‘Chicago Med’ actress & St. Charles native helping to negotiate end to Hollywood actors strike

“Chicago Med” actress and St. Charles native Courtney Rioux is warning that viewers could be in for a winter of reality TV, news and game shows if the actors union isn’t able to come to a resolution with Hollywood studios and streaming services to end the months-long strike.

Rioux is a national board member for the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union, which represents actors and other entertainers. The union went on strike in July and is trying to negotiate a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents more than 350 film and television production companies.

“We want to get back to work as soon as possible,” Rioux said. “We want to be able to create content for our audience and bring them joy, but we’re not able to do that right now.”

The Writers Guild of America, which represents screenwriters, has been on strike since May and also is trying to negotiate with the AMPTP.

Rioux has been a leading force in the SAG-AFTRA contract negotiations. She said while viewers might not have noticed any changes yet, if the strikes continue, the entertainment industry could look very different this season.

Her series, “Chicago Med,” would have started filming in July, and now fears they may never return, she said.

Rioux, who joined SAG–AFTRA in 2010 and served on the Chicago local board before being elected to the national board, is on the negotiation committee.

She said streaming residuals, wage increases, self-taping audition practices and artificial intelligence restrictions have been major sticking points in the contract negotiation efforts.

SAG-AFTRA members are asking for a pay increase over the three year contract to account for inflation, and have proposed 11%, 4% and 4% increases for each year of the contract. AMPTP’s most recent proposal offer is 5%, 4% and 3.5% raises.

Actors are also calling for restrictions that will prevent the use of their likeness through artificial intelligence without consent or compensation.

Rioux said actors who feature in series on streaming services receive substantially smaller residuals than those with network series contracts. SAG-AFTRA is asking for 2% of the revenue each show generates through streaming services be paid to performers.

Since the pandemic, self-filmed audition tapes have been common practice, and Rioux said they have become a major pain for actors. She said actors are often expected to provide their own props and lighting, for no pay, just to get a shot at a role.

Brett Nevue, a writer, producer and captain of the Writers Guild of America East union in Chicago, has been leading the charge in picket lines in Chicago since the strike began.

Nevue said negotiations have yielded little compromise from AMPTP. He said writers are asking for many of the same things as the actors, including wage increases, AI restrictions and better streaming residuals. WGA is also negotiating for an increase to writers’ lengths of employment per series and for bigger writers’ rooms.

WGA members are also against the misuse of artificial intelligence, with the concern that scripts will be written using AI, drastically reducing the number of writers needed for a show. The writers’ union is also looking to restrict the use of writers’ work to train AI systems.

WGA is also taking a stand against shrinking writers’ rooms, which once employed around 12 writers per series. AMPTP is proposing writers’ rooms be reduced to three per show, while the WGA is demanding a minimum of six.

The last time both the writers’ and actors’ unions went on strike at the same time was in 1960, when SAG (which became SAG-AFTRA in 2012) came to an agreement in six weeks and the WGA was on strike for 148 days. The longest actors strike in history lasted for six months in 2000, and the longest writers strike was in 1988 lasting 154 days.

The Negotiations

Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP began on June 7 and stopped on July 13 when the actors began their strike. Rioux said the actors’ contract negotiations are currently in a standstill while AMPTP is negotiating with the writers.

AMPTP offered a new proposal to the WGA on Aug. 11, offering wage increases, AI restrictions, adjusted streaming residuals that will be based on views, and extended employment during productions.

AMPTP is offering writers a compounded wage increase of 13% over the three-year contract, a 15% increase in minimum weekly rates for writers for the first year of the agreement, and a minimum of 10 weeks of employment per production, but are still proposing teams of three writers per show.

“Our priority is to end the strike so that valued members of the creative community can return to what they do best and to end the hardships that so many people and businesses that service the industry are experiencing,” Carol Lombardini, president of the AMPTP, said in an Aug. 22 news release. “We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed. We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the WGA will work toward the same resolution.”

Writers union representatives responded with a counter proposal at the most recent meeting between WGA and AMPTP members on Aug. 15, but the studios did not budge from their Aug. 11 offer.

“Not much has changed,” Neveu said. “It seems to be one step forward and two steps back. We’re solid on our ask, so we’re just waiting for them to start negotiating, and until then, we’ll be out on the picket line.”

The Effect

Rioux said until contract agreements are met, the television and movie industry will remain in limbo. She said while it may not be noticeable now, if the strikes continue much longer, viewers will start to notice reruns and reality television taking over the channels, and will no longer have their favorite shows.

Rioux said there are 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members, which includes a wide range of professions besides film and television actors. She said the majority of members make less than $26,000 per year.

“It’s not like we’re these Hollywood elite actors asking for more money,” Rioux said. “It’s really working and middle class actors who are trying not to get squeezed out of our profession.”

Rioux said in a normal season, she would have began filming “Chicago Med” in July, and unless they start filming soon, there is no guarantee they will return.

Neveu said very few of the shows slated to release this fall will air on time, if ever, and the release dates for movies are already being pushed back. He said many shows that were just taking off are being scrapped and several long-standing series will likely not return.

Representatives with AMPTP declined reporter David Petesch’s request for an interview for this story.