Duncan Crabtree Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher called out the misogyny that dogged her in strike negotiations and coverage, saying it was “disgusting.” She’s opined on that before but remarks today met a particularly receptive audience at the annual gala of New York Women In Film & Television where she was honored.  

Will Hollywood experience another actors strike in the coming months?

There may soon be another actors strike in Hollywood — this time against the video game industry.

Matthew Modine voted against SAG-AFTRA’s tentative agreement with the studios once, and he’s damn sure going to vote against it again.

Matthew Modine voted against SAG-AFTRA’s tentative agreement with the studios once, and he’s going to vote against it again.

Following today’s vote by the majority of SAG-AFTRA‘s National Board to approve the tentative agreement reached with studio CEOs and the AMPTP earlier this week, the actor’s guild has released more details of the deal.

SAG-AFTRA national board approved its new contract with the major studios with an 86% approval vote, sending it to membership for ratification. The official approval was announced by the guild at a press conference Friday afternoon, which finally got started at around 3:20 p.m. after an 80-minute delay.

George Clooney presented a proposal to SAG-AFTRA leadership during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call in an effort to find a way to resolve the three-month-long actors strike with the studios. But the proposal is likely dead on arrival. Sources with knowledge of the situation say the group of some 15 stars, which includes Tyler Perry and Scarlett Johansson, held a follow-up call last night with SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee.

After a rough day of negotiations Wednesday, the actors guild and the studios have pulled the plug for now.

There was no picketing Monday by SAG-AFTRA members due to the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday, but the leadership of the actors guild did return to the bargaining table with the studios and streamers.

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

Everybody who needs to be in the room when SAG-AFTRA and the studios sit down for talks next week will be.

With SAG-AFTRA members already on strike against films and TV shows and voting now underway to authorize a separate strike against the video game industry, the guild’s leaders are saying that a dual strike, if it comes to that, “makes sense” because the issues at stake in both contracts “mirror” each other.

It’s been 87 days since the writers hit the picket lines and 14 days since the actors joined them, yet the divisions between the guilds and the studios remain as deep as ever. 

UPDATED with video: Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, blasted the AMPTP at a strike rally Tuesday in Times Square, saying that the companies’ response to the guild’s proposals before contract talks broke off and the actors’ strike began 12 days ago was “No. No. No.”

It’s Day 6 of the SAG-AFTRA strike and Day 79 of the WGA strike.

actors who have chosen to strike along with the WGA.“During this critical and difficult time for our industry, the Directors Guild strongly supports the actors who will be on strike beginning tomorrow. We are proud to stand with actors and writers in their fight to win agreements that address their unique and important concerns, just as they supported us in our negotiations.

The group represents Hollywood’s studios has responded to SAG-AFTRA’s strike call today.

AMPTP from the June 30 deadline through July 12, the actors guild formally called for a strike during a press conference on July 13 led by SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and lead negotiator Duncan Crabtree. With Hollywood already largely shut down this summer by the writers strike, which has been ongoing since May 2, the actors strike will complicate things even further. First and foremost, all production will now be forced to shut down completely. Prior to this, some projects had managed to stay up and running by working off of already completed scripts and simply not having any writers on set — including big-budget productions like the second season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.” Amazon just recently wrapped filming on Season 2 of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in the U.K., making it one of the priciest shows to come in under the wire. Variety has confirmed that “House of the Dragon” will remain in production, however.

SAG-AFTRA leaders told their members today that the guild’s ongoing contract negotiations have been “extremely productive” and that they “remain optimistic” that a fair deal can be reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

SAG-AFTRA and the studios have begun negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The talks, which got underway Wednesday morning at the Sherman Oaks offices of the studios’ reps the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, come two days after the guild’s members voted 97.9% in favor of authorizing a strike if an acceptable deal isn’t reached by the end of the month.

SAG-AFTRA, which begins negotiations for a new contract on Wednesday, said today that its bargaining strategy remains unchanged in the wake of the tentative deal made last night by the Directors Guild and the studios.

The leaders of the Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Teamsters have issued a “joint statement of solidarity” with the Directors Guild in its final scheduled week of contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, saying that they “stand alongside our sisters, brothers, and kin in the DGA in their pursuit of a fair contract.” Their statement comes on the 30th day of the ongoing WGA strike and 21 days after the DGA began its contract talks with the AMPTP.

SAG-AFTRA, which starts its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 7, is in “the same boat” with the Writers Guild as it strikes for a fair contract, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told a cheering crowd Wednesday night at the WGA strike rally at the Shrine Auditorium.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Duncan Crabtree-Ireland has signed on for four more years as national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA. The contract extension was approved by the performers union’s national board via a virtual meeting. The vote tally was 87.68% yes and 12.32% no for keeping Crabtree-Ireland at the helm through June 20, 2028. Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA noted the importance of keeping Crabtree-Ireland in place as the union faces difficult contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in the coming months. The union’s master film and TV contract with Hollywood’s largest employers is set to expire June 30.

SAG-AFTRA has extended the contract of Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the guild’s national executive director. The guild’s national board, meeting today via videoconference, voted overwhelmingly to extend his contract through June 20, 2028. The vote to approve his new deal was 87.68% in favor and 12.32% opposed.

The on-air talent at Telemundo’s Spanish-language TV station KVEA 52 in Los Angeles have voted overwhelmingly to unionize with SAG-AFTRA, which called the vote “another major organizing victory in Spanish-language media.”

The SAGs have finally found a small screen home: the annual awards fete will stream live on Netflix beginning in 2024, as part of a new, multi-year partnership. 

SAG-AFTRA is celebrating the upcoming Labor Day weekend with a podcast featuring Liz Shuler, president of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO, which represents 57 affiliated unions, including SAG-AFTRA, and workers in every ZIP code in the country.

A confluence of hard bargaining and legislative lobbying helped secure significant gains in two new agreements SAG-AFTRA reached earlier this month covering exclusivity, which are standard provisions in TV contracts that can hold TV series regulars off the market and unable to work for unreasonably long periods of time, guild leaders said in a podcast released on Thursday.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland For too long, oppressive studio contracts forcing exclusivity have prevented series regular actors from being able to earn a consistent living, especially during extended periods when a show is on hiatus.They’re not being paid while on hold between seasons, but they’re also not allowed to accept other paying jobs. These contracts mean that actors often find themselves collecting unemployment, struggling to pay their bills and unable to build a career.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorSAG-AFTRA has unanimously passed a resolution that will allow accredited intimacy coordinators to join the union.The decision came over the weekend when the board met virtually. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said, “The role of intimacy coordinators greatly improves safety and well-being on sets and in productions requiring intimate scenes.” She added.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterSAG-AFTRA made it official on Wednesday, appointing longtime general counsel Duncan Crabtree-Ireland as the group’s new national executive director.Crabtree-Ireland takes over for David White, who announced on May 14 that he was stepping down after 12 years on the job.Crabtree-Ireland has served as the organization’s general counsel for 15 years, and for the last seven years has also been the chief operating officer.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDavid White is stepping down as SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator after 12 years at the head of Hollywood’s largest union. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief operating officer, eyed as his successor.White’s resignation was confirmed following a SAG-AFTRA national executive board meeting on Friday.

Dave McNary Film ReporterAs Hollywood makes halting progress on its reopening, SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabree-Ireland is expressing guarded optimism about production resuming fully — but without an exact date yet.Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s longtime chief operating officer and general counsel, told Variety, “A substantial resumption of production is gradually occurring right now, and I expect it will take several months for that to be fully realized.