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UPDATED with joint statement: SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Friday agreed to extend their current film and television deal through July 12 to continue negotiations for a new deal, both sides announced tonight. The current contract was due to expire at midnight PT tonight, which likely would have meant a second major Hollywood guild would go on strike against the studios.
“The agreements, which were scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. PT tonight, now expire at 11:59 p.m. PT on July 12,” SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP said in a joint statement. “The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed media ban. Neither organization will comment to the media on the negotiations during the extension.”
Extending the SAG-AFTRA contract during tough negotiations is not uncommon: the guild and studios did so in 2014 and 2017 before finally reaching deals in early July of those years. Tonight’s extension of the existing contract by ten working days comes amid an upcoming 4th of July bank holiday, when most of the city is usually closed for a while.
Earlier this week, Deadline reported that an extension was on the table, with July 7 being a likely date. An insider said tonight, “Yeah, they’ll probably talk a little bit over the weekend, but they won’t really get back to the table until after the holidays.” In that scenario, the sides have an extra week to try and get one to reach an agreement, although an agreement or a strike could be reached at any time before the new deadline.
The extension comes amid an unprecedented grassroots campaign by guild members to urge the guild to stay strong at the negotiating table and “join the WGA on the picket line” if a major “realignment of our industry” cannot be achieved. Earlier this week, more than 1,700 actors, including many prominent SAG-AFTRA members, signed a letter to guild leaders saying they would “rather strike” and “join the WGA on the picket line” than on important issues to compromise. The ongoing Writers Guild strike is now into its 60th day.
Last Saturday, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, who also signed the “Strike Ready Letter”, and National Executive and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland released a video telling members that the guild’s contract negotiations had been “extremely productive”. be” and they “remain optimistic” that a fair deal can be struck.
On Thursday, Drescher told Good Morning America that contract negotiations were making progress “in some areas” and “in some areas they weren’t.”
On June 5, SAG-AFTRA members voted 98% to authorize a strike if contract negotiations fail to result in an acceptable settlement. Ahead of the approval vote, the guild laid out some of its key negotiating issues, including “economic justice, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence, and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.”
Regarding economic justice, the guild said, “Outdated contract terms coupled with the evolution of the media business, including shorter seasonal orders and longer breaks between seasons, make it increasingly difficult for our members to achieve and maintain a middle-class lifestyle as a performer.” In stark contrast to the declining compensation of our members, the studios are seeing huge profits with optimistic prospects, as evidenced by the lavish executive compensation.
“SAG-AFTRA is committed to enabling our members to make a living performing scripted live-action dramatic entertainment. That means ensuring higher compensation for our members at work, strengthening the funding of our healthcare, retirement and pension plans, and giving our members a meaningful share of the economic value of their services.”
Regarding the balance payments, the guild said, “While new business models result in more and more SAG-AFTRA content being monetized around the world, the balance payments do not reflect the economic value of this exhibition.” SAG-AFTRA is committed to ensuring that the balance payments are both reflect the economic value of our members’ contribution as well as serve as a meaningful revenue stream for artists.
Regarding AI, the guild said: “Artificial intelligence has already proven to be a real and imminent threat to our members’ work and can mimic members’ voices, likenesses and performance.” We need to reach agreement on acceptable uses, safeguards against abuse Negotiate and ensure approval and fair compensation for using your work to train AI systems and create new deliverables. In their public statements and their political work, the companies have not shown the will to take seriously the fundamental rights of our members to our own voice and our image.”
Self-recorded auditions, meanwhile, are “unregulated and out of control,” the guild said. “Too many pages, too little time, and unreasonable demands have made self-taping auditions a massive, daily, undiminishing burden on artists’ lives.” Proper rules and restrictions, as well as access to other casting formats, are badly needed to ensure a ensure fair access to job opportunities and protect artists from exploitation.”
The guild also said that “many other important issues, including those related to specific careers and categories, are also on the agenda.”
Dominic Patten contributed to this report