London Shara
Atlanta
“I’m very fortunate to still live with my mother, but I never thought I’d be out here looking for a job. This strike has pulled me back into doing Photography, Modeling and Makeup; revisiting my old skills has made me realize that I still got it and hey it’s not so bad, sometimes we gotta go backwards to fling forward. But my heart goes out to my fellow film friends. Some are relaxing, chilling and most are really struggling. We are trying to make it out here by creating our own films, applying to 9 to 5, etc. This is life changing and enlightening.”
Hakim Wilson
Atlanta
“The industry… how it has affected me is kind of bad. I had to move out of my apartment. I’m facing repossession of my car. I’m grateful that I have a few businesses that I can fall back on that will help me but a lot of people don’t. They (Actors and Writers) are in fear of losing their job because of what A.I. is doing to the industry… taking money out of their pocket. So I understand why they are striking but it’s affecting us. They talk about the Makeup Artists, the Actors, the people behind the scenes that are normally vocalized. They don’t talk about the people who are in construction, the electricians and everybody else that are affected by this. When you strike, we get no pay. It’s affecting us in that way. Hopefully, it’s all resolved soon.”
Kenya Morgan
Decatur
“The current duel strikes of the Writers and Screen Actors Guild has affected me significantly because my primary source of income as a costumer in Atlanta’s tv and film industry has completely shut down. The show I was working on since the beginning of May was shut down and I have been out of work for a couple of weeks. So now I am figuring out my way through Georgia’s unemployment process with its own set of challenges. I guess I’m not alone but it’s still hard, though.”
Anthony Gary
Atlanta
“The film strikes have basically brought work for film to a standstill. There’s some indie stuff out there but now you are dealing with slim pickings. A lot of us have found other avenues to supplement our income. Pretty much there is nothing else around except Tyler Perry stuff. Tyler Perry is still going. I don’t know how but they are still going. But I supplement by teaching photography for the City of Atlanta and I’m also a Photographer as well so I am doing different things to keep the money going. It just kind of forced me to be a Photographer more because I don’t have a choice. I mean, I still do Grip work and documentary stuff with PBS. There are some opportunities here and there but they are few and far between.”
Compiled by Vincent Christie