The Hollywood unions issued a statement Friday calling on the major studios to resume bargaining with SAG-AFTRA, two days after talks with the actors union broke down.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Wednesday that the gap between the two sides was “too great,” and that further negotiations would not be productive. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike for 92 days.
The AMPTP has offered SAG-AFTRA a deal that would be patterned, in key respects, on 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 realize that in dealing with SAG-AFTRA, “more is needed than proposals which merely replicate the terms negotiated with other unions.”
“We collectively demand the AMPTP resumes negotiations in good faith immediately, make meaningful moves at the negotiating table with SAG-AFTRA to address performers’ specific needs, and make the fair deal they deserve,” the unions said.
The key stumbling block in the actors talks is a proposal to share in the revenue of streaming platforms. SAG-AFTRA initially demanded 2% of the revenue attributed to each film or TV show on a streaming platform, which would be divided among the cast.
The CEOs of four studios have adamantly rejected that, causing SAG-AFTRA to reconfigure its demand this week. The union is now asking for 57 cents per year per streaming subscriber, which it estimates would cost the streamers $500 million a year.
The AMPTP has responded that the true cost is more than $800 million. The proposal prompted the studios to conclude that SAG-AFTRA is not in the same ballpark as the studios.
Though the WGA ratified its contract last week, and writers have returned to work, casting, promotion and production cannot resume while the 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 collectively stand more united than ever,” the guilds said in their statement. “Each day a fair contract addressing actors’ unique priorities is delayed is another day working professionals across our industry suffer unnecessarily.”
