SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP announced that their talks broke down on Wednesday — after about a week of negotiations. The studios say the gap between the two sides is too great, while SAG accused the other side of using “bully tactics.”
Jonathan Handel, entertainment and technology attorney, tells KCRW, “People are just tired of watching CEO salaries shoot up while they don't eat, while workers don't even keep pace with inflation.”
He says AMPTP is trying to turn public opinion against actors, create dissent within their union, and create anger among crew members.
Studios are also realizing that SAG-AFTRA was serious when saying they wanted meaningful wages, AI protections, and participation in revenues when shows succeed on streaming platforms.
SAG originally asked for a 2% revenue share of streaming shows, but later knocked it down to 1%. “In other words, whatever Netflix or Disney+ makes on advertising and on subscriber fees in a given calendar quarter — would be distributed among the actors on all the shows on the platform,” Handel explains.
Then at the studios’ urging, SAG switched to a per-person approach instead of a revenue-based approach. AMPTP still rejected it.
Actors aren’t willing to use the same exact framework that other Hollywood unions have employed either.
“The Directors Guild got an improvement in the existing formula for foreign streaming residuals, the foreign affiliates of Netflix and Disney+ and other platforms. The Writers Guild accepted that … but asked for something in addition, which was bonuses for successful shows. SAG-AFTRA will accept that aspect … the foreign residuals thing,” Handel explains. “But they are looking for a much more robust approach to streaming residuals even than what the Writers Guild got. So the days of the studios’ imposing pattern as a one-way straightjacket seems to be eroding, if not gone.”
He points out that the window is quickly closing for a deal this year, since people will begin vacations next month.
“People start to become unavailable, and the likelihood that there would be any significant dealmaking to be done in November or December is fairly low. … If this suspension — as the studios called it when they walked out — lasts more than a week … we're not going to see a deal until sometime next year.”
Many KCRW staff are members of SAG-AFTRA, though we are under a separate contract from the agreement at issue between actors and studios.