Negotiations between the studios and SAG-AFTRA faced challenges today, but there is hope as the Guild has officially announced that both parties will reconvene tomorrow in their ongoing efforts to resolve the strike that has persisted for over 100 days.
In an email sent to its members following the day’s negotiations, SAG-AFTRA reported, “Today, the CEOs returned to the negotiating table, and we are scheduled to continue talks with them tomorrow,” echoing our previous report on the matter.
The Guild’s TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee, reflecting the importance of accurate information dissemination, added, “We will keep you updated directly. Please remember not to trust any information from the press unless it originates directly from us. It remains crucial that you continue your presence on the picket lines and let your voices resonate across the nation.”
The first day of the latest round of renewed talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA has ended, with proposed plans for the principals to meet again — possibly in the next day or so.
Declared “suspended” on Oct. 11 by the studios over a union plan for additional payouts based on a streaming show’s success, the now-resurrected deliberations restarted today with the AMPTP putting some new proposals on the table – to less than stellar response on this 103rd day of the actors union’s strike.
Labeled as “generous,” by studio sources, the jewel in the AMPTP’s negotiating crown Tuesday was a new take on what has been termed “success-based compensation.” Seeking to sidestep the trap that revenue sharing and a “subscriber levy,” as Netflix’s Ted Sarandos repeatedly dismissively termed it over the past two weeks, has become in the talks, the CEOs believed they have found a mechanism “to ensure that there are greater payouts to cast members,” as one insider put it.
“It all depends, these talks depend, on how the Guild reacts to this latest offer,” another industry source told Deadline earlier today. between the studios
The reaction was pretty clear out of the gate. The proposal “flopped,” an individual close to the deliberations told Deadline.
While others also said the day proved “not great” at points and there were a lot of raw feelings over the studios’ sudden shuttering of talks two weeks ago, cumulatively the two sides completed a near full day of deliberations — which is much better than no talks at all, for sure.