiana native and Youngsville-based composer Andrew Morgan Smith, said he's self-employed and has been in the industry for more than 13 years.
Smith said composers aren't a part of unions, but they too are impacted by the actor's strike and many are relying on residual income to survive.
"The way a lot of crew make their money and make things work is they work on the big stuff as well as the little things," Smith said. "So, the movies that you love that are kind of a smaller movie, like a Lifetime movie or maybe a faith-based movie, that helps them make their yearly income."
Slaughter and Smith said they are remaining optimistic about what's next. After the strike, they said they're looking forward to working on bigger projects.
