For five years, SAG-AFTRA member and vice president Janice Pendarvis worked seven days a week at three different jobs.
“That’s a lot of work. But I do it willingly and I do it with love because this is what I do, and I love what I do. So that’s why I’m here,” Pendarvis told TheWrap while picketing outside of 30 Rockefeller on Tuesday.
Pendarvis, who is SAG-AFTRA’s national vice president for recording artists and singers as well as a chair of the National Singers Committee, explained she was striking for her union members, all union members and non-union people. “It has got to stop, this tyranny of the rich. We don’t mind if you’re rich. I don’t want a yacht. I’m happy with what I have. But can I have that?” Pendarvis said.
It’s that commitment to pay equality that brought both Elliot Page, star of “The Umbrella Academy,” and Peppermint, star of “RuRaul’s Drag Race” Season 9 and the Broadway play “Head Over Heels,” to the picket lines.
Page acknowledged that he’s in a position that’s “different than the vast majority of people in the industry, just to be very clear.”
“I just really care about people who are not being compensated fairly, and who can’t make a minimum to get their health coverage. These are real-life impacts that have devastating consequences. It needs to be changed,” Page told TheWrap, noting his concern for “those who, especially with inflation and our economy right now, literally can’t live.”
“Clearly, massive change has happened in this industry,” Page said. “We just need those in power to come to the table and make a fair deal so we can all get back to work, do what we love to do and continue to work with each other.”
The rise of technology in the entertainment industry stood out for Peppermint. The actor noted in the midst of these “really exciting technological advances” it’s “easy” for the worker to be lost in the narrative.
But rather than solely a threat, Peppermint chooses to see this “changing landscape” as an opportunity to prioritize diversity. She noted that she is currently trying to support an industry that “10 years ago, I didn’t see myself represented in.”
“We’re not excited to watch paint dry. We want to see people’s stories and humanity. That is the main ingredient that people are craving when they’re tuning into entertainment. And so we have to deal with that in real life as well,” Peppermint said.
Despite Page and Peppermint’s appearances, Pendarvis was undoubtably the star of the New York chapter’s singer strike, a day dedicated to highlighting lesser discussed members of SAG-AFTRA, including singers, recording artists, dancers, stunt people and background actors. Shortly after giving a speech, Pendarvis led both the singers and strikers in a rendition of the civil rights anthem “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” replacing the lyrics with references to the AMPTP, Disney, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“There are a lot of us who work this contract. And what is happening in terms of the level of greed from this employer group is insane. It’s unethical, it’s ugly. It’s just downright mean,” Pendarvis said. “It’s important for when there’s an injustice for people to speak out. That’s the beauty of the union movement.”
One of those members is Mary Brown. Over the course of her career, the singer and songwriter has worked with huge names such as Mary J. Blige, Destiny’s Child, Diana Ross and Queen Latifah. She even worked on Michael Jackson’s final album, “Invincible,” and has a songwriting credit for Jack Harlow.
“My biggest concern is for the future of creatives. I don’t want us to be lost in the sauce and not be taken care of and supported. Insurance, wages, contracts, support, constant work — we need that,” Brown told TheWrap.
She also spoke to the threat of AI, something SAG-AFTRA’s singers are especially vulnerable to, considering how much of their work is recorded. According to Brown, once “a comment” was made to her while she was working about collaborating with AI to give the program direction.
“We understand it’s cheaper for folks to use and it’s a brilliant tool. It’s great, it can be utilized. But human beings are here,” Brown said. “Even if you chose to have a person work AI, you’re still killing so many other jobs. It’s a brilliant tool. But maybe it can be a contract where 70% of the work is done by humans and 30% – there has to be a give here.”
