UPDATED with SAG-AFTRA statement: SAG-AFTRA negotiators spent Thursday afternoon in a holding pattern as the union waited for a response from management to its latest counterproposal. The union confirmed late Thursday that talks would resume on Friday.
Agreements on AI remain elusive and frustrating for both sides of the table. Management believes the union is focusing on too many “what if” scenarios with rapidly changing generative AI technologies, while stakeholders claim that AI is the existential threat to their livelihoods that underpin much of the fueled strikes. The walkout, which began July 14, has reached its 112th day and marks the longest strike against television and film producers in SAG-AFTRA’s nearly 100-year history.
In a message to members sent late Thursday, the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee was confident and matter-of-fact.
“The Negotiating Committee was on standby today, awaiting a response from the AMPTP to both the AI counter-proposal we presented yesterday and the comprehensive counter-proposal we tabled five days ago,” it said Notice to members. “Our team looks forward to continuing negotiations with the companies tomorrow.”
As the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers inch closer to an agreement, sources familiar with the situation said the AMPTP side was frustrated because SAG-AFTRA raised a number of issues this week that management sees as late additions to the demands, while the union side responds that these issues have been on the table all along but have so far been lower on the priority list. This is a repeat of the scenario that played out in late September as the Writers Guild of America reached the end of its 148-day strike.
The union told its members on Wednesday evening that it had submitted a “comprehensive” counter-proposal on Saturday and had not yet received a response. The union also said the two sides remained “far apart” on key issues in the talks.
On Wednesday, the union spent three hours providing a detailed response on AI.
Some who are not part of the talks are frustrated by the slow pace of progress, which they say reflects a lack of urgency on one side or the other.
After a long period of stalemate, negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP resumed in early October, but collapsed on October 11 when it became clear that they were still miles apart on crucial issues such as streaming residuals, minimum increases and AI . Amid signs of unrest from prominent SAG-AFTRA members such as George Clooney, the sides met again on October 24 and have been in constant contact since.
Industry insiders are monitoring the situation closely as Hollywood’s window of opportunity to get films or television shows into production before the end of the year is rapidly closing. The months-long labor dispute in Hollywood this year — a reflection of the resurgent labor movement in many sectors of the U.S. economy this year — has taken a huge financial toll on actors, writers and countless other stakeholders in the creative community.