Ari Emanuel & Bryan Lourd Offer To Step In To Prevent Actors Strike As Studio CEOs Agree To Bring In Federal Mediators

Bob Iger, with pressure mounting on multiple fronts, has turned to former top Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, hiring them as consultants to the media giant as it defines its strategy.

Bryan Cranston was one of many high-profile actors to hit the picket line in New York City on Tuesday, speaking at the SAG-AFTRA’s Rock the City for a Fair Contract rally.

Harrison Ford’s stunt double in Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, set himself ablaze on Monday (July 24) during a demonstration in Atlanta, Georgia.The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) union went on strike earlier this month, after negotiations broke down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over streaming residuals and safeguards against AI technology.At the end of the rally, Massa took to the stage in a flame-covered jacket. In the video’s caption on Instagram, he wrote: “We are tired of being burned by the AMPTP.”A post shared by Elena Sanchez (@theelenasanchez)In a follow-up post, Massa added: “We wanted to make a statement and I think we did! It was great to see such a great turnout from our local stunt community, local leadership, and actors who showed up to support us.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Bryan Cranston delivered a fiery speech at a SAG-AFTRA strike rally in Times Square on Tuesday, which included a message directed at Disney head Bob Iger. “We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger,” Cranston said from the stage of the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally.

Disney CEO Bob Iger already made his perspective clear about the ongoing guild strikes last week before the SAG-AFTRA one commenced. Now it’s Netflix CEO’s Ted Sarandos‘ turn.

EXCLUSIVE: There is no deal in sight for the writers and actors with the studios and streamers, but one of Hollywood’s consummate dealmakers was on the picket line today in New York City

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed Hollywood’s dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes alongside the release of the company’s Q2 earnings results Wednesday. Sarandos said: “Let me start by making something absolutely clear: This strike is not an outcome that we want. We make deals all the time. We are constantly at the table negotiating with writers with directors with actors and producers with everyone across the industry. And we very much hoped to reach an agreement by now. So I also want to say, if I may, on a personal level, I was raised in a union household. My dad was a member of IBEW Local 640, he was a union electrician. And I remember his local because that union was very much a part of our lives when I was growing up. And I also remember on more than one occasion, my dad being out on strike. And I remember that because it takes an enormous toll on your family, financially and emotionally. You should know that nobody here, nobody within the AMPTP, and I’m sure nobody at SAG or nobody at the WGA, took any of this lightly. But we’ve got a lot of work to do there. There are a handful of complicated issues. We’re super committed to getting to an agreement as soon as possible, one that is equitable, and one that enables the industry and everybody in it to move forward into the future.

Netflix stands to benefit from the dual strikes underway in Hollywood while competitors like Disney and Apple will get “weaker,” in part because of the streamer’s vast international production pipeline, a top media-stocks analyst said Wednesday on the brink of earnings season.“The strike plays to their advantage,” Michael Nathanson, founding partner of SVB MoffettNathanson, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’ve not been a Netflix bull, but their setup for this quarter and the next 12 months is incredibly strong.”Co-host Andrew Ross-Sorkin seized on that notion, seeking to clarify whether Nathanson meant Netflix would get stronger merely relative to its competition – or if it could help the streamer overall. The answer seemed to be: a bit of both.“I think relative, clearly, right?” Nathanson said.

Stephen Rodrick Fran Drescher is on a hero’s journey.  I know because she told me.   We talked on Monday for about an hour as the actors’ strike moved into a second week. So far, it’s been very dramatic. Last Thursday, Drescher gave her version of Shakespeare’s Henry V’s St. Crispins Day speech with “we happy few” replaced by all American workers via “I think that the whole world is looking at us right now, because human beings in all different walks of life are being replaced by robots.” The speech launched a thousand labor-supporting memes and left reporters wondering if “The Nanny” was the new Norma Rae. Drescher carried the mojo into the first day of picketing on Friday when she called Disney CEO Bob Iger a medieval land baron for discourse launched from his Sun Valley Summer Camp. 

Netflix will be first out of the gate with quarterly earnings after market close today amid a level of Hollywood labor strife not seen since the 1960s. Writers and actors are protesting declines in pay and working conditions — an industry shift that many blame on the company whose name is synonymous with streaming.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) seized on the SAG-AFTRA strike in an online conversation with President Fran Drescher on Tuesday evening, as they both bashed Bob Iger and other CEOs, and made the case for why the actors’ walkout should be of concern of all workers.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix’s move to start broadly monetizing password-sharing users — after years of tacitly allowing the practice with a wink and a nod — could help the streamer beat Q2 2023 earnings targets. The company again kicks off tech and media sector’s second-quarter earnings season, scheduled to report Q2 earnings on Wednesday (July 19) after the market closes. A key question on investors minds will be how well Netflix is prepped to weather the double-whammy of SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. In April, before either of the strikes commenced, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts, “We do have a pretty robust slate of releases to take us into a long time” in the event of labor walkouts.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Disney didn’t let the SAG-AFTRA strike get in the way of its “Haunted Mansion” world premiere. None of the stars of the movie were expected to be in attendance, including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Daniel Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hasan Minhaj, Marilu Henner and Lindsay Lamb all observing the SAG-AFTRA strike. The studio still rolled out the red carpet at Disneyland in Anaheim Saturday night. Director Justin Simien told Variety he was “sad” his cast couldn’t attend, but understands why and supports the actors walkout. Later in, he gave a shoutout to the cast while introducing the movie.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" star Sean Gunn blasted Disney CEO Bob Iger over comments that the executive made about the Writer's Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)  strikes. Shortly before SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on strike Thursday, Iger, 72, made an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" during which he said that the pending actors union strike would have a "very, very damaging effect on the whole business." "It will affect the economy of different regions, even, because of the sheer size of the business.

Ron Perlman is walking back some heated comments he made about an anonymous Hollywood executive who told a news outlet that the studios’ plan is to let the strike extend for so long that writers and actors feel real financial pain.

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently sat down with CNBC for an interview during which he shared his views on the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Fran Drescher is opening up about the SAG-AFTRA strike and how long it might go on.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher railed against Disney CEO Bob Iger during an interview with Variety on the strike picket lines outside of the Paramount Pictures studio lot. In a July 13 interview with CNBC’s David Faber out of the Sun Valley Conference, Iger said WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers were not being “realistic” with their demands. “I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf,” Drescher said when asked about Iger’s comments. “I don’t think it served him well. If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this, because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”

he said that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA’s conditions were “just not realistic” and that the prospect of a writers and actors strike was “very disturbing.”Iger’s comments come on a historic day, when SAG-AFTRA is expected to announce they are joining WGA on the picket lines after their Wednesday contract negotiations deadline passed without a deal. It would be the first Hollywood double strike in sixty years.Also notable for context, Iger’s comments arrive the day after his Disney contract was extended for an additional two years.

Striking writers now have a new punching bag: Bob Iger.