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EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA and the studios don’t have a deal, but they plan further discussions.
An agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the studios to end the 160,000-member guild’s 106-day strike is almost certain to not be reached tonight, although both sides are still in consultations. However, we understand that the Guild and the AMPTP have agreed that discussions between the parties will take place over the weekend – Saturday and Sunday if necessary.
Whether these discussions will continue at the SAG-AFTRA offices in Wilshire or virtually remains to be seen, we hear.
We also hear today’s reaction from AMPTP President Carol Lombardini and the major studio Gang of Four – Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley – to the latest proposals The guild not only gave the green light and parking spaces. “Underwhelmed,” is how a source close to the virtual meeting described it.
But with all parties clear about what’s at stake at this point, “AMPTP recognizes that there are some conditions that we need to continue to build on and discuss,” explains a studio insider.
Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos, David Zaslav and Donna Langley Getty/Courtesy
After backing away from the revenue-sharing requirement that had existed for months with the AMPTP DOA in recent renegotiations, SAG-AFTRA on Oct. 11 proposed an annual fee of about 57 cents per subscriber for streamers. This notion was the breaking point for the studios, who suddenly backed out and broke off talks.
The next day, Sarandos called the proposal “a step too far” and “a levy on subscribers.” It should be noted that the percentage proposal is not fixed and is open to negotiation. Guild President Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland threw shade at the co-CEO’s reaction, and he and his C-suite colleagues took their ball and went home.
After Iger contacted Crabtree-Ireland on October 21 to resume talks on October 24, the studios this week put forward an offer with higher bonuses based on the success of streaming shows and films, as well as an increase in minimum tariffs . The studios had used their now ratified contract with the Writers Guild as a roadmap of sorts, proposing a 7% increase in minimum requirements. Sources on both sides tell us that SAG-AFTRA increased demand from 11% to 9% in its self-described “full counterattack” offered Friday.
Reacting to the largely quiet day as the two sides continued to clash, a key source close to the talks remarked: “If I don’t hear anything, that’s a good thing because that means they’re talking.”
Yesterday, the mood at the studio staff’s five-hour in-person meeting reflected what SAG-AFTRA Crabtree-Ireland told Deadline about the picketers: “cautious optimism” for a new deal. At the same time, sources on both sides cautioned against reading too much into it, as key sticking points such as performance-based compensation and, to a lesser extent, AI remained.
Later on Thursday evening, after discussions between studio bosses and the guild concluded for the day, an open letter was released with signatures from a number of prolific actors, including Julia Louis Dreyfus, Jon Hamm, Sarah Paulson, Chelsea Handler, Christian Slater and Sandra Oh , Daveed Diggs, Pedro Pascal, Carrie Anne Moss, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lizzy Caplan and several others who told the SAG-AFTRA bargaining committee, “We’d rather stay on strike than get a bad deal.”
The move, which was very similar to the June letter from a number of stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and Amy Schumer, telling SAG bosses that they were ready to strike, highlighted the large number of members who did not I’m still at peace with the AMPTP. Last week, a very different Zoom call took place with George Clooney, Emma Stone, Jennifer Aniston, Tyler Perry, Scarlett Johansson and others, where the high-profile actors, many of whom are also established producers, suggested paying more into the union coffers Lift caps on union dues. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher respectfully noted in an Instagram video on the evening of October 19 that such a sincere gesture would not be legal and “has no impact on the contract we are negotiating.”
Given the dismal fourth-quarter results and repeats, many studio sources fear that if an agreement cannot be reached in the coming weeks, the blow to an entertainment industry that has seen a complete global production halt on Hollywood television and feature films will be at least that The first half of 2024 would be a total loss. Since many members of the guilds, other unions and those who are Hollywood suppliers have not done any significant work for six months, scrapping the industry plan would come on top of a $6.5 billion hit to California’s economy since May suffered this year, including the impact of the now-resolved writers’ strike and the loss of 45,000 jobs in the entertainment industry
Just today, Disney postponed two major films from the 2024 theatrical release calendar to 2025: Pixar’s “Elio” and the live-action version of “Snow White” starring Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler. Earlier this week, Paramount pushed back “Mission: Impossible 8” from next year to 2025. In total, that’s already an estimated $1.5 billion that will be missing from the global box office next year, and not just a loss for studios as theaters are still recovering from the pandemic.
However, as media has changed throughout Hollywood history, from global TV syndication to the video age, actors have always had to compete for scraps from novel technological shifts. To understand how many have failed to see the benefits of streaming, a writer associated with Lucasfilm’s Andor series told Deadline before the WGA strike that a handful have gotten more out of ABC’s broadcast in their careers Episodes would be made than with the continuation of the Disney+ series.
Or as the recently overwhelmingly re-elected Drescher asked in an exclusive column on the 100-day actors’ strike on Deadline: “So, where’s the money?”
“It is clearly not due to the old residual compensation structure for linear television or the current residual compensation for streaming. It’s in the pockets of CEOs and on the balance sheets of companies,” she said, partially answering her own question.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t surprise me at all that our employers, baffled by the enormous amounts of investor money being poured into their companies, have not considered the artist’s ability to make a living from SVOD while running their own rich businesses negotiated. “ added the SAG-AFTRA boss.
And that’s why everyone is working this weekend to paraphrase Loverboy’s big 1980s hit.