Jamaican creatives should have more than a passing interest in the now months-long writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood, according to local film industry experts.

It has been more than 100 days since actors and screenwriters in Hollywood decided to take industrial action over demands for better pay and residuals as well as guarantees over the future use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Countless film shoots and productions have come to a grinding halt resulting in the industry losing millions of dollars each day. The chaos has only deepened over the last three months with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) joining the Writers Guild of America in their fight for better working conditions. The strike action in Hollywood may not have trickled onto local shores just yet but industry insiders with whom OBSERVER ONLINE spoke said creatives in the space should be monitoring developments in the overseas market very closely, particularly as it relates to AI.

Actress Shauna Chin, notable for her guest-starring role in The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate and the Festival De Cannes award-winning short film, Choices, told OBSERVER ONLINE that although the strike, at the moment, seemingly has little to no effect on the local film industry, things could change drastically soon.

“If we’re looking at the bigger picture, the Hollywood strike will affect Jamaica. The strike is about two main things – residual payments should reflect fairly on streamed content and the fair use of artificial intelligence,” she explained. “These two things will affect Jamaica on a large scale because when artistes perform on TV in the US, we not only get paid for the first time it airs but every time it airs after that, which is known as residuals. Now, with the popularity of streaming, our residual payments unfairly reflect how many times persons can re-watch our content online.”

“One big example for Jamaica is our ‘greatest reggae show on earth’, Sumfest. It streams online and our artistes’ pay should reflect that they not only perform just one night, but the many times people will be able to re-watch their iconic performances,” she continued. “As a country, we should be watching the strike outcome closely to see how we in Jamaica can also adjust our rates to fairly reflect performances in perpetuity.”

As it relates to the use of artificial intelligence, Chin told OBSERVER ONLINE that with production companies now aiming to use technology to copy an actor/actress’s likeness to add to performances, the problem of using that created likeness over and over without ever having to hire the actual human being ever again arises.

“Production companies want to use artificial intelligence with an actor’s likeness to add to the performance. The issue here is that they own that likeness and can use it forever without having to hire the human actor ever again. How this affects us in Jamaica is that films that come here to shoot can, for example, use AI to recreate a dancehall or beach scene and own that forever,” she stressed. “So those film companies in the future never have to return to Jamaica to shoot a similar scene again because their AI already has all the information it needs to recreate that scene forever. Jamaica then potentially loses location fees and other production costs which the country relies on to boost our film industry. These are the reasons we need to be paying attention to the strike. We need to be able to adjust our production contracts as it relates to AI.”

But filmmaker and president of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA), Saeed Thomas, believes Jamaica still has some ways to go before the industry should actively worry about the advent of AI. While agreeing that the strike action in Hollywood is necessary to create a much-needed balance in the film space, Thomas says talks of AIs recreating content unique to a particular culture are still some distance away.

“Similar to most industries I feel as if a strike represents an imbalance that needs to be addressed. Although both countries are not intrinsically linked, the US entertainment industry being a global superpower will always affect the entire film industry as a whole and even more so us, who are geographically close,” he explained. “For example, we have Jamaican writers and actors who are a part of the unions and as the production companies try to find ways to use AI to replace writers and actors, I think now is as good a time as ever to support our own creatives. But, our stories are unique and in my opinion, AI has a way to go before it has the ability to recreate our experiences and our culture.”

“I’m sure there will be more generic stories that contain content that AI can create with assistance, however, I don’t think it will be able to recreate some of our best stories that appeal to the human emotions and the ones that are specific to our cultures. For example, I can’t imagine AI recreating a film like Parasite,” he continued. “Still, although both countries are not intrinsically linked, the US entertainment industry being a global superpower will always affect the global film industries as a whole and even more so us, who are geographically close. For example, we have Jamaican writers and actors who are a part of the unions and as the production companies try to find a way to use AI to replace writers and actors, I think now is as good a time as ever to support our own creatives.”

Partially agreeing with Thomas, Chin expressed that Jamaica has already proven that it is open to embracing technological developments and thus believes key players in the local film industry should be prepared for what is to come as AI advances.

“I’m not saying that reality is here now, I’m saying that we must be able to anticipate business trends and prepare for that,” she said. “Jamaica Vision 2030 which is being spearheaded by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) points to all indications that our government’s goal to bring Jamaica out of Third World Status is a viable action plan. In May 2023, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) hosted its first-ever Transformation Expo at the National Arena to showcase their new robots, facial recognition, license plate recognition tools and so much more. Our Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) rolled out updated reinforcements in the new passports to help reduce fraud as well as the ease for passport renewals in Jamaica and in the diaspora.”

“So if our government is embracing AI, what’s to stop a forward-thinking private company from implementing AI to improve their market performance? We would be silly to think otherwise,” she continued. “AI should be embraced because new advances allow us to work smarter, not harder. The important key is ensuring that as humans we are constantly improving our skill sets to keep us invaluable and making sure we are charging for our worth.”