SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP Confirm Negotiations Begin Next Week

Officials with SAG-AFTRA reveal they're heading back to the negotiating table next week.

By Adam Barnhardt

Now that the writers' strike has ended, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Actors has turned its eye to addressing the ongoing actors' strike. Wednesday evening, SAG-AFTRA announced it's going to pick negotiations back up with the AMPTP next week with hopes of getting a new deal that will end its ongoing strike. The union announced the news through postings across its social media channels.

"SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will meet for bargaining on Monday, Oct. 2. Several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance. As negotiations proceed, we will report any substantiative updates directly to you," union officials wrote. "We appreciated the incredible displays of solidarity and support from all of you over the last 76 days of this strike. We urge you to continue coming out to the picket lines in strength and big numbers every day! One Day Longer. One Day Stronger."

The statement seems to hint that SAG-AFTRA officials will be negotiating directly with the executives of movie studios, rather than the companies' representatives in the AMPTP. A similar process helped move the Writers Guild of America strike along with the likes of Disney CEO Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav, and Netflix boss Ted Sarandos negotiating themselves. Iger mentioned in an earnings call this summer that he's "personally committed" to resolving both Hollywood strikes.

"And speaking of the content we create, I'd like to say a few words about the ongoing strikes," Iger said in part. "Nothing is more important to this company and its relationships with the creative community, and that includes actors, writers, animators, directors and producers. I have deep respect and appreciation for all those who are vital to the extraordinary creative engine that drives this company and our industry. And it is my fervent hope that we quickly find solutions to the issues that have kept us apart these past few months, and I am personally committed to working to achieve this result."

What Did Bob Iger Say About the Strike?

Previously, while appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box, Iger called the strike "very disruptive", and argued that the things both unions want to negotiate on are not "realistic" in the current industry model.

"It's very disturbing to me," Iger revealed. "We've talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we're facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it's not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption. I understand any labor organization's desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we'd like to do the same thing with the actors. There's a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive."

The SAG-AFTRA strike has currently lasted for 75 days while the WGA strike ended after 148 days.

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