There wasn’t much action between SAG-AFTRA and the studios on Sunday as the Screen Actors Guild strike reached its 115th day.
“The guild is still reviewing the proposals,” a well-placed SAG-AFTRA member told Deadline.
After a brief virtual meeting Saturday with executives, SAG union leaders today continue to address the so-called “last, best and final offer” the studios put on the table Friday.
Gildekoper, including national managing director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, began their day at around 10am by discussing the document, which studio executives may have exaggeratedly described as “historic”.
“There’s a lot to digest here,” a guild insider told Deadline of SAG-AFTRA’s review of the studios’ proposed responses. “It just takes time to assess it and respond to it.”
No official meetings between the parties are planned for Monday or later this week.
Not surprisingly, SAG-AFTRA planned to set up studio sites and offices in Los Angeles and New York on Monday, as they have done since the union’s strike in mid-July.
On Monday, the guild will actually see the picket lines turn into some collecting fun:
On Sunday, there was also an impassioned show of support for guild president Fran Drescher, who has been heavily attacked by a whisper campaign in recent weeks, and for the guild itself, with members and Star Trek Former student Zachary Quinto told her: “You’re in an incredibly difficult situation right now – and you persevere with grace and dignity and strength and I’m so impressed with the way you handle yourself – and these negotiations – every step of the road.”
“The AMPTP is trying to exploit the fatigue and pressure of the entire industry (especially the agencies and studios) to break our resolve and make you and your incredible negotiating committee accept everything you have accused us of and yourself “To say thank you ,” he added American Horror Story Actor.
“Their decision to use the phrase ‘Last Best and Last’ in their latest counter-proposal gives them a clue and shows that they are relying on intimidation, not fairness, to end this strike,” the regular picketer said.
Quinto said in a second post on Instagram via video: “We cannot accept an agreement that does not protect us in the future.”
“We have to stay strong, that’s what a union is all about,” he continued.
“I’ll go to that picket line on Monday, I’ll go to that picket line for as many days as it takes to take care of ourselves and each other.”
“I hope that this agreement is acceptable, but I’m not so sure, and I hope that our leadership recognizes this, and I hope that our leadership knows that we stand with them, that we support them, that “We are grateful for them and that we ask them to represent us vigorously for what we deserve,” Quinto said.
In recent weeks, studios have privately stressed the need for a finalized deal by late October/early November to reach a schedule that could salvage a TV season and advance a 2024 filming schedule.
In many ways this calendar is subjective, and we all know that production could start pretty quickly if Hollywood were to get back to work – especially now that the writers have finished their contract with the AMPTP at the end of September.
But as always, money matters.
Several studios are set to release earnings reports next week as Wall Street eagerly awaits weaker estimates for next year. Earlier this week, Paramount Global reported a $60 million drop in “strike-related idle costs,” while Netflix began another round of layoffs in its drama and general deals departments. Other companies have been forced to make cuts due to the strike, including Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, ESPN, Paramount, Conde Nast, Spotify, Fifth Season, Vice, Lionsgate and Roku. Netflix, which currently has $6.5 billion in free cash flow from the strikes, could see the same in the new year as the streamer looks to make up for production time lost during the strikes.
To be sure, the dual strikes have thrown up next year’s television and film release schedules, with the film release calendar facing up to nine empty weekend weeks with no major studio releases.
Studio sources wonder if the profits made during the actors’ strike can ever make up for the larger loss suffered by the entire industry, especially for workers who are draining their savings to survive while the production shutdown continues. However, actors are seeking fair compensation in the streaming era and AI protections that are not afforded to them in a changing industry where both the number of series episodes and the number of seasons have declined. Dual strikes cost the California economy $6.5 billion and 45,000 jobs. Now that actors are no longer allowed to promote their films, studios have removed major films from the calendar. Additionally, the US box office took a hit, earning $63.3 million last weekend, the tenth time this fall that the BO has dipped below the $100 million threshold.
We heard yesterday that there were some slightly bruised egos due to the CEO’s Zoom, but lawyers on both sides kept talking afterwards. In addition to the gang of four – NBCuni’s Donna Langley, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav and Disney’s Bob Iger – yesterday’s Zoom executives included Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins, Disney co-chairman Dana Walden Entertainment and Alan Bergman, Mike Hopkins and Jen Salke of Amazon Studios, Tony Vinciquerra, chairman of Sony Pictures, and Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg of Apple Studios.
The studios’ proposal reportedly includes the highest salary increase for theatrical producers in four decades and a 100 percent increase in performance pay bonuses for streaming series and big-budget films. In addition, the offer included so-called “full” AI protection, terms that were “very close to SAG requirements,” an industry source said Saturday.
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
