Hollywood Studios Suspend Talks with SAG-AFTRA, Likely Extending the Strike

Once studios came to a deal with striking writers, it seemed likely that Hollywood would be back to work soon, given that a deal with actors seemed imminent. Today, though, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke off talks with The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), in a move that’s likely to stretch the strike even more. The Hollywood strikes come amid a backdrop of labor activity in the U.S. that’s nearly unprecedented since the 1980s, with automakers on strike and visual effects artists and animators across the film and video game industries voting to unionize.

The SAG-AFTRA strike kicked off in July, and they’re seeking a deal that addresses many of the same issues already tackled in studio deals with the Director’s Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America. Major concerns include royalty and residual payments, which have plummeted in the last decade, and the studios’ eagerness to use artificial intelligence to reduce their labor costs.

“We have negotiated with them in good faith, despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began,” SAG-AFTRA told the membership (via Variety). “These companies refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI, they refuse to increase your wages to keep up with inflation, and they refuse to share a tiny portion of the immense revenue YOUR work generates for them.”

For their part, studios insist that the deal currently on the table is comparable to what was offered to the WGA and DGA, and so accuse SAG-AFTRA of being unreasonable. Of course, Disney chief Bob Iger famously called the writers’ and actors’ demands “unreasonable” from day one, so that is not an entirely compelling critique.

“The companies are using the same failed strategy they tried to inflict on the WGA – putting out misleading information in an attempt to fool our members into abandoning our solidarity and putting pressure on our negotiators,” the union told Variety. “But, just like the writers, our members are smarter than that and will not be fooled.”

It appears as though the key sticking point is minimum rates: SAG-AFTRA is seeking an 11% raise in minimums, which would bring the rates in line with current rates of inflation. Both the DGA and WGA were willing to compromise on minimums in order to get other priorities addressed, such as working conditions, streaming residuals, and benefits. As a result, their minimums increased by between 3 and 5% (with smaller, scheduled annual increases to follow), which is reportedly what studios are now offering the actors.