Holoreel actors walk off set in mass protest

PERTNINEERE - The set of Impetus's latest epic war movie, The Trials of Shintah, has descended into turmoil after the majority of the cast walked off set, refusing to work. The strike is unprecedented in the holo-vid industry, and in Impetus itself, and threatens to cost the company billions of ISK in revenue if production continues to be delayed.

Organized by lead actress Salome Naut, the actors all walked off set on Monday citing terrible conditions, a lack of basic amenities, and director disrespect as their reasons.

"Quite frankly, it was bad enough they shipped us out to this backwater system," Salome said from her quarters. "But they can't even treat us like human beings! It's awful."

The film's producer, Holly Mathen, revealed a list of demands sent by the actors. "Demand one... A chilled bottle of spiced wine for every actor waiting at the end of every day of shooting. Demand two... Long-limbed roes on the caterer's table. Demand three... Reduced shooting hours from six hours a day to four. And that's not even the half of them."

Shooting is being done in Pertnineere for a variety of reasons, though insiders cite the main reason as a cost-cutting measure. Rather than shoot in a high traffic area that would run high costs in tariffs and taxes, Impetus moved shooting to an off-the-path system in Solitude. "The actors didn't complain when they were signing their contracts," Mathen exclaimed. "Naut got thirty million. [Male lead Zetta] Jackson is being paid twenty-five million. Even [Micky] Valvoga is making ten million, and he's only got ten lines!"

Salome wasn't surprised by the reaction of the producer. "She just doesn't understand what us actors have to go through every day. It's gruelling. No one gets us. Especially with the way [director Seedle] Ikeda treats us! It's like we're slaves or something."

Despite Mathen's belief that the actors are behaving like "spoiled children", the delays are not acceptable to Impetus brass as a whole. "We're just going to have to give in to their demands," Mathen said. "Even if that means paying outrageous prices to have people ship spiced wine and long-limbed roes to us out here in Pernineere."

Rather than divert Impetus resources from other operations, Mathen has placed buy orders on the open market. She is buying long-limbed roes at 3000 ISK a unit and spiced wine at 2000 ISK a unit.