This post was originally published on this site
Members of SAG-AFTRA have taken to the picket lines on Thursday, hours after
talks with Hollywood studios broke down.
Both sides have had five days of meetings that everyone assumed were very
productive, but now we’re learning the latest meeting wasn’t so much.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief
negotiator told KTLA 5’s Sam Rubin that the latest talk could be described as
rocky.
“I never in a million years thought they were going to call me
afterward and say, ‘we’ve decided to walk away from the table,’” he
explained in an exclusive interview with KTLA 5’s Sam Rubin. “It’s a
mystery to me why they think that is a way to help move this process forward.
Was the process moving forward? Yeah, the process was moving forward. We
presented them with a full set of counteroffers yesterday.”
He provided one example regarding the issue of streaming revenue.
“They had told us during this few days of the process, that they were
just adamantly opposed to our streaming revenue share proposal to anything that
was attached to revenue. So we came back yesterday, with a huge change in that
proposal, took it out of revenue, and linked it to subscribers, I fully
expected them to say, ‘Wow,’ and instead, this is what we got back. It’s
incredibly frustrating because our committee, our members, have worked so hard
to help move this negotiation forward. We’ve made real moves, and they haven’t
been reciprocated.”
Following the failed talks, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television
Producers released their deal to the public like they dd during
talks with the Writers Guild of America. Many say this is a tactic to try and
gain public support.
“SAG-AFTRA’s current offer included what it characterized as a viewership
bonus that, by itself, would cost more than $800 million per year – which would
create an untenable economic burden,” part of a statement from the AMPTP read.
But, Crabtree-Ireland said the AMPTP’s deal is a mischaracterization and dropped
this big piece of information.
“That proposal is less than the cost of one postage stamp per subscriber per
year. So, tell me why in an industry that has 885 million global subscribers,
that is receiving billions and billions of dollars, they don’t feel like they
could share a postage stamp’s worth of their money with the actors who helped
make that platform exist. It just it’s not right,” he explained.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, the studios claimed that they
offered “advance consent from the performer and background actor to create and
use Digital Replicas” and that “No Digital Replica of the performer can be used
without the performer’s written consent and description of the intended use in
the film. Prohibition of later use of that Replica, unless the performer
specifically consents to that new use and is paid for it.”
But Crabtree-Ireland said that’s not what’s being relayed to them in the
meeting room.
“One of the items on that list says they’ve agreed to full consent for all
actors and background actors and artificial intelligence, just not true. In the
proposal that they gave back to us last week it says that for franchise
projects, like if you’re going to be in a Marvel Cinematic Universe, they can
require you to give your consent on day one of employment for projects that
won’t be made for 10,15 or 20 years. It’s just not accurate,” he exclaimed.
He said union members are “really upset about the mischaracterization” by
the studios and are making sure everyone knows “what really happened.”
Crabtree-Ireland also accused the AMPTP of essentially dragging their feet
when it comes to negotiating in general.
“We’ve been trying to work towards a deal when they walk away from the
table, just like they did with the Writers Guild, that does not move anything
forward, that delays this process. It makes the hurt that people are feeling
even harder and longer. It’s not right. We were willing to talk from July 12,
they waited 90 days to get back into the room with us and then walk away again,
they did the same thing to the Writers Guild.”
He believes the reason for this is because the studio heads aren’t as
impacted as the actors.
“They don’t feel it themselves in the same way. They’re not out of jobs. No one’s
taking their paycheck away. They don’t feel what the hurt is that they’re
inflicting on the workers in this industry.”
Crabtree-Ireland commended the others in the industry who are “standing united”
about “fighting for something that really matters.” He wants the public to
know, this is more than just about making money- it’s about fighting for what’s
right.
“ This is about things like people’s image and likeness being owned by these
companies and abused and used, that is not going to happen. And there is going
to be a fair and respectful deal that’s made here when we need the back of the
table to do it.”
There have been rumors that the strike will be over by the end of this month or
early November, which Crabtree-Ireland hopes for.
“We’re ready to meet, we were ready to be back at the table with them today.
We were supposed to be at the table with them today. We had a full day of
bargaining scheduled for today that they canceled last night,” he explained.
The actors have been on strike since mid-July after negotiations broke down
with the AMPTP.
If the studios were in front of Crabtree-Ireland now, here’s what he would
say:
“Talk with us. Let’s find the path to a deal. That’s what we’re trying to
do. But it’s not going to happen. When you get upset about something and walk
away. If we walked away every time we got upset about something in life- that’s
that’s not how you make a deal.”
Suggest a Correction
