That Deadline story about studios waiting to come to the negotiating table with striking writers was a turning point. According to Deadline’s studio sources, executives want to stretch out the strike for several more months and make writers starve and lose their apartments, all so the WGA will accept less. The problem with that is the longer the WGA strike goes on, other unions will continue to join the WGA. The studios also thought they could placate SAG-Aftra and bring in federal mediators to avoid an actors’ strike. They could not. Even with a federal mediator on site, SAG-Aftra is on strike, effective today.
Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP broke off tonight, and the guild’s national board will meet Thursday morning to formally approve the launch of a strike.
It will be the first actors strike against the film and television industry since 1980 and the first time that actors and writers have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild. Picketing is set to begin Friday morning.
Here is the full statement from SAG-AFTRA:
SAG-AFTRA’s Television/Theatrical/Streaming contracts have expired without a successor agreement.
After more than four weeks of bargaining, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. Discovery — remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on the key issues that are essential to SAG-AFTRA members.
In the face of the AMPTP’s intransigence and delay tactics, SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend to the National Board a strike of the Producers-SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming Contracts which expired July 12, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
SAG-AFTRA’s National Board will vote Thursday morning on whether to strike.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said: “SAG-AFTRA negotiated in good faith and was eager to reach a deal that sufficiently addressed performer needs, but the AMPTP’s responses to the union’s most important proposals have been insulting and disrespectful of our massive contributions to this industry. The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us. Until they do negotiate in good faith, we cannot begin to reach a deal. We have no choice but to move forward in unity, and on behalf of our membership, with a strike recommendation to our National Board. The board will discuss the issue this morning and will make its decision.”
[From Deadline]
AMPTP also issued a union-blaming statement, crying about how SAG “walked away” from the four-week negotiations. The actors’ strike was what worried the studios – they were confident that they could bully and starve the writers, but actual movie stars? Movie stars and famous actors with huge profiles, all on picket lines? Yeah. The optics will be amazing. Truly, I hope a SAG strike and the complete shut down of every movie and scripted TV show brings AMPTP to the table with real proposals and solutions in the next few weeks.
• Film any movie & TV productions
• Take part in any press junkets or film premieres
• Promote anything at SDCC, and will be advised not to attend at all pic.twitter.com/eEBjzjeQ1v
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 13, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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