The strike by actors and writers
which brought Hollywood to a
virtual standstill in 2023 is nothing
new.
While the dispute this time was over
streaming pay and the threat of Al
there’s a long history of labor
disputes in the industry and over
different topics.
All of them served to set the stage for
what came later. Here’s a look at some
of the most significant strikes in
Hollywood history.
DISNEY ANIMATORS’
STRIKE OF 1941
When his animators
demanded more
money and started
picketing and disrupting
film production, Walt
Disney’s response was to
fire many of them. But in
order to end a near
four-month work
stoppage, he was forced
into a climbdown by
rehiring those who
wished to return, and on
higher salaries.
THE WARNERS RIOT OF
1945
A six-month strike by
set decorators
escalated into a bloody
riot on Friday October 5
1945, at the Burnbank
gates of Warne Bros
studios when 300 striker
clashed with hundreds of
replacement workers and
non-strikers. Chains,
hammers and sticks were
used in the melee which
Warners security tried to
break up by firing tear
gas into the crowd. The
resulting bad publicity
“around “Black Friday”
forced both sides back to
the negotiating table and
resolution was found.
THE DUAL STRIKES OF 1960
The last time
Hollywood’s actors and
writers were both on strike at
the same time was back in
1960 when future US
President Ronald Reagan was
running the Screen Actors
Guild. The Oscars went ahead
that year with host Bob Hope
calling the ceremony “the
most glamorous strike
meeting ever” The emergence
of television had led to a
claim for greater residual:
from the small screen and
after several months of work
stoppages, the strikers largely
got their way.
THE VIDEO STRIKE OF
1980
The emergence of
video cassettes
prompted a walkout
lasting several
months in 1980 by
actors who wanted a
fair percentage of the
revenue made from
home video releases.
The Emmys went
ahead but the ©
ceremony was largely
boycotted with the
exception of Powers
Boothe who was only
winner to show up to
get his trophy. The
actors eventually
settled for a profit
sharing deal over
videos but at a lower
rate than they
originally pushed for.
THE LONG STRIKE OF
1988
153 days, the 1988
Writers Guild strike
set a new record as
Hollywood’s longest
industrial dispute to that
point. It was eventually
settled when the
producers and the
writers eventually
reached a compromise
over residuals, foreign
sales and creative rights.
Horror film Halloween 4
narrowly avoided the
strike when Alan B
McElroy wrote the while
script in 11 days and
turned it in just before
strike action began.
THE WRITE OFF OF 2007/08
A “I film and TV
scriptwriters downed
pens from November 5,
2007, to Februarv 12, 2008
in a stoppage which
reportedly cost the Los
Angeles economy $1.5
billion. DVD residuals and
content distributed through
the internet were among
the areas of dispute here
before a compromise was
eventually reached