Ketty
Exclusive: Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, said earlier today that the picketing had begun, and now “cautiously optimistic,” as one insider put it, has turned into a period Thursday taken to the stage of guild-to-guild negotiations. studios.
On that note, we hear that both SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP have agreed to meet again on Friday, October 27th. After almost 5 hours today’s talks ended.
With none of yesterday’s live talks, the gist of Wednesday’s discussions was SAG-AFTRA’s response to AMPTP’s most recent offer of additional bonuses on Oct. 24, based on the success of streaming shows and movies and a hike in minimum wages. Using a rough deal with the Writers Guild as a basis, the studios proposed a minimum 7% increase. The guild, which has been debating an 11% rise, recognized the tactic of the move and offered a compromise that narrowed the gap between the two.
As a Guild source put it, “evolving,” their revenue-sharing request, the ideas Guild came up with Thursday were “something we could work on,” a studio source said.
SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 105 days, so that may be a good sign. The summer Hollywood strikes cost the Southern California economy $6.5 billion and the loss of 45,000 jobs, with production halted by labor actions by Guild and the now-settled WGA and shaky small-screen and big-screen schedules for 2024.
Not wanting to put the cart before the horse, however, another studio source tells Deadline that “nothing has been resolved” in the room today.
However, taking a step back from discussions scheduled for October 25 to “deeply reconsider” the new AMPTP proposal, chairman Fran Drescher, Crabtree-Ireland and other guild leaders returned to the bargaining table for a second day on Thursday. The latest round of negotiations. Earlier this month and on Oct. 24, they were joined by Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslau and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and AMPardini president Carole Lombardini, as were WGA talks and the final days of SAG-AFTRA negotiations. .
Courtesy / Courtesy
Noting that, the doom and gloom chorus of a marginalized industry has returned, today’s meeting between CEOs and the SAG-AFTRA negotiating team started a little later than usual. The meeting at the Actors Guild’s Wilshire Blvd offices didn’t start until noon to sync up everyone’s schedules. Facing a slightly open morning, SAG-AFTRA’s Crabtree-Ireland took the opportunity to jump the picket line at the Paramount to march with members. Saying he was “cautiously optimistic,” Guild’s chief negotiator told Deadline Thursday that “we are 100% focused on getting a fair deal on the table.”
It looks like everyone who is important to seeing the outcome of this strike is going to be at that table for at least one more day.
