SAG-AFTRA Strike: The Pay Disparity Between Top Hollywood Execs & Actors Explained

The SAG-AFTRA strike officially commenced on July 14, with over 160,000 actors and union representatives joining forces to demand better pay and conditions for their labor. The SAG-AFTRA members' situation also follows in the wake of the Writers' Guild of America strike, which has been taking place since May. The protests mark the second time in history that both organizations have teamed up, with their first dual strike taking place in 1960.

The strikes have also shed light on the pay disparity between actors/writers and studio executives, which has led to some contentious disagreements between the parties in question. For example, Disney CEO Bob Iger called the strikers "disruptive" and accused the labor organizations of damaging the industry. However, a new report has provided some telling details on the extent of the disparity. According to The Los Angeles Times, David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, reportedly earned just short of half a billion dollars between 2018 and 2022. Elsewhere, Iger earned $195 million over the last five years, putting him in fourth place behind Zaslav, Endeavor's Ari Emanuel, and Netflix's Reed Hastings.

Per the report, the average pay for Hollywood execs climbed to $28 million in 2021, which was up 53 percent from what they earned in 2018. Meanwhile, the average pay for a writer currently sits at $260,000 while their median earnings have dropped by 14 percent since 2018. However, the disparity has also greatly affected actors, many of whom have raised concerns over their residuals from projects. Furthermore, some of the performers in question have taken to social media to highlight their low income while studio heads rake in millions.

Since the strike started, actors who've been affected by the low residuals have disclosed their earnings. Jana Schmieding took to Twitter and shared a photo of some of her earnings from working on the hit Hulu series "Reservation Dogs," revealing what she makes for unlimited worldwide streams on Disney's platforms. "To fans of my character Bev on Reservation Dogs, here's a peek behind the IHS counter at what part of my residuals looks like for acting on a show that I love," she wrote. "I pull in $.03 each quarter for UNLIMITED world wide streams on fx/hulu/DISNEY. & [Bob] Iger is yachting."

Elsewhere, Alysia Reiner — who played Natalie "Fig" Figueroa on Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black" — recently told The New Yorker that the cast members weren't fairly compensated for their work on the show. This comes after her co-star Kimiko Glenn shared evidence of her foreign royalty statement, which totaled a meager $27.30, on TikTok.

Anthony Rapp, meanwhile, told Variety that he gets a check for $1.25 for his work on "The Nick" a couple of times per year, and the figure is similar to his residuals from other projects that continue to boost the profits of their studio and network executives. These cases aren't unique either, which is why actors across the board are protesting.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. To learn more about why writers and actors are currently on strike, click here for an up-to-date explainer from our Looper team.