SAG-AFTRA: Studios Seek To “Pad Corporate Profits & Fund Lavish Executive Compensation” As Threatened Actors Strike Looms

Six weeks into the writers strike, the early returns on summer studio films have been some of the best since Covid brought the exhibition business to a screeching halt. But if SAG-AFTRA members trade lines of dialogue for picket lines beginning July 1, the business might well look like pandemic redux.

SAG-AFTRA and the studios have begun negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The talks, which got underway Wednesday morning at the Sherman Oaks offices of the studios’ reps the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, come two days after the guild’s members voted 97.9% in favor of authorizing a strike if an acceptable deal isn’t reached by the end of the month.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA began negotiations with the major studios on Wednesday, and the two sides have already agreed on one thing: they won’t be talking to the media about it. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and SAG-AFTRA said they will adhere to a media blackout for the duration of talks. “Today, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP began formal negotiations for a new contract, and with the agreement that neither organization will comment to the media about the negotiations during the process,” they said in a joint statement.

#PayUpHollywood, the organization founded in 2019 to promote pay equity for Hollywood’s assistants, said Wednesday that it has relaunched its Hollywood Support Staff Relief Fund as a permanent emergency fund to aid film and TV support staff impacted by the ongoing Writers Guild strike and any other industry work stoppages in the future.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The membership of SAG-AFTRA has voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike authorization, maximizing the guild’s leverage ahead of negotiations that begin on Wednesday. The guild announced Monday night that 97.91% of the voting members supported the authorization. Turnout was 47.69%. The vote comes as the Writers Guild of America strike enters its sixth week. Many SAG-AFTRA members have already joined WGA members walking the picket lines. The leaders of both guilds have expressed solidarity with each other several times this year. The writers strike has caused a sharp downturn in production, especially in television. If SAG-AFTRA goes on strike, any remaining film and TV production would halt immediately. The union represents 160,000 performers.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer With a tentative Directors Guild of America deal in hand and the Writers Guild of America on strike, SAG-AFTRA has been thrust into a bigger role than the performer’s union has played in years in the industry’s triennial labor contract negotiations. SAG-AFTRA gets its turn at the bargaining table this week, with an agenda that seeks to address the many ways that technology is changing the profession of acting. Two of the union’s top concerns — streaming residuals and artificial intelligence — are also key issues for the WGA and DGA. The performers’ guild is also uniquely focused on putting limits on “self-taped” auditions, which have become ubiquitous since the beginning of the pandemic.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA congratulated the Directors Guild of America on reaching an agreement with the studios on Sunday, but both groups stressed that the deal does not change their own goals. Both guilds are intent on pushing back against “pattern bargaining,” in which the terms of the DGA deal are typically applied to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. The WGA has been on strike for a month, while SAG-AFTRA begins its negotiations on Wednesday. “Our bargaining strategy has never relied upon nor been dependent on the outcome or status of any other union’s negotiations, nor do we subscribe to the philosophy that the terms of deals made with other unions bind us,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG-AFTRA, in a statement.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Even if you don’t work in the film and television industry, odds are you know there’s trouble brewing in Hollywood. You’ve probably heard about the Writers Guild strike and maybe you also know that SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike authorization, and you might be wondering, “What’s this all about?” The short answer is that it’s about the viability of making a living and having a career in the entertainment industry. In the quest for ever-greater profits, multimillionaire executives are looking for anywhere they can cut costs. They have raised prices, they have cracked down on password sharing, and now they’re coming for the people who make the shows.

SAG-AFTRA, which begins negotiations for a new contract on Wednesday, said today that its bargaining strategy remains unchanged in the wake of the tentative deal made last night by the Directors Guild and the studios.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if upcoming contract talks fail to produce a satisfactory agreement by June 30. The vote revealed Monday was 97.91% in favor, with nearly half of eligible members — 47.69% — casting ballots. According to the union, nearly 65% of eligible members voted.

released a memo to members of the actors guild congratulating the Directors Guild of America on reaching a tentative agreement on a new labor contract while noting that such a deal will have no impact on SAG-AFTRA’s own labor talks beginning this week. “Our bargaining strategy has never relied upon nor been dependent on the outcome or status of any other union’s negotiations, nor do we subscribe to the philosophy that the terms of deals made with other unions bind us,” the memo reads.

In a defiant clarion call for continued solidarity and endurance as the Writers Guild’s strike enters its second month, WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser says in a new video that the guild’s fight for a fair contract is not one that’s being fought for writers alone, but for the entire labor movement.

Netflix shareholders declined to support a proposal affirming the pay packages for top executives during a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.

Voting yes is NOT a vote to strike.

Voting yes is NOT a vote to strike. It gives the board the POWER to strike if the AMPTP doesn’t agree to the essential contract improvements our members need.We’re a union, and a union stands together! pic.twitter.com/aSdTvb23WNThe guild is set to begin talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 7.

A group of SAG-AFTRA members, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jean Smart and Bob Balaban, has released a video urging their fellow performers to approve the strike authorization that’s currently out for a vote of the guild’s eligible members.

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As the Writers Guild of America strike continues with no end in sight, rumours are swirling that the Directors Guild of America and SAG-ACTRA will be following suit when those unions’ contracts come up within the next few weeks.

Elizabeth Taylor Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ spoke out about the pending SAG-AFTRA strike authorization during the New York premiere of her new film “You Hurt My Feelings.” When the Emmy winner was asked if she will join the picket lines if the union calls for a stike, she told Variety on the red carpet, “You bet your fucking ass.” “I voted yes for the strike authorization,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus further explained before entering the screening at the DGA theater in Manhattan. “By the way, that doesn’t mean we’re striking. It just gives the board the ability to strike if they need to and I’m in favor of that. The issues that the Screen Actors Guild is facing are very similar to what the Writers Guild is facing; and even the DGA for that matter to certain extent…it’s time for us to stand up and get what we so rightfully deserve, which is a living wage, and particularly for the middle class in the Screen Actors Guild not to be squeezed out of the system all together.”

Just last week, the guild voted unanimously to ask members for authorization to go on strike if the guild is unable to reach a new deal with studios.The vote comes ahead of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group representing studios. Those are set to begin June 7. SAG-AFTRA’s current contract expires June 30.“SAG-AFTRA is taking a big bold step as the union prepares for our upcoming TV, theatrical and streaming negotiations,” Drescher said in a voice message posted on the guild’s Facebook page.