Messages from the strikers in New York, Burbank: “Studios should be ashamed that we are still here yelling at them”

It is day 103 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

The actors were back on the strike line in full force on Tuesday – the same day their union was due to resume negotiations with the AMPTP.

Thesps lined up on both coasts, with actors like Sarah Paulson, Zachary Quinto, Betty Gilpin, J. Smith-Cameron, Carrie Preston and Ke Huy Quan marching in the Big Apple, while Allison Janney, Geri Ryan, Rick Gonzales (Law and Order: Organized Crime), The Continentals with Michelle Prada and Adam Shapiro, Break badare Charles Baker and Myles Grier and Jury dutyTrisha LaFache hit the pavement in front of Warner Bros. in Burbank.

Members of the American Federation of Musicians also came to the WB bid on Tuesday to support members of SAG-AFTRA.

“Today it’s back to the table, day one of negotiations,” he said Ryan by the deadline. “I want to send a message to all members of our negotiating committee: we stand with you, we love you and we remain strong. Touch her.”

Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley have joined efforts to reach an agreement with the actors’ union in recent weeks. We hear it was studio bosses who asked the guild to restart talks today – an offer that was accepted at short notice. This information was confirmed in a message posted by the guild on social media not long after the announcement of the second round of new talks.

“What do I think about the negotiations? I’m optimistic,” Gonzales added. “What I like about my union is that we have always been willing to negotiate on short notice. And I think what we asked for was nothing less than fair and equal for both parties.”

Added The ContinentalsShapiro: If the AMPTP pulls out again, we’ll just stand at those picket lines again, just like we have for the past 103 days. We’re getting stronger every day, so it’s up to them to finish this thing.”

Tuesday’s SAG-AFTRA strike demonstration in midtown Manhattan stretched the length of the block that houses Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery connects. The strikers chanted loudly to the beat of a three-piece percussion line that included actress Jill Hennessy on tambourine, sympathetically applauding every honk of passing vehicles.

Rebecca Damon, president of the New York chapter of SAG-AFTRA, and Lowell Peterson, the outgoing executive director of the Writers Guild East, also marched on Tuesday.

Gondelman, who belongs to both unions, reminded activists that the overlapping writers’ and actors’ strikes lasted more than 170 days. “The studios should be ashamed that six months later we’re still standing here yelling at them,” he yelled into a megaphone. “They should be humiliated because they should have already put a fair deal on the table.”

Meanwhile, writer and actor Josh Gondelman addressed the Netflix/WBD strike demonstration in New York. “The energy here today is incredible. I enjoy seeing everyone here,” he said. “We shouldn’t be here anymore. The studios should be ashamed that we are still here yelling at them.”

“I don’t want to get my hopes up because they were disappointed last week,” actor Quincy Tyler Bernstine told Deadline. “So this is cautious optimism. I was so inspired by the number of people who came out. I was here yesterday and was overwhelmed by all the support. So we will stay here as long as necessary. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and not holding my breath.”

John Carroll Lynch told Deadline he was somewhat optimistic about today’s talks. “I hope that the AMPTP, and especially the companies that make up this trade body, understand that we are not going away. This is not a circumstance in which artists can retreat. We need this protection against artificial intelligence … we need an increase and we need to change the business model.”

A handful of activists likened the battle to an internal family feud. “You have to come back to the table because you’re family,” actor Sevans Martinez told Deadline.

Dann Fink, a voice actor, compared the two sides to quarreling siblings: “Your parents force you to sit down at the end and shake hands. And I feel like that’s the moment we’re in.

Hennessy, who regularly attends the picket lines in New York, told Deadline that while it’s “kind of scary to hope,” she’s hopeful that the AMPTP will actually agree to a two-week strike comparable in length and timing. Ready for talks is that of a strike. which the authors faced before an agreement was finally reached.

“Nothing happens if people don’t speak up,” Hennessy said. “I don’t care if it’s a family, a country or unions.”

“What’s going to happen, I have no idea,” she added. “To be honest, hitting the limit is good for my sanity. I can stay with my community. I get to know her better. And there are many people who feel bad right now. One of the guys that plays drums for me works night shift at two other jobs so he can be here every day playing a snare drum just to cheer people up.