Star Trek Goes On Strike
Franchise performers supportive of -- and sometimes deeply involved in -- the work stoppage
An entire way of life is said to be threatened if two opposing sides can't agree to settle their long-running dispute.
It sounds like the plotline to any one of a number of episodes from the Star Trek franchise over the years.
Except that, in this case, the stakes are very real.
This past Friday, 160,000 performers in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union joined Hollywood's picket lines alongside 11,000 workers with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) who went on strike in May.
This is the first such double strike to hit Hollywood in more than 60 years.
Among other serious concerns, actors on strike worry that technology will be able to replicate their faces and mannerisms to the point where they are no longer needed.
TrekMovie.com posted a very comprehensive piece on the impact that the strike is having on the specific futures of the various Star Trek series.
But Star Trek is squarely in the middle of the action itself.
Besides starring as Raffi Musiker through three seasons of Star Trek: Picard, Michelle Hurd is a vice president in the actors’ union and has been literally on the front lines of the strike, participating in SAG-AFTRA’s negotiations committee.
And she was blunt in describing what's driven performers out of productions and onto the streets.
“All the TV shows you watch, you see someone like me: ‘Who's that? What's her name? I don't know, but I've seen her in a bunch of stuff.’ We are the ones as well who aren't able to make our rent,” Hurd said.
Nana Visitor, who played Bajoran Kira Nerys through seven years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, lent her support to her “Star Trek sister,” in a tweet.
Meanwhile, Anthony Rapp — Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery — also hit the bricks along with his young child.
It probably shouldn't be surprising that the family of actors in the Star Trek franchise is supporting the goals of respect, dignity and equality for the entire creative industry.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Melissa Navia also was passionate and blunt when she retweeted a SAG-AFTRA post with: “We're fighting for our future and the future of the entertainment industry.”
Navia’s co-star, Anson Mount (Captain Pike) even took to social media to answer questions from fans about the ongoing labor action.
He also was quick to rebut the assertions increasingly being made by well-paid studio executives that it's the actors who are being unreasonable.
He retweeted an article from Variety which quoted Disney CEO Bob Iger saying that the writers and actors were not being “realistic,” with the comment: “This from a man who earns $27M annually, not including bonuses (which almost double that figure) and stock options. The lack of self awareness in this business never ceases to amaze me.”
Meanwhile — kind of in the greediest Ferengi fashion — it's the studios who reportedly are refusing to return to the bargaining table until this fall, essentially with the hope that, by then, the strikers will be starving and their will broken.
Citing Ongoing Strike, Kate Mulgrew Pulls Out of Two Conventions
Kate Mulgrew, the actor behind Kathryn Janeway in both Star Trek: Voyager and the recently cancelled Star Trek: Prodigy animated series will no longer appear at two upcoming Star Trek/science fiction conventions.
In a social media post, she cited the ongoing actors strike as her reason.
Specifically, Mulgrew is cancelling her planned appearances at STLV in Las Vegas, Nev., and GalaxyCon in Raleigh, NC.
“I'm not attending the GalaxyCon Raleigh & Las Vegas cons in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike. I look forward to seeing my fans at future events when a contract is reached. We are at a pivotal moment in labor history; everyone deserves fair compensation,” she tweeted.
Other actors from across the Star Trek franchise are slated as guests at both cons.
Fans should check with the websites for the con that they're planning to attend in order to see any changes with other guests and how the con intends to deal with any further cancellations.
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