SAG-AFTRA & CEOs’ First Meeting Of Renewed Contract Talks Over; More Planned Soon Even As Studios’ New Proposal To Break Revenue Sharing Logjam “Flopped” In Room
25.10.2023 - 01:47
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: The first day of the latest round of renewed talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA has ended, with proposed plans for the principals to meet again — possibly in the next day or so.
Declared “suspended” on Oct. 11 by the studios over a union plan for additional payouts based on a streaming show’s success, the now resurrected deliberations started out today with the AMPTP putting some new proposals on the table – to less than stellar response on this 103rd day of the actors union’s strike.
Labeled as “generous,’ by studio sources, the jewel in the AMPTP’s negotiating crown Tuesday was a new take on what has been termed “success-based compensation.” Seeking to sidestep the leg hold trap that revenue sharing and a “subscriber levy,” as Netflix’s Ted Sarandos repeatedly dismissively termed it over the past two weeks, has become in talks, the CEOs believed they have found a mechanism “to ensure that there are greater payouts to cast members,” as one insider put it.
“It all depends, these talks depend, on how the Guild reacts to this latest offer,” another industry source told Deadline earlier today.
The reaction was pretty clear out of the gate. The proposal “flopped,” an individual close to the deliberations told Deadline.
Yet, while others also said the day proved “not great” at points and there was a lot of raw feelings over the studios’ sudden shuttering of talks two weeks ago, cumulatively the two sides completed a near full day of deliberations- – which is much better than no talks at all, for sure
As they were in the final days that sealed the WGA deal and the first unsuccessful round of renewed talks with SAG-AFTRA earlier this month, Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley Warner Bros