The studios told SAG-AFTRA on Saturday that they had made their “last, best and final” offer as they seek an end to the 114-day actors’ strike.
The offer includes an increased remaining bonus for high-performing streaming shows. Under the proposal, actors who appear in the most-watched shows on each platform will see their standard streaming balance doubled.
That’s an increase over the deal with the Writers Guild of America, which gave a 50% residual bonus to writers on top-performing shows.
The package also includes comprehensive protections for artificial intelligence and the largest increase in minimum requirements in 40 years.
The Zoom meeting included eight executives from seven studios: Bob Iger of Disney, David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, Donna Langley of NBCUniversal, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, Brian Robbins of Paramount, Mike Hopkins and Jen Salke of Amazon, and Tony Vinciquerra from Sony.
At the meeting, Sarandos wanted to make it clear to union leaders that the offer was generous.
“We didn’t just approach you,” he said, according to a source. “We came all the way to you.”
The relatively brief meeting came a day after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers outlined the terms of its “comprehensive” offer to the union.
SAG-AFTRA executives said Saturday that they would need more time to analyze and respond to the offer. Union leadership was expected to meet later Saturday and then advise studios on next steps.
There was still some pessimism and frustration on the studio side toward SAG-AFTRA leadership, which they felt was unnecessarily prolonging the discussions.
However, the union has stressed that many of the issues under discussion are “existential” for the actors.
In an email to members at 3 p.m. Saturday, the union said the studios had made their “last, best and final” offer.
“We are reviewing it and considering our response in the context of the critical issues raised in our proposals,” the union said. “As always, please do not believe any outside sources or rumors unless it comes from your union.”
With the words “last, best and final” the studios want to express that they will not take any further steps. In a typical negotiation, this language would signal that the union’s only alternative would be a strike. In this case, however, SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14th.
The two sides have held ongoing negotiations over the past 12 days to try to end the conflict.
The studios have made it clear that they want to complete the strike as quickly as possible. Given the time constraints of the production schedule, they have warned that without a deal they may have to cancel TV shows and postpone further theatrical releases in the near future.
Artificial intelligence remains one of the most difficult problems to solve. The union has said it needs to have certain protections in place against the creation of “digital doppelgangers,” and it appears the studios’ latest offer still doesn’t quite get there.
It remains unclear whether an agreement can be reached this weekend.
Negotiators spent much of last week sorting out many of the finer points of the AI issue, including the scope of consent required for AI use. The issue is of particular importance to background actors, many of whom fear they will be the first to be replaced by digital versions of themselves.
There was widespread optimism across the industry that the strike was coming to an end – even though it far exceeded most expectations.
SAG-AFTRA reminded members of the picket schedule for the coming week in an email Saturday, noting there will be no picket lines on Friday due to Veterans Day. The union also advised members that they can purchase strike collection buttons on any studio property.
This story has been updated with details of the meeting.