SAG-AFTRA’s Top Negotiator Trained as a Diplomat. Can He Close the Deal?

Over two weeks after SAG-AFTRA reached a deal with the studios and ended their nearly four-month long strike, the actors guild has just released the full text of the tentative agreement.

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.

Christopher Nolan has said that he will not be directing the next James Bond film.The Oppenheimer director has long been linked with a possible involvement in the British spy franchise, and has spoken multiple times in the past about his admiration for the films, even expressing direct interest in becoming a part of it.In a new interview with Associated Press, however, he has formally distanced himself from Bond. When asked whether that might be his next project, he said: “No, sadly no – no truth to those rumours.”In July, Nolan had said that it would be “an amazing privilege” to direct a Bond film.“The influence of those movies in my filmography is embarrassingly apparent.

When Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan received the Federation of American Scientists’ Public Service Award earlier this month, in recognition of his cultural contribution by bringing J. Robert Oppenheimer’s story to broader attention through cinema, he made a “plea” to scientists.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has sold the North American rights for “Adios Buenos Aires” to Outsider Pictures, which plans to release the charming comedy drama in spring 2024 throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Valerie Wu Intern Barack Obama celebrated the end of Hollywood’s historic strikes during a surprise appearance alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama at a special screening of Netflix’s “Rustin.” “It’s great to see even more of you since the strikes are over,” the former president told the audience on Friday night in Washington, D.C. He added, “As somebody who cares a lot about the power of workers in this country and as the father of somebody who writes in film, I am glad that both the actors and the writers came to an agreement that recognizes their worth and their work.” The screening for the Netflix biopic was held at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C, and was one of the opening night events for the inaugural HBCU First Look Film Festival from Nov. 10 to Nov.

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 President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on Friday laid out how the actors’ 118-day strike was ended and their thoughts on the deal with the AMPTP.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA had settled dozens of issues, ranging from pension and health contributions, to page limits for self-taped auditions, to pay for background actors. But there was still the small matter of zombies. The union was worried that studios could use artificial intelligence to reanimate dead actors, or to create a digital Frankenstein out of the body parts of real actors.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA‘s new contract is worth more than $1 billion over three years. But the union did not get one of its top priorities: a share of revenue from each streaming platform. Fran Drescher, the union president, made that her top priority, arguing it was essential to transform the contract to keep up with a transformed industry.

Selome Hailu Hollywood may soon be back in business. SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). If ratified, the new contract would end the actors union’s historic 118-day strike.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA negotiators have approved a tentative agreement that will end the longest actors strike against the film and TV studios in Hollywood history. In an announcement Wednesday, the union said the 118-day strike would officially end at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.

SAG-AFTRA negotiators spent Thursday afternoon in a holding pattern as the union waited for a response from management to its most recent counterproposal. Agreements around AI remain elusive and frustrating to both sides of the table. Management believes the union is focused on too many “what if” scenarios involving fast-changing generative AI technology, while actors maintain that AI is the existential threat to their livelihoods that has fueled much of the strike.

Diddy is going all out!

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Hollywood is all about sweeping storytelling, and the tale of the Egyptian Theatre is as stirring as any Golden Age epic. Movie stars, earthquakes, dinosaurs, elephants, hidden tunnels — the Hollywood Boulevard movie palace has seen it all. Now the theater’s new owner Netflix, along with partner American Cinematheque, is ready to unspool the next reel of its 101-year long career, with a meticulously-executed rebuild.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA advised its members Monday night that negotiations will resume on Tuesday, but warned that the two sides remain “far apart” on key issues. The union and the major studios have been bargaining for a week, focusing on issues like increases in minimum payments, a new residual model in streaming, and artificial intelligence.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Progress has been made toward ending the SAG-AFTRA strike in recent days, but “a lot” of issues are still on the table, the union’s chief negotiator said Monday morning. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator and executive director of the guild, made an appearance at the Disney picket lines. In an interview outside the studio gates, he would not hazard a guess as to when the strike will be over.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP continued to communicate intermittently Sunday as they close in on possibly reaching a new deal that could end the 108-day strike.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher took to Instagram to express her condolences over the passing of Friends star Matthew Perry.