SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios are gearing up for another round of negotiations after a brief pause. The talks, aimed at securing a new three-year union contract, resumed on Tuesday and are continuing into Wednesday. In a message to its members, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical negotiating committee confirmed that the CEOs of the studios returned to the bargaining table and urged members to stay informed through official union channels. They also emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong presence on picket lines to make their voices heard across the country.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing the studios, has yet to provide any comment on the ongoing negotiations, despite requests from The Hollywood Reporter.
On Tuesday, union negotiators sat down with top studio executives, including Ted Sarandos from Netflix, Bob Iger from Disney, Donna Langley from NBCUniversal, and David Zaslav from Warner Bros. Discovery, at the SAG-AFTRA national headquarters. Following the union’s presentation of its counteroffer on October 11, it was expected that the management side would submit a different package of proposals during this latest round of talks.
During a break in negotiations, Sarandos, Iger, Langley, and Zaslav were spotted having lunch at Republique, a popular restaurant located within close proximity to the union’s offices.
The current negotiations are taking place amidst rising tension between the two sides. Studios are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential impact of an extended strike on the 2024 movie and broadcast calendar, according to sources close to the companies. Simultaneously, the union has been facing pressure from its members, including well-known actors such as Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon. These A-listers had several Zoom meetings with SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and president Fran Drescher in an attempt to break the deadlock between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Moreover, numerous A-listers have been leveraging their relationships with studios to push for progress in the negotiations.
One of the major sticking points in the previous round of talks, which led to the pause in negotiations, was the union’s streaming viewership proposal. The proposal seeks to charge streaming services 57 cents per subscriber in order to create a pool of funds that can be distributed to members whose work appears on these platforms. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has argued that this proposal would impose an “untenable economic burden,” while SAG-AFTRA maintains that it is necessary to counter downward wage pressure on members in the streaming industry. Other unresolved issues include AI guardrails for entertainment and minimum rate increases for the next three years. It remains to be seen how much progress has been made on these issues during the current negotiations.
The outcome of these negotiations will have far-reaching implications for the industry, particularly with regards to the future of streaming platforms and the livelihoods of actors and other industry professionals. Both the union and the studios have a vested interest in reaching a mutually agreeable contract that benefits all parties involved. As negotiations continue, industry insiders and fans alike eagerly await updates on the progress being made and the potential resolution of the ongoing disputes.
