SAG-AFTRA Says Companies “Wouldn’t Meaningfully Engage” On Key Issues Leading Up To Strike

Luc Besson’s DogMan has become one of the first films to receive a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement that will allow talent to do press during the upcoming festival season. Actors will be allowed to promote the pic at its upcoming premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

SAG-AFTRA tonight responded to criticism of its interim agreements, saying that they are a “vital part of our strategic approach to these negotiations and to the strike.” The interim agreements allow truly independent projects to film during the strike as long as they agree to be bound by the terms of whatever deal the guild eventually reaches with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

While Viola Davis’ upcoming movie G20 reached a temporary agreement with SAG-AFTRA to continue filming, she is taking a step back amid the ongoing union strike.

The hand-drawn picket signs were, like several of the people carrying them, wrapped in waterproof plastic at a rain-soaked march in New York City on Tuesday afternoon. But a passer-by could still see the images: Bender, the cranky robot from Futurama; BoJack, the half-equine hero of BoJack Horseman; Courage, the pink-hued canine star of Courage the Cowardly Dog; and several more beloved cartoon and animation characters going back the original, Mickey Mouse. 

SAG-AFTRA will hold a mass rally in Times Square on Tuesday morning. It’s expected to be the biggest rally in NYC since the strike began on July 14. Celebs scheduled to attend the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally include Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Lauren Ambrose, Christine Baranski, Matt Bomer, Tituss Burgess, Liza Colón-Zayas, Gregory Diaz, Jennifer Ehle, Nancy Giles, Danai Gurrira, Jill Hennessy, Marin Hinkle, Stephen Lang, Arian Moayed, Wendell Pierce, Corey Stoll and Merritt Wever.

SAG-AFTRA has granted more waivers in recent days that give permission to indie projects to shoot during the current strike, including the independent film The Summer Book starring Glenn Close. Other recent projects that will be allowed to shoot include the TV series Underdeveloped and Sight Unseen.

EXCLUSIVE: For those awards strategists wondering whether stars from indie U.S. films can promote at the fall film festival troika, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says “We’re looking at that issue.”

Following SAG-AFTRA’s clearance of AppleTV+’s Israeli spy series Tehran and New Line’s horror movie Watchers –prolific projects from AMPTP studios that the guild remains in talks with– in their interim agreement process, some producers and filmmakers in town have been miffed.

TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said the dual strikes crippling Hollywood have “zero impact” on his company’s operations due to the Hispanic media giant’s programming supply chain.

As the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the American Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) fight for better wages and contracts, they’re also requesting better picketing conditions.

Editor’s note: Almost a week into the first joint strike by the actors union and the writers guild since 1960, there are picket lines all over LA and NYC. Yet there are no new negotiations planned between SAG-AFTRA or the WGA and the studios and streamers. Despite the silence and divisions between the parties, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland insists that a pathway to a new contract and a better future for all is possible.

Ellise Shafer Both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA filed labor complaints against NBCUniversal on Tuesday, alleging that the company is disrupting their strike efforts. According to the Los Angeles Times, the complaints allege that NBCUniversal has “interfered with, coerced and restrained employees in the exercise of their rights” during the dual strike. Grievances include allegedly designating picket locations that were obstructed by construction fencing, resulting in marching in busy streets on which they say two picketers have been struck by cars, and not providing barriers to establish pedestrian walkways. In a statement to the L.A. Times, NBCUniversal said: “We strongly believe that the company has fulfilled our legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act and we will cooperate with respect to any inquiries by the National Labor Relations Board on this issue. While we understand the timing of our multi-year construction project has created challenges for demonstrators, we continue to work with public agencies to increase access.”

You can read the full SAG-AFTRA memo here, and read AMPTP’s response here.“We moved on some things,” the SAG-AFTRA memo said, “but from day one they wouldn’t meaningfully engage on the most critical issues.”Along with a summary, the memo included a comprehensive breakdown of guild proposals and the counteroffers made by AMPTP. Among the disagreements between the two sides, according to SAG-AFTRA:A requested 11% general wage increase in the first year, and 4% in the second and third years to deal with inflation was countered with 5% in the first year, 4% in the second and 3.2% in the third, the guild says.A proposed a revenue sharing scheme on streaming services to offset residuals losses was flatly rejected by AMPTP.A proposal to make terms for background actors the same everywhere was rejected by AMPTP.A proposal to compensate background actors who also do stand-in work on the same day for both jobs, instead of paying them for one, was rejected.AMPTP agreed to provide hair and makeup specialists trained for diverse hair types and skin tones, but only for principle performers.And of course, the memo mentions the previously discussed proposal by AMPTP that studios be allowed to use AI to scan background actors and retain ownership and the right to use their likenesses in perpetuity, while paying them only once.“SAG-AFTRA continues to mischaracterize the negotiations with AMPTP,” AMPTP said in its own statement.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are sparring over the terms of the offer that SAG-AFTRA rejected before the union went on strike last week. SAG-AFTRA issued a detailed statement outlining its objections to the deal presented last week after weeks of bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The AMPTP countered late with a statement that accused the union of trying to “deliberately distort” the terms of the employers’ offer. SAG-AFTRA opened its statement to members by declaring that the union is fighting “against a system where those in charge of multibillion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers.” SAG-AFTRA called a strike against AMPTP companies on July 12. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2.

BreAnna Bell A glimpse into the actor’s life in summer 2023: One day you’re nominated for your first Emmy, the next day your union goes on strike. Young Mazino is living just this reality after a whirlwind week that saw him land a supporting actor Emmy bid for his work in Netflix’s “Beef.” On Monday, he was out on the sidewalk in front of Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters, hoisting a sign in nearly 90-degree heat and making his voice heard. SAG-AFTRA called a strike against Hollywood studios and production entities that began July 13, one day after the 75th annual Emmy Awards nominations were revealed. “It’s a weird feeling of being Emmy nominated one day and then the next day, there’s a strike going on,” Mazino told Variety. “I think this [the strike] feels better than the nomination because it’s addressing a symptom of a larger problem. I got lucky getting in on ‘Beef’ right before this all went down but there’s a whole community that relies on things like residuals.”

Christopher Nolan sees the insistence by striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA members that studios and streamers limit the use of artificial intelligence stems directly from the explosion of streaming over the past decade-plus.

Joey King is on the picket lines to fight for a fair deal for all SAG-AFTRA members!

After AMPTP called their AI proposal to SAG-AFTRA yesterday “groundbreaking”, the actors’ union National Executive Director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, still begs to differ.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the SAG-AFTRA strike a “historic inflection point” that will have an impact on the overall economy, while suggesting that she would be working on a resolution.

While the 70-day-old WGA strike has been an “annoyance” for entertainment companies, in the view of one Wall Street analyst, the SAG-AFTRA walkout will be “much more disruptive.”