“I can’t believe she’s here!” An industry audience member whispered to his neighbor at the Chuck Jones Theater at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday night, as Julia Louis-Dreyfus took to the stage. Louis-Dreyfus was the first Telluride actress to benefit from one of the Screen Actors Guild temporary agreements, which allowed her to promote her film A24, Tuesday.
Louis-Dreyfus, a regular at the picket lines during the strike, was apparently ready to explain his position to the audience at Chuck Jones, nearly all of whom assumed they were coming to the premiere of a small film without stars. From an unknown first-time director, Dina O. Busik.
“As a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild for the past 41 years, I stand here in solidarity with my union and the WGA,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “I want to thank my guild for the fight they’re fighting for actors across the country, and for awarding our film, this film, TuesdayTemporary deal, so I can stay here. She went on to thank A24 for signing the agreement, which is binding until SAG and the Motion Picture Television Producers Alliance strike a deal. “If small studios like A24 can accept what my colleagues and sisters deserve, why can’t AMPTP?”
Over the past few weeks, SAG members and their representatives have been trying to figure out how to handle the fall festival season while on strike. As Telluride’s first day debuted on the 47th day of the SAG strike, Louis-Dreyfus and another actress, Emma Stone, gave some examples of how they did it.
Stone also has a movie here, a Liorgos Lanthimos movie bad things, which she starred in and produced for Searchlight. Searchlight, as a division of Disney, is part of AMPTP and therefore a successful company. Stone bought herself a movie pass, flew on the festival charter, and seemed, at least until Thursday night, to be flying under the radar for all but the most keen festival-goer. She does not participate in the questions and answers for bad things Or do press on behalf of the film. This simple strategy won’t work at Venice or Toronto – which are much larger festivals with red carpets and photo sessions, but here in Telluride, a Spanx-free environment, it does.
There are other actors here too, including Sandra Holler, whose films area of interest (a24) f Fall Anatomy (Neon) is distributed by companies that are not members of AMPTP.
Laura Linney and Maya Hawke are here on behalf of wildcat, the title of Ethan Hawke’s independent takeover that has been awarded SAG’s interim agreement. So does Dakota Johnson, the self-employed person. DadeoAlso for sale and covered by a temporary agreement. Buyers of films that have signed interim agreements will need to abide by the terms laid out in the agreements, which AMPTP has already rejected, and it is unclear how these films will fare in the marketplace.
When SAG initially introduced the interim agreements, some members, including Sarah Silverman, raised questions about them. Just over a week ago, SAG issued a statement encouraging members to take advantage of the agreements. “The Interim Agreement is a vital part of our strategic approach and was put in place for a number of reasons, all aimed at protecting the interests of our members,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG National Executive Director, in a statement.
And in Venice on Thursday, Adam Driver was promoted Ferrari, Neon, whose reviews were similar to those of Louis-Dreyfus in Telluride. “I am proud to be here, to be a visual representation of a film that is not part of AMPTP,” said Driver.
Elsewhere in Telluride, signs of a strike were subtle. The Chuck Jones Theater where the Louis-Dreyfus movie premiered is sponsored by Netflix and usually has their logo prominent. But the festival asked sponsors to ditch the banner banners this year, which meant Louis-Dreyfus was able to speak without the AMPTP logo looming behind her.
Across the city, there are signs that the strike has made local businesses more sensitive. “Oat milk is free for SAG-AFTRA members” is written on the chalkboard in front of a coffee shop.
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