SAG-AFTRA Reveals What It Claims Were Unresolved Negotiation Issues With Studios

Disagreements on a wide range of topics, from salary increases to a revenue-sharing plan for streaming platforms. to increases in fines during lunch breaks: they divided Hollywood companies and the performers union SAG-AFTRA in their negotiations that collapsed on July 12.

Meanwhile, some progress was made during five weeks of negotiations on issues including programming breaks, compensation for script translations and some self-recorded audition restrictions, SAG-AFTRA said in a message to members Monday that included a extensive graphic of their proposals and the supposed responses of the companies. Although the message was often light on details about SAG-AFTRA’s proposals and AMPTP’s responses, she painted a portrait of two sides that remain far removed from an agreement. The Hollywood Reportr has contacted the AMPTP for comment on the claims in the document and graphic.

When it comes to general minimum rate increases, the union sought to implement a wage increase of 11 percent in the first year of the new contract, 4 percent in the second year, and 4 percent in the third year during its contract negotiations. 2023 for television/film. Studios and streamers said they would only offer 5, 4 and 3.5 percent over the three years of the deal, SAG-AFTRA said, which are the same fee increases the Directors Guild of America agreed to in its 2023 contract, ratified in June. . As another means of increasing member compensation, the union also proposed that casts take a share of subscriber revenue “generated when their performances are shown on streaming platforms,” ​​which the AMPTP flatly rejected, according to the group. labor.

On another key issue, that of regulating artificial generative intelligence, SAG-AFTRA was vague in its proposals and the AMPTP’s responses. The union sought “to establish a comprehensive set of provisions to protect human-created work and to require informed consent and fair compensation when an artist is ‘digitally replicated’, or when their voice, likeness or performance will materially change. using AI”. The AMPTP, the union claimed, “failed to address many vital concerns, leaving lead artists and supporting players vulnerable to having much of their work replaced by digital replicas.”

Other notable disagreements noted by the union in Monday’s message concerned increasing the “range” figures (SAG-AFTRA said the companies’ suggestion was “inadequate”) and increasing the “limits” of contributions to long-stagnant health and pension plans that limit how much a member’s earnings can be calculated for contributions to union benefit plans (studies responded with “insufficient increases”). The two also couldn’t agree on the size of relocation allowances, since when an artist works in a state or country outside of where they live, meal break penalties need to go up or performance capture work can be covered. by a SAG-AFTRA. contract.

However, there were some areas where tentative agreements were reached early (which are still subject to change when the two sides return to the negotiating table). On self-recorded auditions, a major area of ​​concern for the union, which argues that self-recorded auditions place an undue burden on performers, the union says studios and broadcasters have “tentatively agreed to some, but not all, of the necessary regulations.” “, including a commitment. in response times, but without an actual means of execution. In addition, the parties agreed that actors should not be required to translate scripts without compensation and that both parties must “comply with the minimum payments that performers must receive before their employers can invoke the various ‘programs’ in under which members lose the right to additional payments such as weekly overtime.

SAG-AFTRA called a strike to start on July 14 after its film and television contract expired and the AMPTP failed to agree on a new three-year pact. After five weeks of negotiation, the major studios and broadcasters offered a deal that was “insulting,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said Thursday. “It came with great sadness that we reached this crossroads. We had no other choice,” he said. The AMPTP, on the other hand, has said that the union rejected a favorable package offer and “unfortunately chose a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”

Although SAG-AFTRA initially told members that negotiations had been “extremely productive” in June, the tone changed in the days leading up to the expiration of the contract package. The union began preparing major public relations firms and hundreds of agents for a strike, and the AMPTP requested the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. SAG-AFTRA agreed to bring in the service, present at the talks on Wednesday, but did not allow an extension of the discussions, saying it was wary of “cynical stratagem” by the companies.

Starting July 14, SAG-AFTRA members have picketed studios and corporate sites in Los Angeles and New York while major productions, including Deadpool 3, Mission Impossible 8 and poison 3 — have closed or been delayed without their artists. The AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have not yet publicly disclosed a date on which they will return to the negotiating table.