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Disagreements over a wide range of issues – from a pay increase to a revenue-sharing plan for streaming platforms to meal-breaking penalty increases Hollywood companies and artist union SAG-AFTRA split their negotiations, which collapsed on July 12.
Meanwhile, some progress was made during the five weeks of negotiations on issues including breaks in the schedule, compensation for translating transcripts and some self-recorded testing limitations, SAG-AFTRA alleged in a letter to members Monday that included comprehensive scheme for their proposals and the companies’ alleged responses. Although the letter was often skimpy on details about the SAG-AFTRA proposals and AMPTP’s responses, it did paint a picture of two sides that are still a long way from the deal.
Meanwhile, the association said in a statement that SAG-AFTRA continues to “mischaracterize” the two parties’ discussions. “Not only does its press release intentionally misrepresent the offers made by AMPTP, but it also fails to include proposals made verbally to the SAG-AFTRA leadership on July 12,” the coalition said. According to the group, which represents studios and displays in negotiations, its July 12 offer to the union is valued at more than $1 billion in pay improvements, residual increases, and health and pension contributions.
When it comes to general minimum rate increases, the union has been seeking pay increases of 11 percent in year one of the new contract, 4 percent in year two and 4 percent in year three during TV/theatrical negotiations for 2023. Studios and broadcasters have confirmed they are It will make only 5, 4 and 3.5 percent in the three years of the agreement, SAG-AFTRA has claimed, the same rate increases that the Directors Guild of America agreed to in its 2023 contract, which was ratified in June. . (In its Monday statement, AMPTP called its show “the highest bottom line increase in 35 years.”) As another way to increase member compensation, the union additionally suggested that performers take a cut of subscribers’ revenue “generated when their performances are shown on streaming platforms.” , which AMPTP rejected outright, according to the working group.
On another major issue, that of generative AI regulation, SAG-AFTRA has been ambiguous about its proposals and AMPTP responses. The union was seeking to “devise a comprehensive set of provisions to protect man-made work and require informed consent and fair compensation when a ‘digital copy’ of an artist is created, or when their sound, look, or performance is significantly altered by the use of artificial intelligence.” The union claimed that AMPTP “failed to address several vital concerns, leaving lead performers and background actors vulnerable to having most of their works replaced by digital replicas.”
Meanwhile, AMPTP called its rapidly changing technology offering “groundbreaking” and said it “protects the digital likeness of performers, including the requirement that a performer agree to create and use digital replicas or to make digital alterations to a performance.”
Other notable differences the union noted in a letter on Monday related to increasing “range” figures (SAG-AFTRA said the companies’ proposal was “inadequate”), strengthening “caps” for long-stagnant pensions and a Medicare plan that limits how much can be charged. Members earnings based on contributions to the union’s benefit plans (the union said the studios faced “inadequate increases”; AMPTP said the proposed increases were “significant”). The two similarly could not agree on the size of transportation allowances, because when a performer works in a state or country outside of where he lives, meal break penalties must be increased or performance capture work may be covered by a SAG-AFTRA contract.
There were some areas where they reached early tentative agreements (which are still subject to change when the parties return to the negotiating table). With regard to self-recorded auditions, one of the union’s main areas of concern, which asserts that these types of auditions place an undue burden on performers, the union says studios and broadcasters have “tentatively agreed to some but not all of the necessary regulations.” , including flattening in response times, but without a real means of implementation. The parties similarly agreed that actors should not be required to translate scripts without compensation and that both sides should “comply with the minimum payments that performers must receive before employers can invoke the various ‘schedules’ under which members forfeit their entitlement to additional payments such as Weekly overtime.”
In its statement, AMPTP also said it had offered the union a 76 percent increase in higher budget foreign streaming hangovers and a 58 percent increase in pay for guest star roles in higher budget streaming projects. The group added that studios and broadcast screens have offered to set terms and conditions for high-budget AVOD projects, fixed tailings for TV coordinators, and high-budget broadcast projects. (SAG-AFTRA said these tailings would be “counted as if they only worked one day” even if the coordinators worked longer.)
SAG-AFTRA called a strike starting July 14 after the film and television contract expired and the company and AMPTP did not reach agreement on a new three-year agreement. After five weeks of negotiations, major studios and showrunners offered a deal that was “humiliating,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher claimed Thursday. “It is with great sadness that we have come to this crossroads,” she said. AMPTP, on the other hand, stated that the union rejected a positive offer and “sadly chose a path that will lead to financial hardship for untold thousands of people who depend on the industry.”
Although SAG-AFTRA initially indicated to members that the negotiations had been “very productive” in June, the tone took a turn in the days before the contract package expired. The union began preparing major PR firms and hundreds of agents to strike, and AMPTP sought help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The service was agreed to be provided by SAG-AFTRA, which attended the talks on Wednesday, but did not allow the discussions to be extended, saying it was wary of a “cynical ploy” on the part of the companies.
Starting July 14, the members of SAG-AFTRA have been shooting tons of studio and corporate locations in Los Angeles and New York while major productions – including Deadpool 3, Mission Impossible 8 And Venom 3 – Closed or delayed without performers. AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have not publicly released a date when they will return to the negotiating table.
July 17, 9:40 p.m Updated in response to AMPTP.
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