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Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer With one strike already underway, SAG-AFTRA announced Friday that it will seek authorization for a second strike against the major video game companies. The union said that talks on a new video game contract have reached a “stalemate,” and that the strike authorization vote is needed as leverage to win wage increases and protection from artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA declared a strike on July 13 against the major TV and film companies, shutting down productions around the globe.

SAG-AFTRA, which has been on strike against film and scripted TV productions since July 14, is now gearing up for another possible strike – this one against the video game industry. The guild’s last strike against the gaming companies, in 2016-17, lasted 183 days.

Trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan have unanimously agreed to a one-calendar-quarter extension of health coverage for certain qualified participants who would otherwise lose coverage on Oct. 1, 2023. The extension accounts for jobs that may have been lost in May and June of this year due to the Writers Guild strike. The WGA has been on strike since May 2, SAG-AFTRA since July 14.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Administrators of SAG-AFTRA’s health plan have made a big move to extend health care coverage for members who would otherwise lose their eligibility because of production shutdowns sparked by the Writers Guild of America strike. SAG-AFTRA Health Plan board of trustees voted unanimously to extend coverage by one calendar quarter for some members who would be off the rolls as of Oct. 1.

The power of a single vote was on full display yesterday in Nashville, where actor and stuntman Bill “Bilbro” Yarbrough defeated his nearest rival by a single vote to win a seat on the guild’s national board of directors.

For just about every decade that there has been a sitcom on television, it’s always been easy to identify those stars who shine bright as the current face of comedy. In the ’50s, it was Jackie Gleason and Lucille Ball. In the ’60s, it was Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith. The ’70s brought us Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore and Bea Arthur, followed by Sherman Hemsley, Bill Cosby and Michael J. Fox in the ’80s, Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr and the cast of Friends in the ’90s, Charlie Sheen and Bernie Mac in the early aughts and Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jim Parsons in 2006 and beyond. 

“How did I become Tom Joad? I used to write for a living.”

SAG-AFTRA has revealed more thinking behind its interim agreements, with leadership saying the initiative is “designed to undermine the production slates and timing of the AMPTP companies and ensure that they come back to the table”.

told the Los Angeles Times that attempts to arrange a meeting with Netflix — to demand that members be compensated with the same residual model as American members of SAG-AFTRA — have gone unanswered for months.“One of [Netflix’s] first priorities when entering the local market should be to establish some channel of communication with groups like us,” the country’s answer to Fran Drescher said.“But there’s no answer at all.”Residuals have recently been in the news as American actors and writers striking for fair compensation post their often insultingly meager checks, ranging from a single penny to a few dollars. As opposed to the royalties paid in broadcasting, residuals must be paid in perpetuity to actors in the United States, based on how many times their films and shows are streamed.

This is Day 94 of the WGA strike and Day 21 of the SAG-AFTRA strike

Joe Otterson TV Reporter SAG-AFTRA national president Fran Drescher stopped off at multiple picket lines in New York on Thursday to rally the members of the guild as their strike continues. “I just want to say I am so grateful for your enthusiasm and your commitment to this strike,” Drescher told the pickets outside HBO’s New York offices. “It means everything.

Although SAG-AFTRA’s leading political factions have united around the reelection of President Fran Drescher and Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, they’re not running unopposed in the guild’s upcoming election. Independent candidate Maya Gilbert-Dunbar will face off against Drescher and indie candidate Peter Antico will challenge Fisher, all four of whom have now officially qualified to appear on the ballot.

In the wake of yesterday’s upbeat news that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA are heading back for talks this Friday, SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says that as far as actors go, it’s still crickets from the producers.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher again took aim at the heads of the film and television conglomerates, calling them “greed-driven and disrespectful” and their corporate culture “maniacal” in remarks Tuesday at a rally outside New York City Hall. 

Stephen Amell‘s strong feelings about the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike aren’t sitting well with fellow members of the Arrowverse.

Stephen Amell, whose Starz drama series Heels returned for its second season over the weekend, is not going to the mat for the actors strike that is currently taking place in Hollywood.

SAG-AFTRA has released a statement projects that are allowed to film during the strike.

While Viola Davis’ upcoming movie G20 reached a temporary agreement with SAG-AFTRA to continue filming, she is taking a step back amid the ongoing union strike.

Bryan Cranston was one of many high-profile actors to hit the picket line in New York City on Tuesday, speaking at the SAG-AFTRA’s Rock the City for a Fair Contract rally.

UPDATED with video: Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, blasted the AMPTP at a strike rally Tuesday in Times Square, saying that the companies’ response to the guild’s proposals before contract talks broke off and the actors’ strike began 12 days ago was “No. No. No.”

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are wrestling over complicated contract proposals in a business turned inside-out by the transition from linear to streaming. But some of what’s on the table isn’t so complicated. Some of the discord between labor and management that led SAG-AFTRA to go on strike on July 13 is rooted in money and the hard reality of making minimum rates in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has vowed publicly that securing a hefty increase in minimum pay rates across the board is a deal-breaker issue for the union. Talk to any established working actor and it becomes clear why. Most of them say they’ve been dragged back to working for scale in a marketplace that has paid high-wattage stars record fees but put the squeeze on everyone else down the call sheet.

William Stanford Davis has been acting for decades yet receives a pittance of residuals.

Hollywood is mourning the loss of Tony Bennett. The singer who successfully led a decades-long career and captivated audiences with "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," died Friday.The star was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday. Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press, saying he passed away in his hometown of New York.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor There was a large crowd in the room when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s major studios and streamers formally began contract bargaining negotiations on June 7. About 80 participants from both the labor and management sides gathered at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for the first day of what everyone knew would be a difficult negotiation for the performers union, which has been on strike since July 13. One big presence in the negotiations process who was not there in person on Day One was Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA. But Drescher had no trouble making herself heard that day. She addressed the gathering via video conference call from Paris – and she definitely got management’s attention.

Fran Drescher became the "it girl" in Hollywood from the beginning of her career. From dancing with John Travolta in her first film, to creating and starring in her own, award-winning television sitcom, and then pivoting into becoming one of the most powerful people in the industry – Drescher kept her eye on the prize: success.  The New York-native had big dreams as a kid, and wanted to be a writer, hairdresser, actor or politician.

EXCLUSIVE: There is no deal in sight for the writers and actors with the studios and streamers, but one of Hollywood’s consummate dealmakers was on the picket line today in New York City

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher is keen to continue negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who are allegedly dragging their heels.

Fran Drescher has come a long way since playing the “flashy girl from Flushing” on The Nanny.

EXCLUSIVE: The Working Families Party is the latest organization to show support to striking writers and actors with a message for the studios.

Fran Drescher, the sitcom star turned actors union leader, preferred to evoke the French Revolution, likening SAG-AFTRA’s struggle to the proletariat’s rebellion against an out-of-touch monarchy. “Eventually the people break down the gates of Versailles,” the “Nanny” star said during a press conference officially announcing the strike.