Actors’ Strike Negotiations to Continue With Deal Reportedly in Sight

The actors’ strike is in its 110th day, but an end may be in sight. On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios stopped negotiations for the day with plans to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, sources on the studio side indicate that the negotiations are “headed in the right direction” and a deal could be imminent. Reportedly, Tuesday’s negotiations were spent taking on issues of artificial intelligence (AI) while additional issues will be worked on in the coming days.

On Monday, the actors’ union’s negotiating committed had communicated to members that while negotiations continued, a deal might not be so imminent while a video message on Tuesday from SAG-AFTRA executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland noted that the union needs to keep working and keep the pressure on, particularly when it comes to matters of AI.

“While I’ve said I’m cautiously optimistic, that means we’ve got to keep the pressure on,” he said. “We’ve got to keep on pushing because there are really important pieces of this agreement that are not there yet and they have to come across. AI, for example, has to be right. This deal cannot be done without a fair deal on AI.”

Why Did SAG-AFTRA Go On Strike?

SAG-AFTRA initially went on strike earlier this year to address many of the same issues already tackled in studio deals with the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) and WGA. Among those issues were concerns about royalty and residual payments as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) on the part of the studios to reduce labor costs. Back in May, SAG-AFTRA’s national board unanimously agreed to send an authorization vote to members, with and 97.91 percent of members ultimately voting in favor of authorization.

“Yesterday our union celebrated the 90th anniversary of the incorporation of Screen Actors Guild,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator said during a press conference. “During our nearly century long existence we’ve fought for and achieved countless gains for working actors. Today, we embark on a new important chapter in our union’s history. Earlier this morning, the SAG-AFTRA national board convened following four weeks of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers in a meeting, because AMPTP remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on key issues essential to protecting the livelihoods of working actors and performers. SAG AFTRA as national board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the studios and streamers.”

The Writers’ Strike Ended Earlier This Month

The WGA strike officially ended earlier in October, though many writers have continued to appear on picket lines in support of their peers in SAG-AFTRA. That strike lasted for 148 days. The actors’ strike coming to an end would mean a full return to work for Hollywood, which has largely been in limbo since the beginning of the summer when the writers first took to the picket lines.