Bob Iger “Optimistic” SAG-AFTRA Deal Is Close; Talks Going On “As We Speak,” Disney Boss Says
08.11.2023 - 22:05
/ deadline.com
There’s no deal yet between the studios and SAG-AFTRA, but Bob Iger is hopeful an agreement is coming soon.
“I can only say that I’m optimistic that we’ll figure that out relatively soon,” the Disney CEO said Wednesday just after the media giant released the mixed results of its Q3 earnings. A 118-days into the labor action by the actors guild, Hollywood was bursting with confidence that an end to the strike was imminent. In particular, that joy came from the two sides getting closer in an agreement over the cotenious issues of AI protections.
But there was no deal last night as SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee continued to pour over the AMPTP’s self-described “last, best and final offer” of November 3.
Today Iger told CNBC in a live on-air sit-down that things were in motion. “I don’t want to specify except that we’re all, SAG and the AMPTP companies are very hard work and trying to solve this – as we speak.”
“First of all, let me begin by saying I have the utmost respect for actors,” the exec noted at the top of the interview. “They’re incredibly important part of The Walt Disney Company for obvious reasons. And we’ve been hard at work. We, the companies involved in this business, as well as the Screen Actors Guild in trying to figure out a way to get them back to work.”
That’s a very different tone from what Iger said back in July just before SAG-AFTRA went on strike and the WGA had already been out on the picket lines for over a month. Back then, the CEO told CNBC that guild members were “just not realistic” in their demands and “quite frankly, very disruptive.” Coming off a Deadline exclusive on the studios’ endgame strategy to squeeze union members financially over the months to get their leadership to make a
The website popstar.one is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.