Hollywood Studios, Actors on Strike to Resume Talks Next Week 

A picketer carries a sign on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
A picketer carries a sign on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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Hollywood Studios, Actors on Strike to Resume Talks Next Week 

A picketer carries a sign on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)
A picketer carries a sign on the picket line outside Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Hollywood studios and negotiators for Hollywood actors on strike will hold talks on Oct. 2, both sides said in a joint statement on Wednesday, in the first such meeting in months.

The SAG-AFTRA actors union, Hollywood's largest with 160,000 members, walked off the job in July asking for higher pay and for curbs on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in entertainment, demands similar to Hollywood writers.

The writers' union struck a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents Walt Disney, Netflix and other studios on Sunday after five months of failed negotiations.

SAG-AFTRA has a wide range of performers with different issues they want addressed.

The performers want to protect their images and work from being replaced by "digital replicas" generated with AI while actors are looking for compensation that reflects the value they bring to streaming, specifically in the form of revenue sharing.

Other demands from actors include limits on self-taped auditions used in casting, which they argue are more costly than in-person readings. They also want hair and makeup artists who can work with various hair textures and skin tones, to ensure equity for all performers.



Magic Can’t Save ‘Harry Potter’ Star Rupert Grint from a $2.3 Million Tax Bill

Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
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Magic Can’t Save ‘Harry Potter’ Star Rupert Grint from a $2.3 Million Tax Bill

Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)
Rupert Grint poses for photographers upon arrival at the special screening of the film "Knock at the Cabin" in London, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP)

Former “Harry Potter” film actor Rupert Grint faces a 1.8 million-pound ($2.3 million) bill after he lost a legal battle with the tax authorities.

Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the magical film franchise, was ordered to pay the money in 2019 after H.M. Revenue and Customs, the UK tax agency, investigated his tax return from seven years earlier.

The agency said Grint had wrongly classed 4.5 million pounds in residuals from the movies — money from DVD sales, TV syndication, streaming rights and other sources — as a capital asset rather than income, which is subject to a much higher tax rate.

Lawyers for Grint appealed, but after years of wrangling a tribunal judge ruled against the actor this week. Judge Harriet Morgan said the money “derived substantially the whole of its value from the activities of Mr. Grint” and “is taxable as income.”

Grint, 36, starred in all eight Harry Potter films between 2001 and 2011 as the boy wizard’s best friend, and is calculated to have earned around 24 million pounds from the role.

He previously lost a separate court battle over a 1 million pound tax refund in 2019.