Actors' Strike Update: SAG-AFTRA Confirms Negotiations Will Continue Through the Weekend

The Writers' Strike is officially coming to an end, with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ratifying its new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and sending writers back to work. Now it's the actors' turn. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) remains on strike, but progress is being made with the AMPTP. The two sides have been in negotiations this week and work will continue over the weekend.

On Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA sent a message out to its members, informing them of the status of the ongoing contract talks. Negotiations will resume on Friday, with the two sides continuing internal work over the weekend. Talks will resume on Monday.

"To our fellow SAG-AFTRA Members: We have concluded today's bargaining with the AMPTP and will resume talks on Friday, October 6," reads the message from SAG-AFTRA. "The parties will be working internally over the weekend, resuming Monday, October 9. Please continue to come out to picket lines or other strike activities in your local. One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes."

We have concluded today’s bargaining with the AMPTP and will resume talks on Friday, October 6. The parties will be working internally over the weekend, resuming Monday, Oct. 9.

Please continue to come out to picket lines or other strike activities in your local. pic.twitter.com/U2MSCE4rqK

— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) October 5, 2023

This is definitely positive news for SAG-AFTRA, as it means talks are progressing and haven't broken down. As long as both sides continue to meet, it feels like a deal for the actors will only get closer and closer.

Also providing hope to the striking SAG-AFTRA members is the fact that the WGA was able to get a great deal done with the AMPTP, one that addressed many of their issues. Jon Cryer, star of Two and a Half Men, told Deadline earlier this week why he was optimistic about a new contract coming together.

"When you lose your middle tier of performer, you hollow out the entire industry," Cryer told the trade. "You make your TV shows without a real professionalized base of people and if everybody's forced to do this as a hobby, your industry collapses. That's why I have always felt like that we were actually on the same side as the AMPTP. We want this to be a healthy industry. We want them to succeed. We want them to make record profits, that's fantastic, share them with us and that will allow us to have a huge professional group of actors at your beck and call."