SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Tells ‘GMA’ Contract Talks Making Headway “In Some Areas”, But “In Some Areas We’re Not”

William Earl With five days to go, SAG-AFTRA is stepping up its efforts to prepare for going on strike even as contract negotiations with Hollywood’s major studios intensify. On Thursday, SAG-AFTRA distributed a survey to its 160,000 members and alerted them that the union would be calling for volunteers to help make signs, work phone banks, distribute T-shirts and generally support a mobilization of pickets on the streets of Los Angeles, New York and selected other locations. The email message includes a survey of members’ availability to picket outside studio gates, New York offices and other key locations. SAG-AFTRA members have already been out in force on picketing efforts mounted by the Writers Guild of America, which went on strike May 2. Many rank-and-file SAG-AFTRA members are fired up about issues on the table in this difficult season of Hollywood labor negotiations. By contrast, the Directors Guild of America has ratified a new three-year contract in a deal reached last month without much drama.

SAG-AFTRA, saying that it’s “preparing for a potential TV/theatrical/streaming strike,” is asking members to take a survey about if and how they’d like to volunteer in the event a walkout is called. “By taking this survey, you’re not obligating yourself to help, but it will help us make informed decisions about our members and resources if we ever need to ask for your assistance,” the guild said in an email sent to members tonight.

The Writer Guild of America said Wednesday that “we stand in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA as they bargain for a contract that truly works for all their members.” It’s the first comment the WGA has made on the SAG-AFTRA talks since the actors’ union last week extended its contract until July 12 to allow negotiations for a new film and TV contract to continue.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA and the studios will keep talking beyond the midnight Friday contract deadline, as they remain at odds on issues like streaming residuals and artificial intelligence. The union has agreed to extend the contract to July 12. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and SAG-AFTRA made the announcement in a joint statement just before 7 p.m. Friday. In a message to its membership, SAG-AFTRA said the leadership had decided unanimously to extend the contract “in order to exhaust every opportunity to achieve the righteous contract we all demand and deserve.”

UPDATED with joint statement: SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers agreed Friday to extend their current film and TV contract until July 12 to allow bargaining on a new deal to continue, both sides said this evening. The current contract had been set to expire tonight at midnight PT, after which it would have likely meant a second major Hollywood guild would be on strike against the studios.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA negotiators are meeting again Friday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, as the industry waits in nervous anticipation of a potential “double strike.” The contract expires at midnight, and the actors union could call a strike as soon as Saturday if no deal is reached. The actors would join the Writers Guild of America, which has been picketing outside the major studios since May 2. The two sides have been exchanging proposals over the last week, and SAG-AFTRA leaders have said publicly that the talks have been productive. But it’s still not clear whether enough progress has been made to get to a deal.

Welcome back, Insiders. Jesse Whittock with you this week to look back on the last seven days in international film and TV. Here we go. Also, sign up for the Insider newsletter here.

Hollywood is at a crossroads and the 160,000 actors that make up SAG-AFTRA are seemingly in the driver’s seat.

With the news that SAG/AMPTP negotiations could push into next week, international acting unions are for the most part taking a cautious approach to supporting a potential actors strike.

EXCLUSIVE: With 54 hours to go before SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the studios expires on June 30, both sides are considering extending their negotiations until next week or slightly later.

be joining Hollywood writers on the picket lines.The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which represent the majority of actors in film and television, are in negotiations with major Hollywood studios, who are being represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), for a new contract agreement after the current deal expires June 30 at midnight Pacific Time.Among the actors' sticking points for a new agreement are improved compensation and benefits, residuals that reflect the value of their contributions amid the expansion of streaming services, regulated use of artificial intelligence and the issue of self-taped auditions.On June 24, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and national executive director/chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland updated members of the union on ongoing talks with studios. Drescher shared in a video message that negotiations have been «extremely productive» and that «we're going to achieve a seminal deal.»A few days later, more than 300 actors — including Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence — signed a letter urging leaders not to compromise and writing «SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not.»«Anyone right now is trying to guess what could happen,» Marc Malkin, 's senior culture & events editor, told ET.

EXCLUSIVE: After it emerged that over 300 actors had written to SAG-AFTRA leadership that they are “prepared to strike” if the guild doesn’t “get all the way there” during talks with the studios, the number of actors signing the letter has more than tripled overnight.

Oscar winners Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and over 400 other actors have addressed SAG-AFTRA leaders in an open letter — and are threatening to strike if a harder line is not drawn regarding contact deals.   

More than 300 actors including many big names have signed a letter to SAG-AFTRA leadership urging them to take a hard line in the negotiations for a new film and TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

More than 300 actors have signed a letter addressed to the SAG-AFTRA Leadership and Negotiating Committee.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A group of more than 400 actors — including Oscar winners Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Rami Malek — are urging SAG-AFTRA leaders to take a harder line as contract talks reach a critical point. The members sent an internal letter Tuesday to the union’s negotiating committee and the leadership. They emphasized that “we are prepared to strike if it comes to that.” “And we are concerned by the idea that SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not,” they continued. The contract expires on Friday, and the leadership has the power to call a strike as soon as Saturday if no agreement is reached.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International If you ask most people in the U.K. industry how business is going right now, they’ll likely tell you it’s been agonizingly “slow.” It’s meant to be boom time for production, but this summer, the U.S. writers strike combined with a cost of living crisis is brutally squeezing unscripted and scripted projects. This week, as the clock ticks away on negotiations between American actors union SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s collective bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the prevailing thought will be: is all of this about to get much worse? A number of British actors Variety has spoken to say they’ve yet to hear from local actors’ union Equity with any guidance about their situation. That’s likely because it’s being worked out in real time. Paul W. Fleming, general secretary for Equity, has been in Los Angeles for discussions with SAG-AFTRA, which is optimistic about its negotiations with the AMPTP. (He’s also visiting New York to meet with theater union Actors’ Equity.)

SAG-AFTRA leaders painted a sunny picture of their ongoing negotiations in a video released over the weekend, saying the talks have been “extremely productive” and promising to reach a “seminal deal.” But according to multiple sources with knowledge of the dynamic in the negotiating room, the sides remain far apart on a range of key issues. With just a few days left before SAG-AFTRA’s current contract expires on Friday, some are privately predicting that talks will be extended beyond the June 30 deadline, though such a move has not formally been broached in the negotiating room with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, SAG-AFTRA’s two leading political factions have joined forces to form a unity slate to endorse the reelection of president Fran Drescher and secretary-treasurer Joely Fisher in an election will be held later this summer.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, SAG-AFTRA’s two leading political factions have joined forces to form a unity slate to endorse the reelection of president Fran Drescher and secretary-treasurer Joely Fisher in an election will be held later this summer.