SAG-AFTRA Contract Talks Won’t Take Place At AMPTP’s Offices When They Resume

It’s been nearly three weeks since SAG-AFTRA‘s talks with the video game industry broke off, but a power-up is on the horizon. The union said today that negotiations for a new Interactive Media Agreement will continue. But as for when — stay tuned.

In the 24th weekly installment of the Deadline Strike Talk Podcast, host Billy Ray doesn’t seem too shaken by the surprise breakoff of talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA.

The Hollywood labor unions are standing in collective solidarity with SAG-AFTRA after the guild’s latest negotiations with the studios went south this week.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Hollywood unions issued a statement Friday calling on the major studios to resume bargaining with SAG-AFTRA, two days after talks with the actors union broke down. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Wednesday that the gap between the two sides was “too great,” and that further negotiations would not be productive. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 92 days.

Ellise Shafer SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher made an appearance on the “Today” show Friday morning to share her perspective on why the union’s talks with the AMPTP broke down. “It really came as a shock to me because what does that exactly mean and why would you walk away from the table? It’s not like we’re asking for anything that’s so outrageous,” Drescher said.

SAG-AFTRA headquarters Thursday, continuing to negotiate a new contract with the heads of four major studios. But on Wednesday evening, he got a call from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers informing him that the talks were off. “I was taken completely by surprise,” said Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator for the actors union.

August Alsina claimed he had a relationship with Jada, whom he met through her son, Jaden, at a 2015 music festival.“I actually sat down with Will and had a conversation due to the transformation from their marriage to life partnership … he gave me his blessing,” Alsina told Angela Yee on “The Breakfast Club.” “I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her. I devoted myself to it.”Jada’s rep swiftly issued an explicit denial to Page Six: “Absolutely not true.”However, the next month,Will and Jada sat down for a “Red Table Talk” to address something they said they never intended on discussing publicly.

After a rough day of negotiations Wednesday, the actors guild and the studios have pulled the plug for now.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor NBCUniversal content chief Donna Langley has vowed that the top executives involved in contract negotiations with SAG-AFTRA will devote the time it takes to reach a new deal. Langley, who is chairman of NBCUniversal Studio Group and chief content officer of NBCUniversal, declined to say much about the state of talks with the performers union during her address Wednesday evening at Bloomberg Media’s Screentime conference in Hollywood. But she did express that her executive counterparts in the negotiating room — Disney’s Bob Iger, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Negotiations on a new SAG-AFTRA contract have finished for the day and are set to continue on Wednesday, as the two sides work to resolve the 88-day actors strike. The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced the update in a joint statement on Monday evening. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP held negotiations and have concluded for the day,” the statement read.

As the Hollywood strikes stretched to Week 23, optimism is high that a deal between signatories and SAG-AFTRA is close and the town can go back to work. That enthusiasm could be felt with all the deal stories that Deadline broke this week, a clear signal of hope.

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

One down, and more to come.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Actors union SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP concluded a full day of negotiations on Monday, the first time negotiators have been in a room together since the union declared a strike on July 14. While little details were shared about the talks, both sides plan to meet again this week. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP met for a full day bargaining session and have concluded.

SAG-AFTRA is set to sit down with the studios today to restart talks on a deal for the actors.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA has ended its scheduled negotiations with video game producers for a new Interactive Media contract without reaching an agreement. The union has a strike authorization vote in its back pocket, but a joint statement from SAG-AFTRA and the game producers issued late Thursday signaled the sides are still hoping to avoid a second major work stoppage. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike against Hollywood’s largest employers in TV and film since July 14.

Everybody who needs to be in the room when SAG-AFTRA and the studios sit down for talks next week will be.

This is Day 76 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against 10 of the major video game companies. The vote was 98.32% in favor.  A total of 34,687 members cast ballots, representing a voting 27.47% of eligible voters. The guild’s last strike against the gaming companies, in 2016-17, lasted 183 days. The guild, meanwhile, has been on strike against the film and TV industry since July 14.