As Hollywood was bracing for the possibility of the first simultaneous strike by Hollywood writers and actors in more than 60 years, the Screen Actors Guild said it had agreed to a “last-minute request” to work with a federal mediator in contract negotiations with film and TV studios.
But the union said it would not extend its Wednesday night deadline to reach a deal before its 160,000 members go on strike, citing their frustration with the studios’ negotiating tactics.
“We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal,” the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) said in a statement on Tuesday evening, about 30 hours before the contract negotiation deadline. “We are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.”
The union representing Hollywood actors has already extended negotiations with film studios once, in late June, after a letter from some of Hollywood’s A-list talent, including Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence, urged union leaders not to settle for a mediocre deal in what they saw as a historically important contract negotiation.
Hollywood’s writers have already been on strike for more than two months, with no deal with the studios in sight.
If a strike becomes necessary, we're ready. pic.twitter.com/62kUzNId4e
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) July 8, 2023
Writers and actors are fighting over similar concerns in their contract negotiations with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which includes legacy film companies such as Universal and Disney, and digital disruptors, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
The sticking points include how much compensation actors and writers receive when their work ends up on streaming platforms, rather than on television, and what rules and protections will exist for artists as studios continue to explore new uses of artificial intelligence technology – from AI-generated TV scripts to AI-generated likenesses of actors and celebrities.
Studio executives had discussed the possibility of calling in a federal mediator to assist with the negotiation during an internal call on Monday, Variety reported.
In its Tuesday night statement, Sag-Aftra blasted AMPTP for what the union characterized as a deliberate effort to plant a story in the press before informing the union about it.
The union said it condemned “information that was leaked to the press by the CEOs and their ‘anonymous sources’ before our negotiators were even told of the request for mediation,” the union said. “The AMPTP has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process.”
