SAG-AFTRA Agrees to Mediation but Won’t Extend Contract Deadline

SAG-AFTRA will hold a mass rally in Times Square on Tuesday morning. It’s expected to be the biggest rally in NYC since the strike began on July 14. Celebs scheduled to attend the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally include Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Lauren Ambrose, Christine Baranski, Matt Bomer, Tituss Burgess, Liza Colón-Zayas, Gregory Diaz, Jennifer Ehle, Nancy Giles, Danai Gurrira, Jill Hennessy, Marin Hinkle, Stephen Lang, Arian Moayed, Wendell Pierce, Corey Stoll and Merritt Wever.

When Calls The Heart, the long-running family western drama from Hallmark Media, is set to continue filming after being awarded an interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA.

SAG-AFTRA has granted more waivers in recent days that give permission to indie projects to shoot during the current strike, including the independent film The Summer Book starring Glenn Close. Other recent projects that will be allowed to shoot include the TV series Underdeveloped and Sight Unseen.

EXCLUSIVE: For those awards strategists wondering whether stars from indie U.S. films can promote at the fall film festival troika, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says “We’re looking at that issue.”

Following SAG-AFTRA’s clearance of AppleTV+’s Israeli spy series Tehran and New Line’s horror movie Watchers –prolific projects from AMPTP studios that the guild remains in talks with– in their interim agreement process, some producers and filmmakers in town have been miffed.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The group that bargains on behalf of the studios issued a point-by-point response on Friday to SAG-AFTRA, arguing that the union walked away from a deal with more than $1 billion in additional wages, residuals and pension and health contributions. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also argued that it has accepted the union’s demand for “informed consent” on the use of artificial intelligence — which has become one of the major issues in the week-old strike. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s top negotiator, alleged on July 13 that the studios want to scan background actors and replicate their likenesses “for the rest of eternity” without consent. The AMPTP has adamantly said that is false, and that its proposal includes both consent and compensation.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is disputing SAG-AFTRA’s “misleading” characterization of its proposals before contract talks broke off and the actors’ strike began a week ago.

Editor’s note: Almost a week into the first joint strike by the actors union and the writers guild since 1960, there are picket lines all over LA and NYC. Yet there are no new negotiations planned between SAG-AFTRA or the WGA and the studios and streamers. Despite the silence and divisions between the parties, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland insists that a pathway to a new contract and a better future for all is possible.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are sparring over the terms of the offer that SAG-AFTRA rejected before the union went on strike last week. SAG-AFTRA issued a detailed statement outlining its objections to the deal presented last week after weeks of bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The AMPTP countered late with a statement that accused the union of trying to “deliberately distort” the terms of the employers’ offer. SAG-AFTRA opened its statement to members by declaring that the union is fighting “against a system where those in charge of multibillion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers.” SAG-AFTRA called a strike against AMPTP companies on July 12. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor SAG-AFTRA held an informational meeting for about 500 people over Zoom on Monday afternoon. Among those who signed on were actors Lupita Nyong’o, Vanessa Kirby, Melissa McCarthy, Vanessa Hudgens, Lucy Liu,  Laverne Cox, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Jon Huertas and Josh Pence, according to a source. CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Faith France and Ryan Abboushi also attended, as did UTA’s Kristen Saig and Kris Heller of APA Agency. Publicists included Mara Buxbaum, Jill Fritzo, Luke Windsor, Brianna Smith and Cheryl Maisel. The meeting was led by SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The guild shared a one-sheet of talking points for participants. Among the bulleted items on revenue sharing, health care and retirement, online casting platforms and artificial intelligence, the memo states, “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”

Kevin McKidd and Danielle Savre are supporting the fight for a fair contract at the SAG-AFTRA strike amid their budding romance.

IATSE President Matt Loeb is calling on the studios to provide health care benefits to below-the line workers who might lose them if they fall short of qualifying during the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes, as the companies did during the Covid pandemic.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Universal Pictures has canceled the upcoming red carpet at the U.S premiere of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. The movie will still be screened, however. The premiere is set to take place on Monday, July 17 at 7pm ET in New York City at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square theater. SAG-AFTRA called a union strike on July 13, with the first day of picketing beginning July 14. “In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of ‘Oppenheimer’ will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned, and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film,” a statement from Universal Pictures read.

Fran Drescher is speaking out in response to the controversy surrounding her recent trip to Italy and meetup with Kim Kardashian.

Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing stage theater actors and stage managers, expressed solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA actors strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, saying “Nobody should step in front of a camera fearing that today’s work will be mined, manipulated or repurposed in the future without consent or compensation.”

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is calling for a strike.

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.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A federal mediator will be present on Wednesday for negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios, as the performers’ contract is set to expire at midnight. The two sides agreed Tuesday to seek mediation in a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, which has come to seem all but inevitable in recent days. If no deal is reached, the SAG-AFTRA national board is expected to hold a meeting on Thursday to approve a walkout. The union represents 160,000 performers, who would join the Writers Guild of America on the picket lines outside the major studios.

Unionized Hollywood actors on the verge of a strike have agreed to allow a last-minute intervention from federal mediators but say they doubt a deal will be reached by a negotiation deadline late Wednesday.

SAG-AFTRA has agreed to federal mediation in order the break the bargaining deadlock with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but said that “we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.” The deadline for reaching an agreement is still Wednesday at midnight PT.