SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are at an impasse and the negotiations between the actors and studios have been suspended for the time being. While the WGA writers' strike officially came to an end earlier this week, the other strike seems to be nowhere near over. Now, the president of the actors' union, Fran Drescher, has shared a blunt response about what went down in those meetings and how the studios responded to the actors' requests.
After five days of negotiations, the studios walked away from the table, and Drescher was “shocked.” In an interview with NBC News, the actress and union president said:
It really came as a shock to me because what does that exactly mean and why would you walk away from the table? It’s not like we’re asking for anything that’s so outrageous.
This comes after the AMPTP released a statement that said, in part:
It is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.
Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, also spoke about the talks coming to an end with Bloomberg Screentime. He explained that there were “productive talks going,” however, when the actors introduced a “levy on subscribers,” it “felt like a bridge too far to add this deep into the negotiation.”
He also said that the studios had offered SAG-AFTRA a bonus based on a show’s success on streaming, and noted that it’s similar to the deal that was recently ratified by the writers. The AMPTP claimed that this levy on subscribers would cost more than $800 million per year, Drescher countered that point, telling NBC:
That’s an inflated price for that benefit of the press. It factors out to 57 cents per year per subscriber, less than a postage stamp.
Continuing to address the studios' claims and their decision to walk away from the negotiations, Fran Drescher bluntly said:
It's so wrong. And it’s so unfair. That they walked out of the meeting and so disrespectful. You know when I was there, I mean they talk at you. They really don’t want to hear what you have to say or why you’re saying it.
Along with the “levy on subscribers” causing tension, the president of SAG-AFTRA also noted that the studios refused to increase the minimum wage for actors, and the two parties still deeply disagree on AI protections.
We’ve already seen the impact of the strikes on the 2023 TV schedule, as many shows can’t return yet for the fall season. Also, many movies among 2023’s new film releases have been delayed, including Challengers (which will come out in April) and Dune: Part Two (which is now slated for March).
Some productions, like films made by A24 and other smaller companies, are allowed to continue filming and promotion because they have interim agreements from SAG-AFTRA, or they’re under a different contract called the Network Code – which is how late-night shows and SNL were able to return. However, many major motion pictures and series cannot resume production until the actors’ strike ends. This means that if negotiations don’t restart, the 2024 movie schedule and TV guide could be impacted.
At the time of this writing, it’s unclear when negotiations will restart. Drescher said there is no meeting scheduled, and explained that her union members “can't go back to the way things were,” noting it’s “unsustainable.”
