SAG-AFTRA Talks With Video Game Industry End With No Deal

“We want nothing more than to resolve this and get everyone back to work,” declared Netflix’s Ted Sarandos at the top of the streamer’s Q3 earnings video call Wednesday, exactly a week after talks with the actors guild ceased, for now. “That’s true for Netflix. That’s true for every member of the AMPTP,” the co-CEO added of his studio peers.

Negotiations between the studios and the striking actors guild may have come to a sudden halt last week, but according to Netflix today everyone is still talking – even when they aren’t.

EXCLUSIVE: Some of Hollywood’s biggest names met with the leadership of SAG-AFTRA today to get the lowdown on the breakdown of talks with the studios and streamers last week.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA announced Monday that it will schedule more bargaining sessions on a new video game contract, in hopes of averting a second strike. The talks broke off last month without an agreement, but both sides indicated at the time that they would continue to negotiate. SAG-AFTRA members remain on strike against the major film and TV companies.

It’s been nearly three weeks since SAG-AFTRA‘s talks with the video game industry broke off, but a power-up is on the horizon. The union said today that negotiations for a new Interactive Media Agreement will continue. But as for when — stay tuned.

In the 24th weekly installment of the Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, host Billy Ray doesn’t seem too shaken by the surprise breakoff of talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA.

Ellise Shafer SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher made an appearance on the “Today” show Friday morning to share her perspective on why the union’s talks with the AMPTP broke down. “It really came as a shock to me because what does that exactly mean and why would you walk away from the table? It’s not like we’re asking for anything that’s so outrageous,” Drescher said.

This is Day 92 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

SAG-AFTRA headquarters Thursday, continuing to negotiate a new contract with the heads of four major studios. But on Wednesday evening, he got a call from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers informing him that the talks were off. “I was taken completely by surprise,” said Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator for the actors union.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios have broken down, as the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Wednesday that the gap between the sides is “too great.” The key stumbling block is a union proposal to share in streaming revenue, which the AMPTP says would cost $800 million a year. SAG-AFTRA wants a share of streaming revenue for all union-covered shows — both made-for-streaming and films and TV shows licensed from other platforms — which would go well beyond the success-based bonus won by the Writers Guild of America.

After less than two weeks, the latest negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the studios and streamers have broken down and been “suspended,” according to the AMPTP

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor NBCUniversal content chief Donna Langley has vowed that the top executives involved in contract negotiations with SAG-AFTRA will devote the time it takes to reach a new deal. Langley, who is chairman of NBCUniversal Studio Group and chief content officer of NBCUniversal, declined to say much about the state of talks with the performers union during her address Wednesday evening at Bloomberg Media’s Screentime conference in Hollywood. But she did express that her executive counterparts in the negotiating room — Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros.

Three filmmakers assessing the impact of 2023’s dual strikes took a less-than-upbeat tone, citing uncertainty about the state of SAG-AFTRA negotiations with the AMPTP and the ongoing threat posed by artificial intelligence.

There was no picketing Monday by SAG-AFTRA members due to the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday, but the leadership of the actors guild did return to the bargaining table with the studios and streamers.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Negotiations on a new SAG-AFTRA contract have finished for the day and are set to continue on Wednesday, as the two sides work to resolve the 88-day actors strike. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced the update in a joint statement on Monday evening. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP held negotiations and have concluded for the day,” the statement read.

As the Hollywood strikes stretched to Week 23, optimism is high that a deal between signatories and SAG-AFTRA is close and the town can go back to work. That enthusiasm could be felt with all the deal stories that Deadline broke this week, a clear signal of hope.

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

Back at the bargaining table Monday for the first time in more than two and a half months, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios and streamers have a long way to go to make a deal – even with the momentum gained by the end of the writers’ strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA has ended its scheduled negotiations with video game producers for a new Interactive Media contract without reaching an agreement. The union has a strike authorization vote in its back pocket, but a joint statement from SAG-AFTRA and the game producers issued late Thursday signaled the sides are still hoping to avoid a second major work stoppage. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike against Hollywood’s largest employers in TV and film since July 14.

This is Day 76 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.