Hollywood unions issued a statement on Friday calling on the major studios to resume negotiations with SAG-AFTRA, two days after talks with the actors’ union broke down.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said on Wednesday that the gap between the two sides was “too wide” and that further negotiations would not be productive. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 92 days.
The AMPTP has offered SAG-AFTRA an agreement that, in key respects, mirrors agreements reached with the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America.
The guilds are wary of being pitted against each other. In the statement, the unions – which include the WGA, DGA and IATSE – argued that the AMPTP should recognise that dealing with SAG-AFTRA “requires more than proposals that simply replicate terms negotiated with other unions”.
“We collectively demand that the AMPTP immediately resume negotiations in good faith, make meaningful moves at the table with SAG-AFTRA to address the specific needs of performers, and deliver the fair deal they deserve,” the unions said.
The main stumbling block in the actors’ talks is a proposal to share revenue from streaming platforms. SAG-AFTRA originally demanded 2% of the revenue attributed to each film or TV show on a streaming platform, to be divided among the actors.
The CEOs of four studios adamantly rejected this, so this week SAG-AFTRA revised its demands. The union is now asking for 57 cents a year per streaming subscriber, which it estimates would cost streamers $500 million a year.
The AMPTP has responded that the real cost is more than $800 million. The proposal led the studios to conclude that SAG-AFTRA was not on the same page as the studios.
Although the WGA ratified its contract last week and writers have returned to work, casting, promotion and production cannot resume while actors are on strike.
The Teamsters, the Hollywood Basic Crafts unions and the American Federation of Musicians also joined in the statement of support for SAG-AFTRA.
“Our members work side by side for the same handful of employers, and our unions and guilds are more united than ever,” the guilds said in their statement. “Every day that a fair contract that addresses actors’ unique priorities is delayed is another day that workers in our industry suffer needlessly.”
