The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is refusing to budge in negotiations with SAG-AFTRA. The union’s national board has since issued a strike notice and order, effective Friday, July 14, against the Hollywood organization representing the big five major studios, Sony, Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery, along with streaming titans Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.
“The National Board has declared a strike of all covered services under the Producer – SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic Agreement and SAG-AFTRA Television Agreements and their related agreements (“TV/Theatrical Contracts”) and instructs all SAG-AFTRA members to cease rendering all services and performing all work covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts,” a statement from an official bulletin reads.
Negotiations with AMPTP kicked off more than a month ago on June 7 with SAG-AFTRA making similar demands to the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The union advocated for actors to be compensated with residuals stemming from rapidly emerging streaming entities and also expressed concerns about the looming consequences of artificial intelligence without proper boundaries contractually set in place.
Under the worldwide strike order, all those represented by SAG-AFTRA must refrain from on-camera and off-camera principal work, background work, stand-in work, self-tape and in-person auditions, rehearsals, negotiations, and promotion and publicity services, which include personal and podcast appearances, festivals, panels, premieres, screenings, award shows, and even social media.
Meanwhile, AMPTP has made it clear that Hollywood is headed for challenging times that will ultimately impact everyone from the A-Lister to the production intern.
“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers,” responded AMPTP to the strike order. “The Union has regrettably chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry.”
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“You cannot change the business model as much as it has been changed and not expect the contract to change too,” Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, said in a press conference. “[Hollywood studios] give hundreds of millions to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them.”
This will be the first time in 63 years and the second time in history that both union-represented actors and writers will be striking simultaneously, according to WGA, East. The first occurred in 1960 when SAG was not yet merged with AFTRA and the future president of the U.S., Ronald Regan, was leading the union.
