Sean Penn-Dakota Johnson Pic ‘Daddio’ Lands SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement, Opening Door For Talent To Promote During Festivals

Megalopolis, the long-awaited passion project from Francis Ford Coppola, is the latest film to land an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA. The film finished production earlier this year so it is unknown what the agreement would be used for but with festival season ramping up it could potentially be getting one in order to be sold on one of the markets or potentially screen an upcoming festival and in need of one for publicity purposes.

Trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan have unanimously agreed to a one-calendar-quarter extension of health coverage for certain qualified participants who would otherwise lose coverage on Oct. 1, 2023. The extension accounts for jobs that may have been lost in May and June of this year due to the Writers Guild strike. The WGA has been on strike since May 2, SAG-AFTRA since July 14.

With nearly one week to go until the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 (or TIFF 2023) kicks off, the A-listers who are and aren’t attending have been revealed.

EXCLUSIVE: Last week we brought you news of which A-listers would and wouldn’t be attending Venice. This week, the Toronto talent picture is taking shape ahead of its September 7th kick off.

J. Kim Murphy SAG-AFTRA issued a statement on Thursday evening to encourage members to promote and audition for approved interim agreement productions, as a means of “strengthening the union’s bargaining position and demonstrating solidarity.” The guild’s statement provides guidance in regards to the matter of promoting a project with an interim agreement, which has been a matter of contention among some SAG-AFTRA members since the strike began in July.

EXCLUSIVE: Isabella Gomez (One Day at a Time, The Goldbergs) is set to star in the indie horror film The Mannequin, from writer-director John Berardo (Initiation).

SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America West are among more than 20 labor organizations lobbying for passage of a bill pending in the California legislature that would make striking workers in the state eligible for unemployment benefits, as they are in New York and New Jersey.

Your Lucky Day, the horror thriller featuring one of the final performances of Euphoria breakout Angus Cloud, has secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement for publicity ahead of its Fantastic Fest premiere, Deadline has learned.

Ahead of its world premiere in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, which follows the Presleys from the perspective of the King’s young bride, has secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.

Kate Forbes has opened the door for another SNP leadership challenge, saying it is "high time we had a Highlander at the helm”. The MSP said "never say never" when asked if she would run for the SNP's top job again.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Dozens of Hollywood players are staring anxiously at empty Louis Vuitton trunks this week, wondering if A-list stars and select filmmakers will get the greenlight from SAG-AFTRA to attend the rapidly approaching Venice Film Festival. The union’s interim agreements have been a focal point over the past weeks of the contentious strike, as the deals allow some productions to resume and select finished films to engage in publicity.

Editors Note: Bill Mechanic is chairman and CEO of Pandemonium Films and a former top executive at Paramount, Disney and chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment. He is also a former producer of the Oscars and Oscar-nominated films like Hacksaw Ridge and Coraline. He previously advocated for interim agreements as a guest on Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast and his company has applied for them since.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Movie distributors headed to this year’s fall film festivals hoping to buy select star-studded indie films must be prepared to agree to new contract terms from SAG-AFTRA, the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Tuesday. During a broad press conference on the topic of SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreements program — under which some movies and TV projects can shoot or engage in publicity during the ongoing strike — Crabtree-Ireland confirmed what many in the indie film world have been sweating over for weeks.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, confirmed Tuesday that fall festival buyers will need to agree to the terms proposed for the guild’s new contract before acquiring projects being promoted under an interim agreement.

SAG-AFTRA on Thursday named NEON’s Michael Mann-directed Ferrari as one of its latest recipients of an interim agreement for publicity.

EXCLUSIVE: Karsen Liotta (Blackbird), daughter of the late Ray Liotta, is headlining an anthology indie pic that has been handed a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.

Hollywood’s potential misuse of artificial intelligence is a “deadly cocktail” and a “poison” that needs to be strictly regulated, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in the guild’s latest strike podcast.

As Hollywood waits to see what may come out of Friday’s meeting between the WGA and the AMPTP, filmmakers and producers at all levels have been engaged in a complex dialogue on the lightning-rod topic that has emerged during the concurrent actors strike: the SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.

News broadcasters aren’t on strike, but their SAG-AFTRA steering committee is standing behind the actors and performers who are. “The world is watching,” the committee said in a statement Wednesday, and urged a “quick and productive resolution to the 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.