As striking actors prepare to celebrate Halloween while remaining in solidarity with their strike, their union has issued guidelines on how they can do so safely. The Actors Guild suggests dressing as “generalized characters and figures”, such as ghosts, zombies and spiders while not posting photos online featuring costumes from struck content.
SNL Parodies? Exhausting? Fran Drescher
The actors’ strike has entered its 100th day and remains contentious despite ongoing negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Recently, however, when SAG-AFTRA issued its Halloween costume guidelines urging members not to dress as characters from movies that feature striking actors – prompting stars such as Ryan Reynolds and former SAG president Melissa Gilbert to express displeasure with these guidelines – more so now.
On Wednesday, the Guild’s Halloween guidance advised card-carrying actors to select costumes inspired by generalized characters or figures (ghost, zombie and spider) instead of specific movie or TV characters from non-struck projects (such as animated shows). Furthermore, the guild requested they refrain from posting photos of their Halloween attire on social media platforms.
NPR’s Mandalit del Barco makes this point clear in her story on NPR: it is one of the more nebulous rules, leaving room for interpretation. A recent video from SNL made fun of these guidelines by parodying Nicole Kidman ads starring SAG-AFTRA stars as Nicole’s henchmen and vampire. Additionally, this video also references viral memes related to SAG-AFTRA strikes such as those depicting actors dressed like themselves on picket lines; watch here.
SNL Breakout Sarah Sherman Takes on Studio Negotiations
Through sheer happenstance of running a small newsroom, we have found ourselves immersed in an amazing month of comedy interviews – featuring John Early and Doughboys podcasters as regular guests. But our most surprising discovery has been SNL cast member Sarah Sherman (known to New Yorkers as Squirm).
She first made waves with an anarchic sketch depicting an anthropomorphized chorus of meat orbs growing on her body and later dancing alongside a choir squirting blood and urine onto herself, among many other standout performances. We expect Sherman will become one of Weekend Update’s more distinctive voices soon enough!
Sherman recently took aim at SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher by playing her as a mother reminding children not to trick-or-treat wearing costumes from struck movies and TV shows, specifically Barbie and Wednesday Addams (for which SAG-AFTRA issued new Halloween guidelines earlier this week).
Major studios and producers will meet with the Writers Guild today for their inaugural talks since the writers strike began before summer began. Negotiations must address issues like minimum staffing levels, duration of employment contracts, viewership-based streaming residuals and role of AI; Jeffrey Brown discusses this with Matthew Belloni.
SNL Breakout Sarah Sherman Takes on SAG’s Halloween Costume Restrictions
As Halloween draws near, actors on strike are being encouraged to be mindful about what costumes they select this year. SAG-AFTRA issued a news release cautioning its members that costumes featuring striking content could breach strike rules and constitute promotional activity; alternatively they should consider costumes which depict generalized characters or figures instead.
Fran Drescher used her role as SAG-AFTRA president to criticize their guidelines, which have caused considerable backlash. Additionally, the Nanny actress used her Queens roots to warn children from becoming “scabs” during an actor strike that will reach 100 days this Saturday; actor demands include increases in residuals from streaming content providers as well as control of how artificial intelligence uses their likenesses.
SAG-AFTRA has asked its members not to post images of their costumes online, yet some members, including actors from X-Men: Dark Phoenix, are still dressing as their characters on Instagram. SAG has yet to indicate its intention regarding return negotiations despite offers by SAG to do so; although, with creative thinking actors could celebrate holiday while simultaneously keeping demands in the forefront.
SNL Breakout Sarah Sherman Takes on? The Nanny?
Sherman plays the owner of a girls? dress rental shop alongside husband (Davidson) and awkward teenage son (Andrew Dismukes; one of SNL?s go-to dweebs). All three deliver an admirably gross performance; however, this sketch remains somewhat uneven in execution.
SAG recently issued Halloween costume guidelines advising its members not to dress as characters from striking work or post photos of such costumes on social media, thus precluding many popular costumes such as Greta Gerwig?s Barbie, Christopher Nolan?s Oppenheimer and Netflix?s Wednesday.
While SAG has not provided definitive indication of its plans to change their guidelines, outlets like Variety have speculated that several popular costume ideas for Halloween 2016 will likely not be allowed.
That may be true of some, but not for others. Ryan Reynolds of Deadpool 3 fame is planning to dress as the movie?s protagonist even after actors? union imposed an extension on its strike that threatens its release date. Luckily for Reynolds, his co-stars are helping out; SNL stars including those behind Deadpool will lend their voices for nonexistent characters that do not yet exist on-screen.
