Hollywood pushback on writers strike is obscene: Sean Penn

Actor Sean Penn gave his full support to the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood on Friday, saying it was a "human obscenity" that studios were not taking seriously concerns over artificial intelligence.

Penn was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, the day after the premier of his new film, "Black Flies", an ultra-gritty movie about New York paramedics.

Asked about the writers' strike that has upended Hollywood productions, he said: "It is the industry that's been upending the writers and the actors and directors for a very, very long time. My full support in this situation is with the writers guild of course.

"There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed about, including the use of AI (to write scripts). It strikes me as a human obscenity for there to be any pushback on that from the producers."

The strike kicked off on May 3 after negotiations broke down between the Writers Guild of America and major US studios, with writers demanding better compensation after the disruption caused by streaming and fears over the increasing use of AI.

"The first thing we should do in this conversation is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the Bankers Guild," Penn said.

The 62-year-old star has long been an outspoken activist on many issues and runs a disaster relief organization which helped oversee a huge testing and vaccination program during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He and young star Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One") spent many hours riding along with New York paramedics for the no holds barred look at their profession.

"We're talking to medics who are working double, triple shifts... just to put some cash back and they're simply not paid enough," said Sheridan.

"They're our guardian angels and we don't put enough emphasis around their jobs and their mental health, and the film is very confrontational with that," he added.

Asked about the state of the US health system, Penn said it was "a racket".

"We saw it every night -- you collect bodies to bring in and you hear the ching-ching of insurance and money changing hands for everybody but those they're taking it from," he said.

Director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire joked that Penn got so much training that "you don't have to call 911 in New York any more: if you have a problem, you just call Sean".

© 2023 AFP