With summer movie season at its midpoint, Hollywood typically begins to turn its gaze toward the fall, when a trio of major film festivals acts as the unofficial kickoff to Oscar season. But now that SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America are both on strike, could a protracted battle between the unions and the studios cause those fall launchpads to fizzle?

Though the writers’ strike, which began May 2, didn’t have much of an effect on the Cannes Film Festival that month, the actors’ strike that started Friday may significantly reshape coming fests in Venice, Telluride, Colorado, and Toronto. That’s because SAG-AFTRA is prohibiting members from promoting any film while the strike is on, an across-the-board ban that includes interviews, photo calls and red-carpet duties. Without those appearances, festivals will be sapped of the star power that is invaluable to raising a film’s profile.

The first event that will probably be affected is the Venice Film Festival, which begins its 80th edition on August 30 with the premiere of the sexy tennis comedy “Challengers,” starring Zendaya. Venice has lately rivaled Cannes for glamour and headlines, so the loss of actors would be a big blow. The festival will announce its full lineup on July 25, and buzz suggests it could include highly anticipated films like Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic, “Maestro”; Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” about the relationship between Elvis Presley and his wife, Priscilla; “The Killer,” a David Fincher thriller starring Michael Fassbender.

The Telluride Film Festival, which runs September 1-4should be less stricken by the absence of stars: That intimate Colorado gathering is a favourite of famous attendees because they’re not required to do photo ops or media blitzes.

But the Toronto International Film Festival, beginning September 7, is a heady 10-day affair filled with red carpets, portrait studios and press junkets that will all shrink if actors are forbidden to attend. There is a workaround, but it’s a slim one: Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA negotiator, said that “truly independent” films able to secure interim agreements with the guild could allow their stars to do media duties.

Still, that’s a proviso more likely to spare the indie-focused Sundance Film Festival in January rather than fall festivals, where the biggest titles tend to hail from major studios. And if the SAG strike continues, it will be more than just festivals that feel the pinch.

A months-long strike would hit the awards-season ecosystem with its toughest test since Coronavirus: If stars can’t attend ceremonies, could the events be held at all? (At least when these things were on Zoom, the nominated stars showed up.) Post-pandemic, prestige films need all the help they can get at the box office. If they can’t be sustained by awards chatter and media-happy movie stars, studios could opt to move some more vulnerable year-end titles to 2024. Will a deal in this bitter battle be reached in time to save awards season?

Even if both sides can compromise before the televised ceremonies begin, one change is likely to still be felt: Don’t expect the usual list of studio executives to be quite so effusively thanked in acceptance speeches.

On Friday, the creative community’s fight for change in Hollywood got stronger. At the stroke of midnight on July 14, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) began their strike, joining the Writers Guild of America that has been on strike since early May. It is for the first time in 63 years that the two unions have simultaneously gone on strike, to protest against the studios over wages, AI technology, and division of profits in the streaming era.

With this move, production on current and future projects has shut down. In a detailed e-mail, SAG-AFTRA has requested its members to refrain from shooting. Guidelines also mention that they are not to engage in promotional events, or make public appearances for any project. Closer home, its effect can be felt on two of Bollywood’s biggest stars, Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt.

Padukone is currently in San Diego to launch the first look of Project K on July 20. Considering the Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Padukone-starrer is an ambitious sci-fi tale, director Nag Ashwin was to begin the film’s journey at Comic Con, thus tapping into the market of fantasy film lovers and ensuring a global reach.

However, a source reveals, “Events like the San Diego Comic-Con will be impacted as Hollywood actors will not take part in them. The Project K team might push the launch, as a mark of solidarity with the creative community in the West.”

The promotions for Heart Of Stone, which marks Bhatt’s Hollywood debut, has also been impacted. Ahead of its August 11 release, the stars of the Netflix film—Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan and Bhatt—were to do extensive promotions in Los Angeles.

“Alia was to head out to Los Angeles this week to kick off the promotions. Now, it has been put on hold. She will focus on Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’s promotions over the next fortnight,” says a source. 

Meanwhile, there is uncertainty on the release of Ali Fazal’s next, Afghan Dreamers. The actor wrapped up the shoot of Bill Guttentag’s directorial venture earlier this year.

A source says, “While it is originally lined up for a year-end release, it could be pushed to early 2024, depending on how the industry is able to mitigate the strike.”

The strike has been supported by Hollywood heavyweights, including the cast of Oppenheimer, which walked out of the film’s London première on Thursday night in a show of solidarity.