Sean Gunn claimed that he receives very few residuals from Netflix for his work in Gilmore Girls in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The 49-year-old performer spoke to the media outlet from the Los Angeles picket line of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike on Friday.
The actor, who portrayed Kirk Gleason in the long-running show, expressively stated that he ‘particularly wanted to come out and protest Netflix’ for their actions and failure to provide fair compensation for his work.
During the interview, Gunn stated that Gilmore Girls ‘has brought in massive profits for Netflix’ and described the program as ‘one of their most popular shows for a very long time, over a decade.’
‘It gets streamed over and over and over again, and I see almost none of the revenue that comes into that,’ he said.
Unhappy: Sean Gunn revealed that he receives very few residuals from Netflix for his work in Gilmore Girls during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that was shared on Friday
Unfair compensation: The 49-year-old performer spoke to the media outlet from the Los Angeles picket line of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike and was remarkably open about the lack of payment that has been made to him, as well as his costars, for his time on the show
The actor previously portrayed Gleason in all seven seasons of the show, which ran from 2000 until 2007.
The performer also appeared as a cable installer in the show’s second episode, although he was brought back and became a regular cast member.
He went on to reprise his role as Gleason in the 2016 revival miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Although Gilmore Girls is currently streamed on Netflix, Gunn’s residuals come from Warner Bros. Discovery, who licenses the show to the streaming giant.
It was also reported that the actor and his former costars are paid the same amount without regard for viewership rates.
The performer went on to send a message to Netflix’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, and its executive chair Reed Hastings, who have received payment in the amount of several million dollars over the years.
Gunn urged the pair to consider a restructuring of their compensation model and to consider the concerns of the striking SAG-AFTRA members.
‘You really need to rethink how you do business and share the wealth with people. Otherwise, this is all going to come crashing down,’ he said.
The actor also discussed the concept of sharing streaming revenue, which he said ‘needs to be re-thought of.’
Gunn concluded by stating that he was looking forward to seeing positive change occur in the entertainment industry.
‘As Fran Drescher said yesterday, the whole business model has fallen apart really, and so we kind of need to restructure it from the top,’ he remarked.
Curiously, The Hollywood Reporter later deleted its post with video of Gunn speaking about his compensation after Gilmore Girls moved to Netflix.
‘A tweet featuring a video interview with Sean Gunn discussing his residuals from Gilmore Girls was removed because it did not note that the residuals Gunn was referencing are paid by the studio and not the streamer, Netflix,’ the outlet noted.
However, the fact that the show was on the streamer still determined the paltry rate of residuals that he received, even if it was not Netflix that was directly paying him, and he would almost certainly have received more compensation from reruns airing on a traditional television network.
On Saturday, Gunn responded to THR’s note about its deleted video with a new clip reacting to the decision, which he disagreed with.
Calling them out: The actor, who portrayed Kirk Gleason in the long-running show , expressively stated that he ‘particularly wanted to come out and protest Netflix’ for their actions and failure to provide fair compensation for his work
Letting everyone know: Gunn stated that Gilmore Girls ‘gets streamed over and over and over again, and I see almost none of the revenue that comes into that’
In the past: The actor previously portrayed Kirk Gleason in all seven seasons of the show, which ran from 2000 until 2007
Taken down: The Hollywood Reporter later deleted its interview with Gunn because he ‘did not note that the residuals Gunn was referencing are paid by the studio and not the streamer, Netflix’
Striking back: Gunn noted that THR was correct, but insisted that his broader point about Netflix and streamers not properly compensating actors and writers was correct, and he urged THR to put his interview back up
‘I did an interview from the picket line at Netflix yesterday for The Hollywood Reporter, and they took that interview down because apparently I didn’t note that my residuals aren’t paid by Netflix, but they’re actually paid by the production company, Warner Bros.,’ he began.
‘OK, first of all, I never used the word residuals in my interview, but that’s not the important thing,’ Gunn clarified. ‘The important thing is that the whole point of my interview is that Netflix doesn’t pay residuals to the actors, so there’s no sharing in the success of a show with Netflix. It’s true that they pay a licensing fee to Warner Bros. and that Warner Bros. then pays residuals from that licensing fee, which is a very small amount, particularly for a show that’s been off the air for a long time.
‘But when the show is a huge success, and they generate millions of dollars in profits for Netflix, we don’t share in any of that, in large part because there’s no transparency with their numbers,’ he continued. ‘But really, this is about fairness for everybody. We just want to make sure we have a fair deal. If a show’s a success, we should participate in that. That seems totally reasonable.’
He concluded: ‘Hollywood Reporter, if you want to reach out to me, I’m here to talk anytime. But I think that interview should go back up.’
