SAG-AFTRA Chairman Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on Friday explained the end of the actors’ 118-day strike and their thoughts on the agreement with the AMPTP.
The duo explained the tension and the “deal breaker” moment during negotiations during a press conference at the company’s headquarters on Wilshire Blvd, highlighting how the studios’ turnaround on AI and streaming revenue has come about.
“We are extremely proud of what we fought for and what we got in this new contract, and I personally am extremely proud of our president, our negotiating committee and our members who stood strong to bring about this change,” said Crabtree -Ireland.
However, it was clear that not all members of the SAG-AFTRA national council were entirely happy with the deal, as it passed with 86% less support than expected. It’s not clear how many people voted against it because SAG-AFTRA has a “weighted” voting system.
A summary of the contracts won is expected shortly. Full contract details will be available by Monday morning before voting begins on Tuesday.
Drescher started taping an hour and a half late and said she realized early on that there was a “contradiction” in streaming.
“I felt that nothing about this contract would really make a significant difference to the lives of our members who work on the streaming platforms. The contract itself had to be changed,” she said. “We decided together that we should look for another source of income. For 35 days we said like a broken record: “We have to get into another bag.” We have to find new money somewhere. Every time we brought it up, the AMPTP said ‘no’.
Crabtree-Ireland said at the time that such a question “got nowhere.”
“I think they realized that they were dealing with Duncan and me with a new kind of leadership and we turned away from their intimidation tactics. They had to realize that we demand respect. So we kept coming back to the idea of revenue sharing. Okay, you don’t like the 2%, what about the 1%? Okay, you think you can’t do it? It’s a bridge too far. What about the 57 cent stamp draft where we get it per subscriber per year? No,” Drescher added.
Drescher said it’s up to the studios to “meet the moment” or “it won’t end well.”
“They’ve been working internally to develop some kind of modality that works for all the different AMPTP members that are currently fully immersed in or involved in streaming. But somehow they came up with a model that they presented to the WGA and was accepted by them. We knew that we would not achieve what we wanted to achieve. But my Buddhist wisdom teaches me: “The tallest bamboo trees can bend the furthest.” So I had to remember that we had to make this work. I’m a girl from Flushing, so to me money is money, it’s just so green, wherever it comes from, just give it away.”
It was at this point that Crabtree-Ireland developed the concept of the Streaming Bonus Fund, which would allow the union to use the studio mechanism to distribute the money to actors.
That fund is split 75/25, so 75% of the money goes to actors in shows that meet set criteria, which she described as a “thimble of shows.” “They deserve to get the bonus,” she said, adding that in an earlier world these shows would have gone to syndication.
“I thought, ‘Is this a win or a loss?’ but we get the money. We opened a new source of income. That’s what we told them at the beginning: it doesn’t matter what mechanism it was, it doesn’t matter how much. The important thing was that we got into a different bag, and we did. I had to be flexible and focused again and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” she added.
The babysitter star added that the criteria for bonus payments could rise from 20% of viewers to 10% of viewers next time in three years.
“I started thinking and realized that this is an ongoing living thing, a contract, and we’re not over yet. We’re just starting to get it on the page, get the language, in the bag and let’s go, baby,” she added.
Drescher joked that the “Fran Plan” is all about time and patience.
She admitted there were many stressful moments during the process and highlighted the studios’ intimidation tactics, pointing out her much-talked-about hug in particular.
“The weight of it all was extremely stressful. “A lot of times I had to stay home on Zoom and keep my clothes on because it was so stressful and going into the room with the AMPTP was a lot, so being able to be home with my dog was helpful,” she said. added.
Finally, Drescher thanked the AMPTP for “recognizing the seriousness of these historic and groundbreaking negotiations and recognizing the moment.”
Deadline caught up with both of them after the press conference.
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.
