Ongoing strikes among the WGA and SAG-AFTRA unions have brought much of Hollywood to a standstill. 

It’s been nearly three months since thousands of screenwriters walked off the job. After weeks of talks failed to generate results satisfying SAG-AFTRA’s demands, they were joined by the actor’s union on July 14.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher delivered an impassioned speech announcing that the union’s roughly 160,000 members would start showing up on picket lines. 

In a statement released shortly afterwards, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer’s or AMPTP said, “A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life. The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

The last time both the Writer’s Guild and the actor’s union went on strike was in 1960.

Veteran entertainment journalist John Horn joined "Inside the Issues" host Alex Cohen to talk about this double work stoppage. 

“Every time people go on strike in Hollywood, it's either at the cusp of or trying to catch up to a new technology,” he said.

One concern writers have is the advancement of artificial intelligence. 

“If you've seen the new avatar, they're basically mapping human actors' bodies and then putting them on animated characters' physiques,” explained Horn. “If they map your face and your body, you could show up in any movie. They could put together dialogue based on things you've done in the past, where you're not actually in that movie or not actually on that set."

Another concern is pay and how much some people at the top are making compared to the writers and actors.

“Inflation is the highest it's been in 42 years," said Horn. "So when they say it's the biggest raise in 35 years, they are seven years too short. That payment is a one time payment that is fixed. So it doesn't matter if your show is a hit or a failure, you don't get anything based on its popularity. And that's a fundamental change from how it used to be."

Another sticking point is now much some people at the top are making. Disney CEO Bob Iger has the potential to earn $31 million on his current contract. Iger told CNBC that the union’s expectations were unrealistic. 

“Most actors and writers make a reasonable, middle class working income And if they're not working or not getting residuals from streaming, they might lose their health insurance,” he said. “When somebody is making $25 billion a year and complaining that writers are asking for too much when the company is built on the creative content of those writers, it just feels a little bit off.” 

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