Mark Ruffalo Says Movie Studios Are "An Empire of Billionaires" and Urges Actors to Make Indie Films
The SAG-AFTRA Strike is in full swing on the streets of Hollywood, as actors and writers take to the pavement to take a stand against an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Many actors have taken to making signs, giving statements to the press, and posting on social media to speak their minds about the cause, and Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo has something to say, directed at his fellow actors.
In a thread posted to Twitter, the Hulk actor posed the following thoughts:
“How about we all jump into indies now? Content creators create a film & TV-making system alongside the studio & streaming networks? So there is actual competition. Then we just do what we always do — create great content & they can buy it, or we take it out ourselves & WE share in those sales.”
He went on:
“They’ve created an empire of billionaires & believe that we are no longer of value. While they hang out in the billionaire boy summer camps laughing like fat cats, we organize a new world for workers. One sure way to strengthen our hand right now is to become very supportive & friendly to all independent projects immediately. Push every SAG-AFTRA member to join the ones that get SAG-AFTRA (WGA) WAIVERS immediately. The studios have no competition—this will change that.”
“Share profits. If the project does well, everyone does well. This will also help our fellow filmmakers ‘The Crew,’ who we love, to keep working. This is also part of #Solidarity. We have to take care of each other.”
He’s on the right track in identifying a problem and seeing a solution, but Hollywood is a big place, and actors are happy to get gigs in the big hit movies. Blockbusters make more money because more people go to see them, and indies have a tougher time, though it does seem to be getting better with streaming services picking up a wider array of films. Hopefully this strike will end soon with the writers, actors, and film crews happy with the results. Some of the fight they are facing is pretty crazy, and I hope they get a fair shake.