Some of Hollywood’s most significant players return to the drawing board this Monday with plans to engage in another round of negotiations with SAG-AFTRA. Those in attendance are Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman and chief content officer Donna Langley. The new meeting brings hope for closure to the ongoing strike that has kept SAG-AFTRA members from participating in film and television projects, with some exceptions.
The new meeting follows the end of the WGA strike. After months of back-and-forth and determination for better work conditions, the writers’ group recently agreed to return to work. Usually, a swarm of labor relations executives negotiate on behalf of the studios alongside the AMPTP. However, “by the time the CEOs began to engage again [with the WGA], they did so understanding that these problems that we were bringing to the table needed to be handled seriously, and we had serious, meaningful negotiation,” said WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser.
While optimism is in the air, SAG-AFTRA makes it clear they have no plans to relax picket lines unless negotiations go exceptionally well. Asking everyone involved to hold the line, the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee stated, “We will continue to communicate updates with you directly,” speaking directly to those on the front lines. “One day longer. One day stronger. As long as it takes.”
The resolution of the writers’ strike could hopefully mean a similar resolution for SAG-AFTRA. Once the actors’ union and the studios reach their own agreement, all the projects put on pause will be back on after months of striking. According to Variety, Hollywood is preparing for the logistical nightmare of both resuming and starting the filming of movie and TV projects simultaneously. Elsa Ramo, an attorney representing Imagine Entertainment and Skydance, explained, “The priorities seem to be things that were all but greenlit but stopped because of the strike. They need to figure out how they finish what they started.”
Are we nearing the end of the road for the SAG-AFTRA strike? Let us know which film or television project you hope goes back into production sooner rather than later in the comments section below.
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