Mark Ruffalo says movie studios are ‘an empire of billionaires’ and urges actors to make independent films

The SAG-AFTRA strike is in full swing on the streets of Hollywood, as actors and screenwriters take to the sidewalk to make a stand against an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Many actors have started making signs, giving press statements, and posting on social media to voice their opinion on the lawsuit, and Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo has something to say, directed at his fellow actors.

In a thread posted on Twitter, the Hulk actor had the following thoughts:

“How about we all switch to the indies now? Do content creators create a film and TV production system together with the studio and streaming networks? So there is real competition. So we just do what we always do: We create great content and they can buy it, or we mine it ourselves and share those sales.

He continued:

“They have created an empire of billionaires and believe that we are no longer valid. While they go off to the billionaire kids’ summer camps laughing like fat cats, we organize a new world for working people. A surefire way to strengthen our hand right now is to immediately become very supportive and friendly with all indie projects. Push every SAG-AFTRA member to join those who immediately get SAG-AFTRA WAIVERS (WGA). The studios have no competition: this will change things.

“Share the profits. If the project goes well, everyone goes well. This will also help our fellow filmmakers ‘The Crew’, who we love, to keep working. This is also part of #Solidarity. We have to take care of each other.”

He’s on his way to identifying a problem and seeing a solution, but Hollywood is a big place and actors are happy to get gigs in blockbuster movies. Blockbusters make more money because more people go to see them, and indies have a harder time, though they seem to be getting better with streaming services packing in a wider range of movies. Hopefully this strike will end soon with the writers, actors and film crew happy with the results. Some of the fights they’re having are pretty crazy and I hope they get a good shake up.