Editing Actors' Equity Association (section)

==1929 nationwide actors and producers strike threat==
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The Actors Equality Strike was a series of walkouts that started in 1927 in local theaters in Los Angeles and quickly grew to the motion picture stage.<ref name="SAG timeline">{{cite web|url=http://www.sagaftra.org/sag-timeline|title=SAG Timeline – SAG-AFTRA|website=www.sagaftra.org}}</ref> During the nationwide walkouts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences started issuing contracts to freelance film actors, which led Hollywood's actors and actresses to fear the loss of their jobs. The theater strikes combined with freelance contracts fueled the need for actors and stagehands to strike for better working conditions and pay.<ref name="SAG timeline"/>

[[Frank Gillmore]], the head and treasurer of the Actor's Equity Association, understood that he would need multiple unions across the country to make a change not only in proper representation and pay, but in actors' ability to negotiate any contract a studio would put out worldwide. On July 20, 1929, the AEA gained its first victory, which gave producers and actors a leg to stand on in their battle for equality. Over 30 days (up to August 20, 1929), Gillmore fought to give the AEA the ability to represent all actors, producers, radio personality, [[vaudeville]] performers, and agents in the country. This would also give all power and representation to one organization in order to create a more organized equality strike.<ref>"Equity's Setback".  ''[[The New York Times]]'' (1923–current file); August 20, 1929; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times pg. 21</ref>

Starting on June 5, 1929, Gillmore attended several meetings in New York with the heads of Broadway. After the meeting, he notified the AEA that appearances in sound and talking motion pictures had been suspended until the outcome of the meetings with the international Studio Crafts Union.<ref name="NYT_1929_08_20">"Gillmore To Confer With Union Heads Here: Actors Notified Rules on ...", ''The New York Times'' (1923–current file); August 20, 1929; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times pg. 37</ref>

Due to the negotiations and the suspension of contracts through the AEA, studios were desperate for actors to speed up production, which had dropped significantly. ''The New York Times'' wrote, "It was pointed out that while the Equality regulations were in effect, about 2000 motion picture contracts, involving salaries said to amount to $500,000 were offered to actors in New York."<ref name="NYT_1929_08_20"/> Any actor who entered into a contract not approved by the AEA would be banished from the union and have to reapply for admission after negotiations were finished.<ref name="NYT_1929_08_20"/>

By December 1929, the AEA was negotiating terms to reset the movie stage under better conditions, but this was the least of its problems. In late December, groups of theater owners and non-represented producers filed lawsuits to claim damages from the AEA's contract holdout. "The plaintiffs not only seek a temporary injunction against the defendants, pending trial on an order to show cause why a permanent injunction should not be granted, but also ask damages of $100,000."<ref>"Equity Sued By Producers: Louis Macloon and Lillian Albertson Charge ...", ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (1923–current File); December 12, 1929</ref>

===Effects of strike===
The AEA allowed small numbers of contracts to be negotiated over the next few years. In 1933, the [[Screen Actors Guild]] was created and took the AEA's place as the main representative for movie actors and producers. This allowed the AEA to focus on live productions, such as theatrical performances, while the Screen Actors Guild focused on movie production and non-scripted live performances, such as minstrel, vaudeville, and live radio shows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sagaftra.org/history/sag|title=SAG History – SAG-AFTRA|website=www.sagaftra.org}}</ref>