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EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said it on the picket lines earlier Thursday, and now it seems that “cautious optimism,” as an insider also characterized it today, has become the takeaway term for the state of talks between the actors guild and the studios.
In that vein, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP have agreed to meet again Friday, after negotiations today that ended after almost five hours.
With no direct talks Wednesday, the gist of today’s deliberations was SAG-AFTRA’s response to the AMPTP’s most recent offer of increased bonuses based on the success of streaming shows and movies and a rise in minimum rates. Using their hard-fought deal with the Writers Guild as a baseline, the studios had put forth a 7% increase in minimums. It is understood that SAG-AFTRA, which has been discussing an 11% rise, recognized the tactical heft of the move and offered a compromise that lessened the gap between the two.
Having “evolved,” as one guild source put it, its revenue-sharing demand, a studio source said the ideas the guild countered with Thursday are “something we can work with.”
That could be a good-ish sign as SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 105 days now. With production at a standstill, and 2024 scheduling looking shaky for both movies and TV, the summer of Hollywood strikes had cost the economy of Southern California an estimated $6.5 billion and the loss of 45,000 jobs.
However, not wanting to put the cart before the horse, another studio source tells Deadline that “nothing was resolved” today in the room.
Still, having taken a step back from scheduled deliberations on October 25 “to do a deep review” of the new AMPTP proposal, president Fran Drescher, Crabtree-Ireland and other guild leadership were back at the bargaining table Thursday for the second day of this latest round of talks. As was the case with the final days of WGA talks and SAG-AFTRA negotiations earlier this month and on October 24, they were joined by Disney’s Bob Iger, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, plus AMPTP president Carol Lombardini.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Fran Drescher, Ted Sarandos, Bob Iger, David Zaslav & Donna Langley
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With that noted, and the return of the doom and gloom chorus from sidelined industry doyens, today’s meeting between the CEOs and the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee did get off to a bit of a later than usual start. The gathering at the actors guild’s Wilshire Blvd offices did not kick off until around noon to sync up everyone’s schedules. Facing a slightly open morning, SAG-AFTRA’s Crabtree-Ireland took the opportunity to jump out on to the picket line at Paramount to march with members. Stating that he was “cautiously optimistic,” the guild chief negotiator also told Deadline Thursday “we’re 100% focused on making a fair deal at the table.”
Looks like everyone that matters in seeing this strike end is going to be at that table, at least for one more day.
