July 13, 2023
SIU expert in TV, film can provide insight on SAG-AFTRA potential strike
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The nation’s film and television industry will “shut down” if the union representing Hollywood actors goes on strike, according to Pirooz Kalayeh, an assistant professor of scriptwriting and film production at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
“You can't make anything without actors,” Kalayeh said.
If SAG-AFTRA members vote to authorize a strike, it would mark the first time since 1960 that both Hollywood actors and writers would be on strike simultaneously, and it would further delay TV shows and movies not already completed.
Kalayeh is an independent filmmaker who came to SIU Carbondale’s School of Media Arts in August 2021. He previously was an associate producer and post-production coordinator from 2005-2008 in reality TV and made Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) films as an independent producer and director from 2010 to 2020 in Hollywood.
“Without actors, Hollywood will come to a standstill, so this will affect the whole production schedule. This means certain shows will stop mid-production. Maybe, some won’t return. Maybe, some don’t start at all,” Kalayeh said. “And audiences can certainly start getting geared up for a lot more reality television, game shows and reruns.”
Kalayeh’s 2021 award-winning documentary feature, “Sometimes I Dream in Farsi,” examined a traumatic racist incident in his childhood.
Kalayeh is available for media interviews with reporters and news crews. He can be reached at pirooz.kalayeh@siu.edu or 310-779-0469.