SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher Says Interim Agreements ‘Designed to Undermine’ Studios’ Production Schedules

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland sent a new memo to actors guild members on Wednesday reasserting that interim agreements are a “key element” in their strike strategy.

The memo reiterates many of the arguments SAG-AFTRA leadership has made in favor of offering such agreements to independent productions that agree to the terms that the guild proposed to the AMPTP during its failed negotiations.

Allowing those productions to resume shooting, they argue, not only allows working-class guild members to find employment but also serves to “undermine the production slates and timing of the AMPTP companies and ensure that they come back to the table.”

“Our interim agreements are quite literally the opposite of ‘waivers,'” Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland wrote. “There are no passes, exceptions or exemptions being given to anyone. Productions must agree to all our terms or that work is struck.”

“These interim agreements demonstrate that the terms we proposed to the AMPTP are not ‘unrealistic,'” the memo continues. “They are fair. And if these independent productions are able to agree to them, then the billion- and trillion-dollar companies should be able to as well!”

To date, more than 100 productions have signed SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreement, including the fourth season of the independent Christian series “The Chosen” and the A24 film “Mother Mary” starring Anne Hathaway.

In addition to the memo, SAG-AFTRA is hosting an online members-only meeting to answer questions about the interim agreement process and how it affects the strike, which is about to complete its fourth week.

“We find ourselves on the front lines of a global labor movement. We are not alone. There are millions of workers across the nation and around the world fighting similar battles against corporate greed who are standing with us in solidarity,” the memo reads. “It is clear from your show of force on the picket lines, your social media posts and the many interviews we have seen, that our cause is righteous. Your determination will carry us to victory.”

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