US actors union agrees to extend talks as Alist stars show they are ready to strike
The US actors’ union and Hollywood studios announced in a statement on Friday that the two sides had agreed to extend their current labor deal through 12 July, hours before a midnight deadline.
“The parties will continue to negotiate under a mutually agreed upon media blackout,” the parties said.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, this move will allow for more time for negotiations and for ongoing projects to continue operating under Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) agreements until the new expiration date.
If the two parties do not reach an agreement by the end of the day on 12 July, the union can still call a strike – which, if it came to pass, would be its first targeting major film and television companies in four decades.
Fran Drescher, the Sag-Aftra president, struck an optimistic note in a video to members released last week, saying negotiations with the studios were “extremely productive”.
A strike by Sag-Aftra, which represents 160,000 actors, would come as Hollywood studios are already grappling with a nearly two-month work stoppage by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who have been picketing over issues including wages, streaming royalties and the use of artificial intelligence in their work. It would represent the first two-union strike in the industry in more than six decades, with huge consequences for film and television production.
The actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge, speaking to Reuters at the Indiana Jones premiere in London, noted that she was already on strike as a member of the WGA.
“I’m on the edge of my seat hoping that Sag will follow suit and stand up in support of the writers, and just really hope we can get this sorted,” WallerBridge said.
This week, news outlets reported, more than 300 actors, including some of Hollywood’s most prominent stars, circulated a letter to their union leaders urging them to fight for a strong deal, rather than compromise too soon.
Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Quinta Brunson, Ben Stiller, Neil Patrick Harris and other celebrities signed the letter telling their leadership, “This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough,” Rolling Stone reported.
One of the key concerns the actors highlighted in the letter to their union leaders this week was how their work may be changed by artificial intelligence technologies, an issue that has also become central to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike.
“We think it is absolutely vital that this negotiation protects not just our likenesses, but makes sure we are well compensated when any of our work is used to train AI,” the actors wrote to union leaders, according to Rolling Stone.
In early June, nearly 98% of Sag members voted to authorise a strike if needed, a sign of the ongoing tensions between talent and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as Hollywood’s business model has shifted increasingly towards digital and streaming models.
A spokesperson for Sag, which agreed to a “media blackout” during its contract negotiations with the studios,
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.