SAG-AFTRA demonstrated outside the Netflix offices on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood Studios are expected to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday after negotiations over a new three-year contract with the union resumed on Tuesday.
“Today the CEOs came back to the table. We plan to continue discussions with them tomorrow,” the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee said in a message to members Tuesday. The group then warned its members, “Don’t believe anything you read in the press” unless it comes directly from the union, and urged them to “continue showing up at the picket lines and making your voice heard across the country.” provide”.
has reached out to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for comment.
After a break of nearly two weeks, union negotiators met Tuesday with studio heads Ted Sarandos (Netflix), Bob Iger (Disney), Donna Langley (NBCUniversal) and David Zaslav (Warner Bros. Discovery) at SAG-AFTRA’s national headquarters. After the union presented its latest counteroffer on October 11, management was expected to present a different set of proposals on Tuesday.
Around midday, studio heads Sarandos, Iger, Langley and Zaslav were spotted having lunch at LA hotspot Republique, less than ten blocks from the union offices.
This final meeting comes at a tense time. Studios are increasingly concerned about the impact of a potentially extended strike on the 2024 film and broadcast calendar, a source close to those companies told THR. Meanwhile, the union is under pressure from members, some of whom are well-known names. Before both sides returned to the table, a group consisting of Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon met in multiple Zoom meetings with SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and President Fran Drescher in an attempt to reach a breakthrough to try to resolve the stalemate that had become entrenched between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Several A-listers also worked through their studio contacts last week to further negotiations.
When talks last broke down on Oct. 11, the biggest sticking point was the streaming viewers union’s proposal, which seeks to charge streaming services 57 cents per subscriber to create a pool of money to be distributed to members whose works appear on these services. The AMPTP had said the proposal would create an “unsustainable economic burden,” while SAG-AFTRA claimed such a provision was necessary to increase downward pressure on members’ wages for streaming projects. The sides also remained far apart when it came to AI guidelines for entertainment and increasing minimum tariffs for the next three years. It remains to be seen how far the parties have come so far on all of these issues.