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Members of New Mexico film industry picket at Netflix Studios

New Mexico film industry members, including SAG-AFTRA, picket outside the Netflix Studios.

SAG-AFTRA members stage outside the front gate, before picketing at the Netflix Studios on Wednesday.

Diane Villegas, center, and members of the SAG-AFTRA, outside Netflix Studios in Albuquerque on Wednesday.

New Mexico film industry members picket outside the Netflix Studios in Albuquerque on Wednesday.

SAG-AFTRA members line up to picket at Netflix Studios on Wednesday.

More than 200 New Mexico film industry members picket outside the Netflix Studios in Albuquerque.

New Mexico film industry members, which also includes SAG-AFTRA, picket outside the Netflix Studios on July 26.

Members of the New Mexico film industry picket outside Netflix Studios in Albuquerque.

Adrian Gomez Adrian Gomez Adrian Gomez Journal Arts Editor

Published July 26, 2023 - 2:00 p.m. Modified November 8, 2023 - 1:59 p.m.

On the 12th day of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike, members of the New Mexico film industry took a public stand.

On Wednesday, more than 250 New Mexicans lined up to picket outside of Netflix Studios in Albuquerque.

SAG-AFTRA voted to strike on July 13 and began picketing across the country on July 14. By doing so, the actors guild joined the Writers Guild of America in the first dual-union strike in 60 years.

Union leaders say the streaming model that has taken over the industry in recent years has cheated actors of their share of income and funneled money to executives.

Proposals of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, streamers and production companies in negotiations, did not even begin to meet their needs.

Both writers and actors fear the threat of unregulated use of artificial intelligence. Some of the actors say studios want to be able to use their likenesses without having to hire them, or pay them.

Diane Villegas, a union member and N.M.-based actor, said going on strike is vitally important for the industry.

“With eroding residuals, it’s making it impossible for blue collar actors to make a living,” Villegas said. “These are the majority of the actors that this is affecting. These are the journeyman actors who get small roles in different productions.”

On Monday, Santa Fe-based author George R.R. Martin was on a panel of experts who explored some of the policy questions facing states amid the rise of AI, machine learning and algorithms.

Martin suggested the use of artificial intelligence will emerge as a point of conflict in other professions, just as it has in the Hollywood strikes.

“You have to wonder what jobs are going to be left because AI is not going to stop with actors and writers,” Martin said Monday during the panel.

The film and TV industry has been a bright spot for the New Mexico economy for the better part of a decade.

During the last fiscal year, the state saw a direct spend of $794 million from the film industry through 85 productions.

The number is down from fiscal year 2022’s $855.4 million in direct spend through 109 projects.

According to Marc Comstock, SAG-AFTRA New Mexico president, the number of New Mexico SAG-AFTRA members is approximately 1,100.

“We’re continuing to grow,” Comstock says.

Many members of the New Mexico film industry that were on the picket line on Wednesday agreed that AI would gut the entire industry.

“AI would delete the need for background actors,” Villegas said. “Then you add in hair and makeup, which wouldn’t be needed. It would affect the entire industry to the bottom.”

Villegas was humbled to see so many of her union brothers and sisters using their voices as a collective unit on Wednesday.

“We were forced to take a stand,” Villegas said. “We hope an agreement will be reached because that means we can get back to work and support our families.”