Actors' Guild to Stop Approving Indie Projects Amid Ongoing Hollywood Strikes

Over the past few months, the Writers Guild of America strike has had a major impact on the entertainment industry. With the SAG-AFTRA actors guild now on strike as well, the vast majority of film and television projects have shut down production entirely, outside of a select few independent projects given interim agreements. On Monday, SAG-AFTRA announced (via Variety) another change to those interim agreement rules, revealing that they will no longer been granting allowance to any projects that were written under a WGA contract and will be produced in the United States.

"We have been advised by the WGA that this modification will assist them in executing their strike strategy, and we believe it does not undermine the utility and effectiveness of ours," SAG-AFTRA announced in a statement "It is a win-win change."

A total of 207 projects were initially given interim agreements in the time since the SAG-AFTRA strike began, and thus granted the  ability to continue filming amid the strike. These incude the Anne Hathaway-led Mother Mary, The CW series The Chosen, and the Rebel Wilson-led film Bride Hard. A24, which is producing Mother Mary and does not have ties to the AMPTP, also got approval for the Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega-led Death of a Unicorn. This new SAG-AFTRA change will not impact these 2017 productions. 

When Did the WGA and AMPTP Meet?

Late last week, WGA leadership sent an email to members revealing that a meeting with the AMPTP occurred earlier that day, and led to a new package of proposals from the studios. The plan is reportedly for the WGA to respond to the AMPTP sometime next week, although there's no telling if that could result in a deal between the two. Even then, WGA brass have confirmed that if a deal is closed with the WGA, the writers will not start work until both strikes are resolved.

"We will evaluate their offer and, after deliberation, go back to them with the WGA's response next week," the guild told members. "Sometimes more progress can be made in negotiations when they are conducted without a blow-by-blow description of the moves on each side and a subsequent public dissection of the meaning of the moves. That will be our approach, at least for the time being, until there is something of significance to report, or unless management uses the media or industry surrogates to try to influence the narrative."

What do you think of the latest update regarding the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!