SAG-AFTRA Says Interim Agreements Are “Designed To Undermine The Production Slates” Of Hollywood Studios & “Ensure They Come Back To The Table”
SAG-AFTRA has revealed more thinking behind its interim agreements, with leadership saying the initiative is “designed to undermine the production slates and timing of the AMPTP companies and ensure that they come back to the table”.
President Fran Drescher and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland lifted the lid on the agreements, which have been awarded to well over 100 film and TV projects including Angel Studios’ Bible-based series The Chosen; the A24 films Mother Mary and I Dream of Unicorns and Apple TV+’s Tehran, in a note to members.
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The comments come after much debate about interim agreements, from the likes of Sarah Silverman, as well as producers, one of which told Deadline that it was “the Wild West”.
“A key element in our strike strategy is our Interim Agreement, which is being granted to certain vetted and truly independent productions. Along with the many other nonstruck contracts our members can currently work, these agreements give journeymen performers and crew the opportunity to pay their bills and put food on the table by working on these indie projects — projects which are not only agreeing to all the terms in our last offer to the AMPTP, but all the righteous proposals our members deserve that the studios rejected,” the pair wrote.
“These interim agreements demonstrate that the terms we proposed to the AMPTP are not ‘unrealistic’. 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,” they added.
The pair said that “we are living in a historic hour, as we fight to achieve a seminal contract, the likes of which we haven’t seen in over 60 years” as the actors mark the fourth week of their strike, coinciding with Day 100 of the writers strike.
The duo noted that the AMPTP “have not contacted us to resume talks” as the organization did with the writers, leading to Friday’s talks about talks.
“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. 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,” they added.
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