Ongoing screenwriters and actors strikes could disrupt the entertainment industry in fundamental ways and put the 2024 box office and the fall broadcast lineup in jeopardy.
In May, when 11,500 movie and television writers went on strike, Hollywood companies like Netflix, NBCUniversal and Disney reacted with what amounted to a shrug, thinking they could ride it out.
But the angry response from Hollywood’s corporate ranks when actors went out on Friday was very different and could become a crisis.
With a membership of about 160,000 that includes world-famous celebrities studied in the art of delivering messages to captivated audiences, the actors’ union is more powerful and more visible.
