Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) Chief TonyVinciquerraappeared at the second annual Audio-Visual Producers Summit in Trieste, Italy and during a panel talked extensively about the ongoing strike in the United States by members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
“The most recent offer by the studios through the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMPTP) to the SAG-AFTRA group was the best offer that has ever been made to the union. And he stressed that studios want to get back into the negotiating room and end the strike as quickly as possible.,” said Vinciquerra.
That statement is in marked contrast to claims from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA that the studio negotiating group has refused to negotiate with either union once the strikes had begun.
Vinciquerra went to express his worry about the number of people in the industry who aren’t part of the striking unions, but whose livelihoods are being impacted by the work stoppage.
“We are very dismayed by these strikes, we entered negotiations with WGA and SAG intending to make a deal, wanting to make a deal. There are lots of headlines saying the opposite, that is absolutely untrue. We need to do a deal, we want to do a deal,” he told the audience. We value our writers, we value our actors, they are very important partners to us as we produce both film and television. We want to get this done, we want to get back in the negotiating room.”
Vinciquerra seemed perplexed by the anger of the striking workers and said he believed it was important to lower the volume of the rhetoric around the strike.
“It is a strange world right now,” said Vinciquerra. “Coming out of the pandemic, you are seeing this labor aggression in virtually every place, the schools system, hotels system in Los Angeles, the court workers. Something is happening in the zeitgeist.”
Edited by Judy J. Rotich and Newsdesk Manager
