in our Spotlight on Business Report tonight pressures continue to mount as a hundred and sixty thousand actors remain on strike following stall to contract negotiations the actors who went on strike late last week joined nearly 11,000 screenwriters who have been on strike since May this marks the first time since the 1960s that both unions have walked outside simultaneously now with the strike shutting down Hollywood union members take to the streets of New York where Ted Goldberg reports from the picket line who got the power?

we got the power [Applause] we got and these were all background actors and you're the lead character doesn't this add to all of the mood of what you're doing and it brings the scene to life and that's what we do Christine Weiss vital is one of about 160 000 actors on strike the background actress said New Jersey native says pay or lack thereof is one of the contributing factors our day rate is just ridiculously low and now they're talking about paying us 187 dollars to capture our likeness in perpetuity to use us forever and ever and not pay us again another issue is Studios using AI to potentially replace actors or film actors and then digitally copy them for future projects without paying them I do know many non-union members who have signed away their rights and I know many union members who have battled with casting and production companies on set where we've had to call a union rep to come in to help us protect our image our likeness that's how we make money that's who we are this is my this is my calling card it belongs to me it doesn't belong to a production company underneath this is sort of a fight for if you will intellectual property what we would think of as intellectual property who owns my image Susan Sherman is a distinguished professor in the Rutgers Department of Labor studies and employment relations she says actors are also upset by not earning residuals from shows on streaming platforms on the streaming shows on Netflix and Prime on all of these The Producers don't have to tell you about their actual viewing numbers so there's no denominator there to say how much of that should be a residual to an actor or writer the SAG after a strike brought some big names outside HBO's headquarters today some of them you might know from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or bones we're standing strong we are strong we're Union strong that's why we're here today to fight fight for fair contracts fight for what we deserve actors aren't the only ones stepping out for a deal The Writer's Guild of America is still on strike as they have been since May 1st writers like Jersey City Sarah Montana hope that solidarity leads to leverage you know that scene in like a war movie or a fantasy movie where the battle is happening and then you look up on the hill and suddenly like reinforcements have come and you're like oh my God we're gonna make it like we're not alone it's that feeling basically like it's been this huge booster morale to know that we're not out here alone we're the ones who collaborate and make the product the executives that we're talking about who make the most money barely even make a decision about what projects get greenlit so what are they getting Millions upon millions of dollars for the actors have been on strike since last Thursday while they're joined by writers they won't be joined by directors their union agreed to a deal last month in Manhattan I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news support for the business report provided by the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey working for economic Prosperity by uniting business and Community leaders for 150 years membership and event information online at chamber snj.com [Music] [Music]