While there is still time for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to reach a deal in their negotiations with the studios, sources indicate that the union is actively preparing to begin a strike.
Reporting this week from Deadline indicates that SAG members have started manufacturing and distributing picket signs and t-shirts and leadership is assigning key members as captains and coordinators for the strike. While this sounds ominous, it’s also possible that these leaks about pre-strike preparations are intended to provide the union with additional leverage in their negotiations with the studios. SAG has a long history of reaching agreements with the studios at the 11th hour.
However, the prospect of Hollywood’s actors joining its writers on strike may represent too much of a risk for the studios to accept. Actors would halt all efforts to promote upcoming movie and TV projects, on-set filming – including reshoots – would be canceled, and actors would be no-shows at upcoming award programs including the Emmys (9/18) and the fall lineup of international film festivals including Venice (8/30), Toronto (9/7) and New York (9/29).
See also: The Actors Union’s No-Decision on Strike Plunges Hollywood into More Turmoil (Forbes)