As in Hollywood, French actors demand fair remuneration from streaming platforms

There are 7,000 of them, up in arms against the wage injustices of their profession. And they are ready to strike, like in Hollywood. These French performing actors claim in an open letter the absence of fair remuneration with streaming platforms. Adami publishes this column the day before the opening of the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

In 2019, a European directive on copyright was adopted to allow “better remuneration of artists and press publishers from the traffic generated by their content on platforms such as Google or YouTube”. And in 2021, France is implementing a law “guaranteeing fair recognition – and therefore fair remuneration – of those who collaborate on works broadcast on streaming platforms.” The latter was to allow the negotiation of an agreement. “But three years later, no agreement has been concluded,” says the forum.

The seven thousand signatories demand a real implementation of these laws. The column underlines: “Actresses and actors are not yet remunerated in proportion to the success of the work in which they collaborate.” In practice, the remuneration is determined by a fixed price before the broadcast and therefore the possible success or failure of a production. They therefore demand an incentive for results.

Anne Bouvier, actress in cinema, television and theater, and president of Adami, declares: “If by chance, the entire planet is screwed in front of a series, how come no additional euros are paid to those who embody this success on screen?” This questioning leads Charles Berling, Pomme, Benoit Magimel and Thierry Lhermitte to be among the first signatories of the platform.

118 days of strikes and six billion dollars lost, last year’s screenwriters’ strike cost American cinema dearly. Among their demands was also a desire for better protection against low salaries from streaming platforms. Adami met yesterday with representatives of the Ministry of Culture. They ask the government to act, otherwise “we will have two solutions: a strike or legal action,” warns Anne Bouvier.

In Italy, at the end of April, three thousand Italian actors chose to take legal action. At the Rome court, they denounce the remuneration which has “the appearance of nothing more than a tip”, underlines the tribune. In fact, they asked Netflix for a payment of 0.4% of revenues and only obtained 0.03%. The 7607 collective, which represents them, also demands compliance with the 2019 European directive.