SAG-AFTRA to Strike at Midnight as AMPTP Floats Flop Deal, Sets Rules for Members

SAG-AFTRA, the the world’s largest labor union representing performers and broadcasters, will officially go on strike beginning at 12:01am PT on July 14, 2023.

“We are being victimized by a very greedy enterprise,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher during Thursday’s fiery press conference. “How they plead poverty that they are losing money left and right when they give $100 millions to their CEOs. At some point you have to say, ‘No, we’re not going to take this anymore.'”

The news comes after a two week extension of talks with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, failed to reach an equitable and fair agreement with the union. While SAG-AFTRA was pushing for higher wages, increased residual payments and protections around using artificial intelligence, the AMPTP proposed the opposite – that they should get to own actor’s AI replicas and use them in perpetuity without future compensation but saying they were offering “historic pay and residual increases, a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses for SAG-AFTRA members.”

“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life,” the AMPTP said in a statement after the strike was announced. “The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.” The statement came not long after Disney CEO Bob Iger, speaking to CNBC’s David Faber from the billionaire convention that is the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, said writers and actors were not being “realistic” with their demands and that going on strike was “very disturbing” to him. Iger earns $25 million annually and just extended his contract to 2026 with his annual bonus reaching 5x its previous amount.

In response to the AMPTP’s offer and follow up statement, SAG-AFTRA’s Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at the press conference, “If you think this is a historic proposal, think again.”

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2, also fighting for better pay and residuals, as well as extended staff writer rooms and stricter regulations around the use of AI. This marks the first time that SAG and WGA have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when actor Ronald Reagan was SAG president.

While the WGA had relaxed some of the stringency around how its members could interact with press, the SAG-AFTRA rules – stated below in a memo released today – offer no such room. Film and television productions will shut down (some, like Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal already have), but SAG-AFTRA members also will not be able to attend film or television premieres, do interviews for completed or past work, attend awards shows, film festivals or conventions (the very soon upcoming Comic-Con and 90s Con will be the first impacted) and are disallowed to promote projects on social media while the strike is in effect. What that means for the upcoming fall festivals and their announcements remains to be seen. TIFF is set to reveal a large chunk of its lineup on July 19 and Venice reveals its full lineup on July 25. Both festivals have already revealed some titles, include the world premiere of Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins at TIFF and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers as the Venice opener. Telluride, traditionally, does not reveal its lineup until the day before the festival begins and this year pushes it even one more day, revealing the list the day of, on August 31.

Members may be able to work on projects produced by non-AMPTP-related production companies under these agreements if such projects qualify for an Interim Agreement. A list of projects adhered to an Interim Agreement will be posted at sagaftrastrike.org for union members.

Members must not cross SAG-AFTRA picket lines, subject to the exceptions outlined in SAG-AFTRA’s Notice Regarding Non-Struck Work. Members must instruct their agent and/or other representatives to discontinue conducting negotiations on their behalf with the studios, streamers and networks for covered services.

“No member shall render any services or make an agreement to perform services for any employer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union, which is in full force and effect, in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place. This provision applies worldwide,” states Global Rule One of the union.

Below is the official memo sent out by SAG-AFTRA on Thursday afternoon, which details with specificity what members are not allowed to do during the strike.

Except as set forth in the Notice to Members Regarding Non-Struck Work, all covered services and performing work under the TV/ theatrical contracts must be withheld, including but not limited to:

●Principal on camera work, such as:
○ Acting
○ Singing
○ Dancing
○ Performing stunts
○ Piloting on-camera aircraft
○ Puppeteering
○ Performance capture or motion capture work;

● Principal off camera work, such as:
○ ADR/Looping
○ TV Trailers (promos) and Theatrical Trailers
○ Voice Acting
○ Singing
○ Narration, including audio descriptive services except as the services may be covered by another collective bargaining agreement referred in the Notice to
Members Regarding Non-Struck Work
○ Stunt coordinating and related services

● Background work
● Stand-in work
● Photo and/or body doubles
● Fittings, wardrobe tests, and makeup tests
● Rehearsals and camera tests
● Scanning
● Interviews and auditions (including via self-tape)

● Promotion of/publicity services for work under the TV/Theatrical Contracts, such as:
○ Tours
○ Personal appearances
○ Interviews
○ Conventions
○ Fan expos
○ Festivals
○ For your consideration events
○ Panels
○ Premieres/screenings
○ Award shows
○ Junkets
○ Podcast appearances
○ Social media
○ Studio showcases

● Negotiating and/or entering into and/or consenting to:
○ An agreement to perform covered services in the future
○ Any new agreement related to merchandising connected to a covered project
○ The creation and use of digital replicas, including through the reuse of prior work

● Performing on a trailer for a struck production or other ancillary content connected to a struck production