George Clooney, Tyler Perry, Emma Stone & More Meet With SAG-AFTRA Leaders For Update On Breakdown Of Talks With Studios, Revenue-Sharing Proposal

The Curse starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder has been widely praised by critics as one of the best shows of the year.Created and written by Fielder (The Rehearsal) and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems), the comedy series follows newly married couple Asher (Fielder) and Whitney Siegel (Stone) who believe they have been afflicted by a curse while co-hosting their problematic HGTV home improvement show, Flipanthropy, in New Mexico.The first reviews have been released ahead of the show’s debut on Paramount+ later this month, with Entertainment Weekly describing it as “the weirdest, most unforgettable show of 2023”.In the B+ review, the outlet wrote: “Blending cringe comedy with contemplative character study and undertones of horror, The Curse is unrelentingly odd and tough to forget.”The Standard were similarly effusive in a five-star review, and explained how the show comments on “white privilege, condescension and mutual distrust”.“To deliver such grand themes with deadpan accuracy and hilarity is no small feat,” the review read. “Emma Stone is capitivating as she flips from breathless do-gooder to barely concealed narcissist; and Nathan Fielder is stellar as the deeply unlikable Asher.”In a five-star review of the first three episodes by the BBC, The Curse is described as being as “edgy, unsettling and smart” as you’d expect from the creator of HBO’s The Rehearsal.

EXCLUSIVE: Today’s meeting between SAG-AFTRA and an expanded group of studio CEOs has just ended as the guild scrutinizes the AMPTP‘s long awaited response to their last comprehensive counter.

Christopher Vourlias When director Yorgos Lanthimos approached production designers James Price and Shona Heath with a vision for his latest feature, “Poor Things,” the Venice sensation and Golden Lion winner that’s landed the filmmaker and lead actress Emma Stone at the forefront of this year’s Oscar race, the notoriously meticulous and demanding director had no shortage of notes for the duo. Nor did he have any reservations about the scale of what he wanted to achieve.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher took to Instagram to express her condolences over the passing of Friends star Matthew Perry.

EXCLUSIVE: Sunday will not be a day of rest for SAG-AFTRA leadership and the studios this weekend.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA and the studios don’t have a deal, but they are planning on talking more.

A group of high-profile actors have signed a public letter declaring that they would rather stay on strike rather than accept a bad deal.

Negotiations scheduled Wednesday between SAG-AFTRA and the studios didn’t happen after all — and everyone’s good with that.

BreAnna Bell After the AMPTP walked away from the negotiating table over a week ago, Ted Sarandos is hopeful that the upcoming conversations with SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday will lead to a suitable agreement for both parties. “I’m an optimist. I’m an eternal optimist.

SAG-AFTRA’s first industry-wide strike in more than 40 years hit the 100-day mark. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will meet for bargaining on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at SAG-AFTRA Plaza.

SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, began its strike on July 14 over an ongoing labour dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Talks between the two parties restarted on October 2, but broke down again on October 11, with studios saying that negotiations were “no longer moving us in a positive direction.”The two sides have so far failed to come to an agreement over a deal, with SAG-AFTRA demanding increased pay, a share of streaming revenues and protection against actors’ images and voices being replicated by artificial intelligence.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer On the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike in July, union president Fran Drescher was asked how long she expected it to last. “We’re set up to go six months if we have to,” Drescher said. It hasn’t been that long yet.

Former SAG-AFTRA president Melissa Gilbert has blasted a SAG-AFTRA message that urged its members not to dress up as characters from struck companies this Halloween.

Ethan Shanfeld After SAG-AFTRA urged its members not to dress up as characters from struck companies this Halloween, former president of the actors guild Melissa Gilbert is calling out the costume guidelines as “silly bullshit” and “infantile.” “THIS is what you guys come up with? Literally no one cares what anyone wears for Halloween,” Gilbert wrote on Instagram in response to the union’s Halloween suggestions. “I mean, do you really think this kind of infantile stuff is going to end the strike? We look like a joke.

Thanks, George. But your proposal to take the cap off union dues in order to end SAG-AFTRA‘s strike isn’t legally compatible with the union’s contract.

A plan put forth this week to SAG-AFTRA by George Clooney and other big stars to potentially kick start stalled negotiations with the studios is “worthy of review and consideration,” says the union’s chief negotiator.

George Clooney presented a proposal to SAG-AFTRA leadership during a Tuesday afternoon Zoom call in an effort to find a way to resolve the three-month-long actors strike with the studios. But the proposal is likely dead on arrival. Sources with knowledge of the situation say the group of some 15 stars, which includes Tyler Perry and Scarlett Johansson, held a follow-up call last night with SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee.

EXCLUSIVE: After meeting on a Tuesday Zoom call to figure out how to end an actor’s strike that will shortly stretch beyond 100 days, a group of Hollywood’s biggest stars laid out to SAG-AFTRA leaders a groundbreaking proposal that amounts to the town’s biggest earners defraying the costs to AMPTP signatories by eliminating the cap on membership dues, to be used to bolster health benefits and other areas that SAG-AFTRA is trying to shore up.

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Sarandos may have insisted today that he and other studio CEOs want to end the over three-month long actors strike and “get everyone back to work,” but for SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, the Netflix boss is full of nothing but hot air.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A group of A-list actors is adding pressure on SAG-AFTRA leadership to find a way to resolve the actors strike, which has now lasted 97 days. George Clooney, Tyler Perry, Scarlett Johansson, and others held a Zoom meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director. Though the tone has been described as “supportive,” the actors did not call the meeting merely to express support.