“I can’t believe she’s here!” an industry audience member whispered to their neighbor Thursday night at the Telluride Film Festival’s Chuck Jones Theater as Julia Louis-Dreyfus took the podium. Louis-Dreyfus was the first actress at Telluride to benefit from one of the Screen Actors Guild’s tentative agreements, which allowed her to promote her A24 film on Tuesday.
Louis-Dreyfus, who was a regular on the picket lines during the strike, was clearly ready to explain herself to the crowd at Chuck Jones, almost all of whom had assumed they were attending the premiere of a star-less small film from a little-known debut film. Director, Daina O. Pusic.
“As a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild for 41 years, I stand here in solidarity with my union and the WGA,” said Louis-Dreyfus. “I want to thank my union for the fight they are waging for actors across the country and for granting our film, this film, a tentative agreement on Tuesday so that I could be here.” She continued to thank A24 for signing the agreement, which is binding until SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers reach an agreement. “If smaller studios like A24 can agree to what my fellow brothers and sisters deserve, then why can’t AMPTP?”
For the past few weeks, SAG members and their representatives have been trying to figure out how to navigate the fall festival season during the strike. As the first day of Telluride unfolded on the 47th day of the SAG strike, Louis-Dreyfus and another actress, Emma Stone, provided some examples of how they might.
Stone also has a film here, “Poor Things,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, that she stars in and produced for Searchlight. Searchlight, as a division of Disney, is part of the AMPTP and is therefore a troubled company. Stone bought a ticket to get into the theater, flew on the festival charter and, at least since Thursday night, seems to have gone unnoticed by all but the most eagle-eyed festival goers. She is not participating in any question-and-answer sessions for “Poor Things” or doing any press work for the film. This low-key strategy wouldn’t work in Venice or Toronto — much larger festivals with red carpets and photo ops — but it’s doable here at Telluride, a Spanx-free environment.
Other actors are here too, including Sandra Hülser, whose films Zone of Interest (A24) and Anatomy of a Fall (Neon) are distributed by non-AMPTP member companies.
Laura Linney and Maya Hawke are here on behalf of Wildcat, Ethan Hawke’s independent acquisition company, which has received a preliminary SAG agreement. That includes Dakota Johnson, whose independent artist Daddio is also up for sale and covered by a tentative agreement. Buyers of films that have signed preliminary agreements will have to abide by the terms outlined in the agreements, which the AMPTP has already rejected, and it is unclear how these films will fare in the market.
When SAG first unveiled the interim agreements, some members, including Sarah Silverman, raised questions about them. A little over a week ago, SAG released a statement urging its members to take advantage of the agreements. “The interim agreement is an essential part of our strategic approach and was created for a number of reasons, all aimed at protecting the interests of our members,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national managing director of SAG, in a statement.
On Thursday, Adam Driver was in Venice promoting the Neon film “Ferrari,” and his comments were similar to those of Louis-Dreyfus in Telluride. “I’m proud to be here and be a visual representation of a film that is not part of the AMPTP,” Driver said.
Elsewhere in Telluride, signs of the strike were few and far between. The Chuck Jones Theater, where Louis-Dreyfus’ film premiered, is sponsored by Netflix and its logo would normally be prominently displayed. But the festival asked sponsors to forego logo signage this year, meaning Louis-Dreyfus could speak without an AMPTP company’s logo looming behind her.
There are signs across the city that the strike has made even local businesses particularly sensitive. “Free oat milk for SAG-AFTRA members” is written on the board outside a cafe.