SAG-AFTRA & Studios’ Negotiations “In The Final Stretch” Amid Optimism, But No Deal Tonight

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.

The actors are set to vote on the tentative agreement with the studios after the SAG-AFTRA national board approved the deal.

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.

With SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP having reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, it appears that the long-stalled beginning of Oscar campaign season for the many actors, forbidden from participating in any form of promotion for movies distributed and made by struck studios and streamers, finally can join the party. Until now, the FYC campaigns largely have been fronted by directors, craftspeople and, more recently with the end of the WGA strike, writers. For many voters, however, it is the lure of the stars that fills seats at FYC screening events and gets tune-in to the late-night talk shows and other promotional outlets so often used during the season to bring attention to a contender.

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.

The lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA and the studios are set to meet later today in what could be the final phase to sealing a new deal and the end to the 117-day actors guild strike.

EXCLUSIVE: A deal may not be in the cards tonight, but SAG-AFTRA and the studios could be heading back to negotiations within hours.

EXCLUSIVE: Today’s meeting between SAG-AFTRA and an expanded group of studio CEOs has just ended as the guild scrutinizes the AMPTP‘s long awaited response to their last comprehensive counter.

EXCLUSIVE: It was all quiet on the SAG-AFTRA negotiations front Thursday.

EXCLUSIVE: There’s real movement in talks between SAG-AFTRA and the studios for a new three-year contract,

EXCLUSIVE: It will be neither trick nor treat tonight as SAG-AFTRA and the studios plan to continue talking over the next few days in search of a deal to end the 110-day strike that has become a Hollywood nightmare.

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.

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

EXCLUSIVE: Sunday will not be a day of rest for SAG-AFTRA leadership and the studios this weekend.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA and the studios don’t have a deal, but they are planning on talking more.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said it on the picket lines earlier today, and now it seems that “cautious optimism,” as an insider also stated, has become the takeaway term Thursday for the state of talks between the guild and the studios.

SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are back at the table today for more talks to resolve the actors strike that has been going on for over 100 days.

Negotiations scheduled Wednesday between SAG-AFTRA and the studios didn’t happen after all — and everyone’s good with that.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Four CEOs are set to return to SAG-AFTRA headquarters on Tuesday with a new offer that they hope will break the stalemate in the 102-day actors strike. Among them will be Disney’s Bob Iger, who called SAG-AFTRA’s top negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, on Saturday to invite the actors back to the bargaining table. The CEOs — who also include David Zaslav of Warner Bros.

After over a week of silence, the actors union and the AMPTP are set to return to negotiations on Tuesday, Oct. 24.